xoff's blog

I'm going to be the nominee. It's very hard not to look at the recent polls and think that the odds are very high I'm going to be the nominee." -- Newt Gingrich, Dec. 1, 2011.

Today the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund launched a major television and internet advertising campaign highlighting Scott Walker’s worst-in-the-nation jobs record. The effort is the first substantial paid media campaign of the year to highlight Walker's failed policies after months of pro-Walker advertising funded by his extremist ideological supporters like the Koch brothers and the Swift Boaters. 

When people say, 'We're going to win on turnout,' it usually means, 'We're going to lose.'"-- Mark Mellman, one of the country's top Democratic pollsters, at a WisPolitics luncheon, saying Dems will be able to craft an election message that resonates with the small number of undecided.

How much legal trouble is Scott Walker in?

One measure of how seriously he's taking the long-running John Doe investigation is how heavily he has lawyered up, and how much he is spending in an effort to defend himself and dissuade prosecutors from issuing charges against him. He's already had six aides and associates charged with 15 felonies and three misdemeanors, but continues to use his "I am an Eagle Scout" defense and insist he is personally clean.

This from Jezebel:

In case you haven't noticed, Wisconsin's been fraught with untenable political tumultuousness since one-man Human Centipede Scott Walker was elected governor. He's bullied teachers, attacked gay couples' hospital visitation rights, signed a repeal of Wisconsin's equal pay law, and rolled back sex education to an innocent time when kids thought storks brought babies. But get ready for more high octane Crazy from the Arizona of the midwest — the communication coordinator for the embattled governor's impending recall election is a charming, colorful former Hooters waitress who would just love to have the opportunity to punch Hillary Clinton in the face.

Meet Ciara Matthews.

 A recent nostalgia trip about Madison's long-gone Rennebohm drugstores (the photo is one on University Avenue, I think) reminded me of one of my favorite stories about Carrie Lee Nelson, the irrepressible wife of Gaylord Nelson.  Oscar Rennebohm, who founded the chain, served as governor when Gaylord was in the legislature.

In days of old, when newspapers had advertisers, readers, and more space, we used to get pre-election stories about every race for alderman, county supervisor, and other offices.  They were usually balanced, back-and-forth stories that hit on key issues and gave some background on the candidates.  Not page-turners, but pretty valuable to most people who are not really following those races very closely.  Which is most people.

Today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is quite a contrast.  What readers got today was one roundup story on all of the aldermanic races, with the three highlighted ones getting 5 or 6 paragraphs and the others getting barely a mention.

The early reviews of Paul Ryan's 2012 budget plan were dreadful, and the second round isn't any better.

The graphic here is a clue. You'll find a roundup at The Paul Ryan Watch.