Perhaps it's just my status as a perpetual political junkie, but I can't help but complain about the absence of a noticeable gubernatorial race in this state. As the capital and second largest city in Wisconsin, we should expect more activity in Madison from the major candidates for governor. Recently, I haven't heard anything besides fundraising pleas from Democrat Tom Barrett or Republican Scott Walker.
Sheer inactivity pushed the underdog Republican right out of the race. Not long ago, I held out hope that Mark Neumann would have a chance at the Republican nomination, if only to make the general campaign about issues. But Neumann has done nothing visible to transfer the right's momentum from Walker's camp to his own. Anything at this point would be too little, too late. Goodbye, Neumann.
I recently overheard a conversation between two liberals in which one said, ""Tom Barrett's website consists of two links: donate and volunteer."" The other replied, ""Volunteer for what?"" Too many voters aren't sure who either candidate is, let alone their platforms.
Even kooky Scott Walker has managed to tone down the antics and keep out of the media spotlight. But isn't free media a primary goal of any politician? Plaster your face across newspapers and TVs so when those dummies get to the polls they pull the lever because they heard your name once or twice?
Maybe Barrett and Walker are being smart by flying under the radar where video cameras can't capture campaign-crushing gaffes. In silence, they can offer nearly exclusive attention to party hardliners, who donate and volunteer more when the campaign trail gets hot and heavy.
Neither candidate wants to be in voters' faces for so long that Wisconsinites hate everyone on Election Day. Walker and Barrett might as well spend this time racking up enormous bank accounts to spend closer to November. Last June, Walker already had $1.1 million in cash on hand. Barrett raised $750,000 in the first seven weeks of his campaign, making his total in the bank around $1.5 million. That kind of money will buy enough space to annoy the crap out of every Sconnie come November. Perhaps we are lucky the candidates are shying from the spotlight.
But money alone can't buy a seat. Candidate image is still crucial. Republican Scott Brown's Tuesday win of Ted Kennedy's former Senate seat is not an indicator that most Americans don't want health insurance reform, or that the Republicans will win big in the upcoming Congressional elections. The special election was one seat in one state, despite the possible consequences for all Americans. No matter how many outsiders annoyed Massachusetts residents with phone calls from foreign area codes, in the end, only Massachusetts voted. Massachusetts already has health care. They voted for Scott Brown as their senator for at least three years, not solely as a vote against national health insurance reform.
But former naked Cosmo centerfold Scott Brown didn't win because of the far-right conservatives waving ""the tea party version of the American flag"" at his victory speech. He won because he ran a better campaign.
It seems elementary, because it is. All the more reason for me to be surprised by the lack of campaigning in Wisconsin. Whoever wants to win needs to thrust themselves out in the open and create a positive image in the eye of the moderate public. Martha Coakley lost to Brown not because she had more money or was a Democrat in Massachusetts, but largely because of a closed, aloof campaign image. She wouldn't even answer a reporter's interrogation as to what kind of candy she hands out for Halloween.
Walker and Barrett should not associate themselves too closely with the overblown national trends falsely credited with the results in Massachusetts. Barrett must be his own man, not Obama's protégé, and Walker would do best by distancing himself from the tea partiers. Such national phenomena seem louder than their weight because of the megaphone of the national media. The Republican Party is at no immediate risk of being cloven in two by the tea party. And President Obama is taking care of himself just fine. Even with überliberals breathing down his back and conservatives trying to tea bag him, his legislative accomplishment rate is the highest of any POTUS ever—96.7 percent, according to nonpartisan Congressional Quarterly.
Wisconsin voters are timelessly independent—not in the sense that we love Ross Perot, but in the sense that we don't always vote party line and are often swayed by individuals, not just national trends.
Hopefully Tom Barrett can avoid entanglements with the national soap opera. If he can finally introduce himself effectively to the massive moderate majority of Wisconsin, he can easily pull a Scott Brown. And possibly even get a centerfold in Cosmo.
Jamie Stark is a sophomore majoring in journalism and political science. Please send all responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
