In one of the most hotly contested gubernatorial races in the country, the Wisconsin race has come down to a high-profile showdown between incumbent Gov. Scott McCallum and popular Attorney General Jim Doyle. In this extraordinarily politically charged election season, a number of issues'from the pending state budget deficits to tax policy and tuition increases'have risen to the surface thanks to the debate-filled four-way race.
Let's start by examining the third-party candidates. Jim Young, the Green party's choice for governor, is an admirable man with equally admirable politics. We feel, however, that he has not run a serious campaign and that he does not have the required experience to hold the most powerful position in the state.
Ed Thompson, on the other hand, has run a much more organized campaign. Thompson is a charismatic man with some interesting, if not quirky, policy ideas. This matters little, however, as he has not come up with realistic solutions to the problems that Wisconsin voters are most worried about, such as the budget and the economy.
This leaves us with the major party candidates. McCallum has, for the most part, treated the UW System very well. He has capped tuition increases, as well as linking financial aid to tuition increases, moves which have earned him applause from the United Council of UW System students. He has also repeatedly stated that he will not increase taxes, although numerous analysts have questioned how realistic this promise is. McCallum's nonuniversity statewide policies leave something to be desired, however. His cap on teacher salaries, for instance, is only pouring salt on the state educational system's already open wounds. Likewise, his environmental record has earned him a inexcusable \D"" from the state's top environmental advocacy groups, and his plan to cut state shared revenue is just plain ill-advised.
Doyle has held an advantage throughout the closely watched gubernatorial race and with good reason. Of the four primary candidates, he is the only one to draw upon statewide support in past elections and his policies, more consistently than his opponents', best reflect the views of UW-Madison and Dane County voters.
We are the first to admit that Doyle is not the most exciting candidate and by many accounts is simply boring. Even more concerning is that he's a Democrat who still supports truth in sentencing, and to say that some of Doyle's actions as attorney general were politically motivated would be an understatement. It was these factors, along with others, which led us to support former candidate Kathleen Falk in the Democratic primary.
For all of his flaws, however, Doyle is a qualified and experienced candidate with well-intentioned goals for our state. He promises to represent the university well, while simultaneously assuring that higher education is accessible for those with lower incomes. His plan to keep jobs in Wisconsin and raise working wages in order to prevent brain drain is viable, and unlike McCallum, he supports the diversity-increasing program Plan 2008. Although his Republican opponent also promises to take good care of the university, Doyle's pro-choice and pro-environment platform makes it clear that he is best suited to represent the student body on other issues.
While U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, was still coming into her own during her first congressional term, she seemed to gain a real confidence from her close re-election victory over UW-Madison Professor John Sharpless in 2000 which she has aptly demonstrated over the past two years.
Regardless of the cause, this election the reasons are better than ever to send Baldwin back to Washington to represent students and Madison residents. She has commendably stood up in the interest of her densely student-populated district.
More importantly, in a political term distinguished almost uniformly by pro-war rhetoric, Baldwin and a handful of her colleagues have presented a much-needed counterpoint to the Republican-driven dialogue on military action in Iraq. And in a term in which voters have increasingly stated their dissatisfaction with Congress and the Bush administration's single-mindedly determined focus on the nation's foreign policy agenda, Baldwin's concern about environmental issues, stem-cell research and campaign finance reform have helped balance Washington's political diet.
Given the contrast between Baldwin and challenger Ron Greer, voters have the opportunity to demonstrate their support of candidates whose ideology and priorities are most consistent with their own.
And while a number of these races nationwide are closely contested, locally the choice is quite apparent in both polls and issues'support Baldwin for Congress.
Peg Lautenschlager brings diverse but pertinent experience to the race for attorney general. She served three years as Winnebago County district attorney, eight years as a U.S. attorney and a term in the state Legislature, boasting political experience as well as skills as a prosecutor.
This experience in both the state political and legal structure suggests a greater potential to dispense the duties of attorney general. Her bipartisan experience working with the state Legislature makes her stand out especially. While her opponent, Republican candidate Vince Biskupic, brings a solid record as district attorney, he is unable to match the breadth of Lautenschlager's professional career, nor has he demonstrated the ability to run a large office as Lautenschlager did as a U.S. attorney.
In addition, while Biskupic supports policies such as the death penalty'which Wisconsin has historically rejected'Lautenschlager does not. And while Lautenschlager and Biskupic both say they will seek to make the attorney general's office less partisan, it is comforting to see that Lautenschlager's opinions on such issues are concordant with current Wisconsin law.
Lautenschalger is more qualified for the office by her experience, as well as more in line with the values many students support.
While we see some great qualities in Rick Raemisch, a moderate Republican candidate for Dane County district attorney, we see no reason not to re-elect Democratic incumbent Brian Blanchard to a second term in office.
Less than a year in to his first term in office, Blanchard faced the challenge of seeking justice in the form of prosecuting those involved in corrupt activities in the state Legislature. While he was criticized for the length of his caucus investigation, he has accounted for the lengthy process with a thorough probe that resulted in indictments to legislative leadership from both sides of the aisle. Furthermore, his ability to emerge unscathed by allegations from the infamously retaliatory state Sen. Chuck Chvala, D-Madison, is remarkable.
At the same time, we appreciate some of the proposals of Raemisch, a former Dane County sheriff. In contrast Raemisch's proposal to assign ""career prosecutors"" track ""career criminals"" particularly refreshing.
With that, we give Blanchard our endorsement, but hope he can learn from some of the constructive ideas of his also worthy opponent.
This year's race for Dane County sheriff brings voters the choice between an interesting duo of candidates from seemingly opposite ends of the political spectrum.
The Republican incumbent, Sheriff Gary Hamblin, faces a Green Party newcomer to politics, Madison resident Adam Benedetto.
While we find Benedetto has added a valuable, issue-oriented dialogue to the race, we once again endorse Hamblin for another term in office. Despite his Republican party affiliation, we appreciate Hamblin's open-minded policies on drug policy and other issues that are likely to appeal to a bipartisan cross-section of students. Furthermore, Hamblin's four years in office and more than 30 years working in the criminal justice system outshine Benedetto's less extensive resume.
