Despite winning by large margins in Wisconsin's two most populous counties, Dane and Milwaukee Counties, Louis Butler lost a narrow race to to a contemptible politician who will remembered in the same muck as Joe McCarthy, Bob Kasten, and Annette Ziegler.

Lessons Learned

- Never let WMC get on the air first

- Speak clearly about what the campaign is about, as in a narrow, corrupt band of liars seeking power versus the rule of law

- Educate the public about the role of the office; it's an appellate court demanding impartiality

- Faced with money and lies, the Democrats need to sound an all hands and get public, on-air support from every Democratic official. I only heard from Herb Kohl this election

via MAL Contends
With only some 20 percent of the Wisconsin electorate likely to go the polls, high turn-out Dane (Madison) County and populous Milwaukee County can be expected to leave a big footprint in statewide election results.

That spells trouble for the Republicans in the state Supreme Court race.

The Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC)-anointed empty suit, Michael Gableman, will likely be clobbered because of his despicable racist campaign that has revealed Gableman as lacking the intelligence, even a pedestrian comprehension of the role of the state's highest appellate court, and the ethics to sit on the Court as an impartial judge.

Even Wigderson's Library & Pub, a rightwing blog in Waukesha, predicts a Butler win of 55%-45%.

The fetid politics of cynicism are on the run.

Very little needs to be added to commentary on the campaign of Supreme Court candidate Michael Gableman who is a disgrace to an entire branch of government.

Justice Louis Butler's campaign sent out an e-mail this morning to attorneys across the state that sums up well why Gableman will be defeated tomorrow. It is published below:

Dear Friends:

As you probably already know, the Milwaukee and Waukesha County Bar Associations have done polls related to the qualifications of the various candidates for Wisconsin Supreme Court.

The election is this Tuesday, April 1.

Nine out of 10 of those who expressed an opinion in Milwaukee said that Justice Louis Butler was qualified. Only about a third said the same about his opponent, Michael Gableman.

In Waukesha, over 80% of those expressing an opinion said that Justice Butler was qualified.Barely half said the same about his opponent. His opponent's campaign is claiming that these results are skewed because Mr.Gableman currently serves as a judge far away from Milwaukee in Burnett County, a small, rural jurisdiction in the far northwest corner of the state.

A friend of mine, so miffed by a phone message left by a Gableman supporter (Coalition for America's Families,) got me this recording of the "loophole Louie" rhetoric coming from supporters of Gableman. JSonline doesn't_like the ads from this group. Some_outlets won't run the ads. Of course using telephone messages gets their point across without anyone watching.

The Annenberg Political Fact Check website has a page that finds fault on both sides. This independent source ends with a fairly disgusted opinion of Wisconsin Judicial politics. Listening to the telephone message against Butler, I have to agree.

Michael Gableman continues to use the racial playbook from 1988's presidential race in his campaign for Supreme Court justice.

First it was a race-baiting commercial, reminiscent of the Willie Horton spot,  which is being roundly condemned in editorials:

Now Gableman has unveiled a new commercial which recalls the 1988 George Bush "revolving door" commercial, done by Roger Ailes. Gableman's video highlights an Asian prisoner going from prison garb to civilian clothes.Gableman's latest commercial:

Gableman TV ad: "Law Enforcement's Choice"

Bush revolving door ad.

Can anyone still argue this is not deliberate?

One Wisconsin Now has a press release out on Judge Michael Gableman's history, calling into question Gableman's judicial impartiality, and revealing a history resembling that of a GOP Crony.

See Wisc SC Candidate Gableman Revealed as GOP Partisan; Judge Appointment Irregular (follow link, and click text once of PR).

‘Don’t worry about the result; just tell me what the law is.’

Such a directive ought to be the mission, objective and goal of every justice of the state’s top appellate court, the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

If one were to ask candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court their commitment to the above principle, one can expect a declaration of absolute fidelity.

But you would not deduce the presence of this judicial ethos from the campaigns of the two leading candidates for the seat in the current election, Justice Louis Butler and Judge Michael Gableman.