Daniel Cody - “Left on the Lake”

I got a mailer today for former my former opponent and current County Supervisor candidate Lynne DeBruin, and while I normally wouldn’t have paid much attention to it, one sentence in it did catch my interest.

The part that caught my interest was the proclomation that she had been supported by a “clear majority of residents” followed by, “more neighbors cast their votes for Lynne DeBruin than the other candidates combined.“.

Here’s a picture of the mailer:

The recorded vote counts from the primary on Feb. 19th from the Milwaukee County Election Commission disagree with Sup. DeBruins claims:

Wycklendt: 3894 30.02%
Cody: 2490 19.19%
DeBruin: 6398 49.32%
Write in: 191 1.47%

Total votes cast: 12973 100.00%

Saying that you got a “clear majority” much less a “majority” at all with 49.3% of the vote is on par with President Bush stating he had a “clear mandate” with 50.7% of the vote after the 2004 election.

The second claim that Sup. DeBruin had more votes cast for her than all other candidates combined is also just plain incorrect. Again, the numbers show that 6,575 votes were cast on Feb. 19th for myself, Dan Wycklendt, or was a write in vote for another candidate compared to the 6,398 Sup. DeBruin received.

Here’s why this troubles me: the day before a general election you have a candidate knowingly mailing out an incorrect and over-exaggerated claim to thousands of people about the amount of votes they received and the level of support they have in the district.

I realize some may see this as sour grapes from a former opponent to the candidate, and there’s nothing I can say or do that will change that opinion.

The fact of the matter is that I’m a resident of this district who is deeply concerned with the direction it’s headed and the kind of representation we’re getting from some of our public servants. When you have a candidate who won’t even be completely honest in a piece of campaign literature or tries to pull the wool over voters eyes by exaggerating the level of support they have, you have to question the kind of representation you’re in store for should that candidate win.

So I don’t see it as sour grapes at all. Rather, I see it as holding our potential public servants to a basic standard of truthfulness in communicating with voters and calling them out on it - no matter who it is or what the situation may be - when they fail to meet that standard.

It’s the first step towards basic accountability which is something we need more of at every level of government, but especially here in Milwaukee County.

Wisconsin’s largest daily newspaper has an interesting article in the paper today bemoaning the fact that more people aren’t getting involved in local politics. They find that nearly 60% of local races in Southeastern Wisconsin and 40% of those in Milwaukee County are uncontested for the spring election cycle which is an unfortunate fact, I agree.

It’s interesting though to see that as they publish their final candidate endorsements for this spring election, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has endorsed only one non-incumbent candidate in Milwaukee County.

So on one hand, they’re crying about not having anyone wanting to get involved in local politics and challenge incumbents, and on the other, they’re supporting the candidacy of those same incumbents.

And to be clear, there are a lot of incumbents in Milwaukee and the surounding areas that do deserve to be endorsed and re-elected. I support several of them myself.

But once again, the major media outlet in this state wants to have it both ways. Lamenting the fact that more people don’t challenge local politicians while winking and nodding at those same politicians at the same time.

In Milwaukee County for example, here are the list of candidates endorsed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

MILWAUKEE - COUNTY
Executive: Walker
Circuit Court: Dallet
Supervisor, 1st District: White
Supervisor, 4th District: Dimitrijevic
Supervisor, 9th District: Cesarz
Supervisor, 10th District: Coggs-Jones
Supervisor, 11th District: Borkowski
Supervisor, 14th District: Larson
Supervisor, 15th District: De Bruin
Supervisor, 16th District: Weishan
Supervisor, 17th District: Holt
MILWAUKEE - CITY
Mayor: Barrett
City Attorney: Langley
Council, 1st District: Hamilton
Council, 3rd District: Flaherty
Council, 4th District: Bauman
Council, 5th District: Pullen-O’Donnell
Council, 6th District: Coggs
Council, 7th District: Wade
Council, 9th District: Puente
Council, 10th District: Murphy
Council, 11th District: Dudzik
Council, 12th District: Witkowiak
Council, 13th District: Witkowski
Council, 14th District: Zielinski
Council, 15th District: Hines

The only challenger the JS endorsed out of that entire slate was Brenda K. Pullen-O’Donnell for the 5th district alderman in Milwaukee. 1 out of 26.

