In an age full of partisan bickering, one Wisconsin race has proven to be one of the worst when it comes to negativity and attacks. No, I am not talking about the race for governor.
This heated race is for state attorney general—a position usually not too concerned with party affiliation. And we are not even through the primary.
Of the two primaries, the race between Democratic incumbent Peg Lautenschlager and her opponent Kathleen Falk has remained fairly civil. Both candidates recently released television ads that the other side claimed were negative.
""Lautenschlager's negative attack ad is a sure sign of weakness for the incumbent,"" said Falk Communications Director Adam Collins. ""Clearly she fears Kathleen Falk.""
The ad claims that Falk has never prosecuted a single criminal, which is true since, as Dane County Executive, she handles civil, not criminal cases. In response, Falk's campaign released an ad mentioning Lautenschlager's 2004 arrest for drunken driving.
While both these ads are considered negative in the classic political sense—they put focus on the shortcomings of their opponent while touting their own record—they are necessary in any campaign because they rightfully bring up important issues.
The inexperience of Falk and the arrest of Lautenschlager are issues voters should have on their minds when they vote in the primary on Sep. 12. Unfortunately, the issues seem to have taken a back seat in the Republican primary.
Until recently, the republican race had been fairly low-key. That is until an Aug. 10 debate on WTMJ-AM radio when candidate JB Van Hollen told his opponent, Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher, that he sucked.
""Will you ever listen?"" Van Hollen said. ""That's why you suck, Paul, because you only listen to people who agree with you."" Bucher replied by saying, ""I don't suck. I resent that.""
Van Hollen later apologized but would still use it as an opportunity to attack Bucher by saying he had ""lowered"" himself to the level of his opponent. Bucher rightfully declined the apology calling it insincere.
Now in a normal political race on a national stage this sort of thing may be acceptable. In fact, I would venture to say that if every Democrat ran a ""Republicans suck"" campaign during this year's midterm elections that they would likely win over a lot of voters. But this sort of behavior does not belong in the race for state Attorney General—let alone in the primary.
The race has gotten so out of control that Rick Wiley of the state Republican Party had to tell the two to knock it off. The scolding seems to have worked because since then both sides have released radio ads criticizing their democratic opponents instead of each other.
Both of these races need to put the focus back on the issues. Van Hollen should focus on Bucher's record as Waukesha DA. In 2005, 20.4 percent of statewide felony and misdemeanor charges were dismissed. Under Bucher, that number was 27.6 percent for Waukesha County. Not exactly stellar.
Bucher should focus on how Van Hollen used fear tactics in April by saying he had specific information of ""terrorists training and raising money in Wisconsin."" He now admits it was based solely on speculation.
Races for Attorney General should not be filled with the partisan bickering and blatant attacks that the Republican primary and, to a lesser extent, the Democratic primary have been filled with.
Perhaps this should become an appointed position as it is for the United States Attorney General. Or maybe, when voting on Sept. 12, you should vote for the candidate who has proven to truly take a bite out of crime: Scruff McGruff.
