Gov. Jim Doyle paid a surprise visit to Wisconsin National Guard troops in Iraq Tuesday, praising the soldiers for 'high morale, a very clear sense of mission and a very clear belief that it can be accomplished' in a teleconference Tuesday morning.
Joined by Govs. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., Rick Perry, R-Texas and Dave Freudenthal, D-Wyo., Doyle arrived Wednesday morning and will arrive back in Wisconsin early next week, though his itinerary will not be disclosed for security reasons.
'The governor is honored to be in Kuwait and in Iraq to see firsthand how Wisconsin troops are doing and what they are doing. He was pleased to be able to tell them how much Wisconsin supports them, and he looks forward to welcoming them home,' said Melanie Fonder, a spokesperson for Doyle.
The governor was invited as part of a bipartisan delegation by the Department of Defense and by the State Department.
Doyle's trip was widely praised by state legislators.
'For anyone who's serving overseas, knowing that folks back home are thinking about them and caring about them has to help their morale,' said Mike Prentiss, spokesperson for state Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau. 'They're doing a hard job over here, they're doing it well, and they should be in all of our thoughts and prayers.'
While most praise the gesture, some question Doyle's motives for making the journey.
'I think that it's nice that he went to go visit the troops and is showing his support, but I do kind of think that he's using this as a photo opportunity,' said UW- Madison College Republican chair Jordan Smith, who added she did not think the tactic would resonate with voters because the war in Iraq was more a national issue than a state issue.
'I'm not going to be critical, because I think the troops need to know that the people back home haven't forgotten about them and are certainly behind them,' said state Sen. Alan Lasee, R-De Pere. 'I give Gov. Doyle credit for that. I really do.'