Again, I support the vast majority of those candidates listed above, but that isn’t the point. Getting involved in a local race for public office against a sitting incumbent is tough enough on its own, but having the states largest newspaper almost predetermined against your campaign only serves to keep qualified candidates for public office on the sidelines.

Press releases are press releases. Whether they come from candidates or committees, they have a purpose and a place.

Sometimes though, I see a press release that is just so over the top I have to laugh out loud and wonder how those who wrote it kept a straight face.

Take this example the Republican Party of Wisconsin released today:

MADISON – With Howard Dean in Madison to do major damage control for the ailing Democratic Party, Mark Jefferson, Executive Director of the Republican Party had the following statement:

“With the Democratic Party in turmoil while Senators Obama and Clinton fight for votes from the radical left, Howard Dean now looks to liberal Madison as he tries to put his Party back on track.

But with threats to our nation’s security and economy, it is clear John McCain is the only presidential candidate capable of leading our country forward. As the Democrats continue to cater to the left and turn their backs on each other, Wisconsin voters will turn to John McCain as the candidate who can bring America together.”

First off, it’s a terrible release because it doesn’t actually any new insight or information into how the Republican Party of Wisconsin feels about the opposition or it’s own candidate. They dislike Democrats and their candidate is the only one who can walk and chew bubble gum. Big surprise.

What gets me really laughing is just the sheer amount of reaching the RPW is doing in this release.

Ailing Democratic party? Really? That must explain why primary and caucus turnout for Democrats is setting records from Texas to Pennsylvania and everywhere in between.

That must explain why the gap between those who identify themselves as Democrats (36%) and Republicans (27%) is at an all time high and Independent voters are leaning towards Democratic candidates in record numbers.

As for turmoil in the Democratic Party, I honestly don’t think anything is farther from the truth. I’m constantly around Democrats from all kinds of backgrounds, and while there is a good debate within the Party about which candidate will make a better nominee for President - you know, people holding primaries and caucuses to decide - the one thing I haven’t heard yet is anyone saying they won’t support the “other” candidate if their first choice isn’t the nominee.

Compare that to the civil war that’s been going on in the Republican Party between the GOP establishment, the religious right, and their cronies on talk radio. Social conservatives in particular are less than thrilled about John McCain as their nominee to put it mildly, and does anyone know if Ron Paul has even dropped out yet?

The fact is the Democratic Party is stronger now than it has been at any time I can recall. Yes, there is a campaign between two good candidates going on and people have their favorites, and yes they disagree. But that’s what an election is all about.

Record Democratic registration, interest and turnout that has taken place so far this primary season is only going to continue through November. It looks like the Republican embellishments stating otherwise will as well.

So much for “When they stand up, we’ll stand down”, “Return on success” and “We’ve turned the corner in Iraq” and all the other slogans the Bush administration has used to cajole the American people into supporting the Iraq war with the promise that he actually had any intention to bring our troops home.

Troop levels will remain where they’re at throughout the remainder of the Bush presidency:

Troop levels in Iraq would remain nearly the same through 2008 as they have been through most of the five years of war there, under plans presented to President Bush on Monday by the senior American commander and the top American diplomat in Iraq, senior administration and military officials said. - NY Times

As with most adventures in his life, President Bush is going to leave this mess for someone else to clean up.

This exchange between the Vice President and a journalist on “Good Morning America” today really tells me all I need to know about what our 2nd in command thinks about the opinions of the American people:

CHENEY: On the security front, I think there’s a general consensus that we’ve made major progress, that the surge has worked. That’s been a major success.

RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.

CHENEY: So?

RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?

CHENEY: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.

The video of the interview does a great job of capturing his condescending, flippant and scornful response.

…that when public defenders provide legal representation to indigent defendants who have been charged criminally, they’re exploiting “loopholes” in the criminal justice system.

In the wake of the Federal Government effectively bailing out a privately held bank financial institution our tax dollars, an intervention technique that is almost never used, maybe we should be asking if that’s really the best use of our tax dollars in this economic climate.

We’re now on the hook for years of risky investments and bad decisions by a private financial company like Bear Stearns. Funny how when times are good and profits are soaring, mega-companies don’t want anything to do with the government.

Regulation is bad, capitalism knows best, etc… But when their stock price is falling like a lead ballon and bankruptcy looms large, the government has a responsibility to come in and bail them out.

I’m no financial wizard, but it seems to me like that’s the worst kind of public-private relationship. The private companies and their CEO’s get all the benefits, and we the taxpayers are left holding the bag when things go downhill.

Quick thought of the day. If you have a weekly television show on local network affiliate, a 2+ hour daily radio talk show on the biggest AM station in the region, and write an occasional editorial column in the daily newspaper, you are the “mainstream media”.

Not some Robin Hoodish character on the outside looking in who’s rebelling against it.

It’s funny how the right-wing is very serious about calling for the resignation for New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who apparently has been caught up in a prostitution ring, but when it was one of their own who was on the wrong end of a prostitution hotline, it’s another story.

When it’s someone like Republican Senator David Vitter, who placed calls to a prostitution service while he should have been on the floor of the Senate voting, no big deal. All in the past. After all, if he resigned it would have meant a Democratic pickup in the Senate. Family values are great to thump your chest about and all - until they conflict with staying in power. In that case, values lose.

In fact, Sen. Vitter was given a standing ovation by his Republican colleagues after the fact.

Citizen Action Wisconsin has a very thorough report out on the amount of money Wisconsin families could save if the “Healthy Wisconsin” plan were ever enacted. The summary:

The report, “Good Deal: How Healthy Wisconsin Improves the Bottom Line for Wisconsin Families,” shows that the typical Wisconsin family would save between 40% and 62%. This amounts to savings of $1,320 and $4,180 per year over what Wisconsin families are paying now for health insurance premiums and deductibles. These findings shed additional light on the benefits of comprehensive health care reform, by bringing it down to the level of kitchen table economics.

The report uses an extremely conservative methodology that likely understates the family savings that would be achieved under Healthy Wisconsin. Also, the report’s tight focus on cost does not take into account the increased value of Healthy Wisconsin’s well above average benefits package (as good as what Legislators receive), or the additional value to a family of having health coverage they can never lose as long as they reside in Wisconsin.

While some on the right will undoubtedly bring up the old and methodically debunked scare tactics about “it’s socialized medicine!!”, and “government bureaucrats shouldn’t be making medical decisions@!!”, etc… it’s hard to argue with the numbers and the conclusion that not only would this plan cost less and put literally thousands of dollars back into the pockets of Wisconsin’s working families, it would also provide a higher level of medical care than most people currently receive.

That’s something that makes sense and everyone should get behind: a government service that provides a higher level of service while saving people money.

U.S. employers cut payrolls for a second straight month during February, slashing 63,000 jobs for the biggest monthly decline in nearly five years as the nation’s labor markets weakened steadily, a government report on Friday showed.

The Labor Department said last month’s cut followed an upwardly revised loss of 22,000 jobs in January rather than the 17,000 reported a month ago. It also said only 41,000 jobs were
created in December, half the 82,000 originally reported. CNBC

While people like the President remain in denial about the state of our economy, we are in fact in the midst of a recession. It’s time our leaders acknowledge that instead of trying to run out the clock.

I’m sure certain right-wing media figureheads in Wisconsin will use this as further proof that the Bush tax cuts for America’s wealthiest people are working as planned and despite what the “MSM!” is telling you, the economy is actually doing just great.

…for them at least.