Tom Barrett

What does Scott Stonewall Walker have to hide about his legal defense fund?

He says he created it perfectly legally, with advice from the Government Accountability Board. 

People are curious about what that advice might have been, and Tom Barrett is demanding some answers.  WITI-TV, Milwaukee's Fox affiliate, reports:

Tom Barrett already lost in 2010. How can he possibly win in 2012?

• 2010 was one of the worst years for Democrats in modern history. There were very few Democrats left standing.
• It can't be understated that Barrett was still recovering from being beaten repeatedly in the head and upper body by a maniac wielding a tire iron.  He was not only hospitalized after the attack, but had to return to the hospital to have his right hand surgically reconstructed.  So, with pain medication, ongoing therapy, and the physical drain of such a serious injury, he wasn't in peak physical condition to run for governor in 2010.  Barrett simply wasn't on his game the same way he has been historically, and the way he is now.
• Jim Doyle had the unfortunate luck of being governor during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.  Even though Wisconsin was recovering when he left office, most Wisconsinites weren't going to give the incumbent party a third term. 
• Even with all that wind at his back, Barrett only lost to Walker by a 52-47 margin-- and most of that was due to Democrats not getting out to vote. We'll be getting out to vote this time around.
• Barrett is very likeable, and will be a welcome change for those many independents suffering from Walker fatigue.
• Lot of Irish and lot of Catholics in Wisconsin-- in a close election, now is a good time to be running an Irish Catholic Democrat like Barrett.

Well, if this doesn't get your dander up and make you enlist for a recall campaign phone bank or knock and drop, it's hard to imagine what might.

That is what Barrett just posted on his facebook page.  

The announcement was quietly made on a late friday afternoon via a written statement.

As the saying goes, all you need to win is 50% + 1... and the inverse of that is that all you need to lose is 50% - 1.  Right now, even though he has saturated the air waves for the last five months, Gov. Walker's poll results haven't moved at all:  He's still in the crapper. 

Right now, less than 50% of the state (49.5%) has a favorable opinion of Walker.  In a head-to-head with Barrett, its 46.7% to 45.3% -- well within the poll's 3.8% margin of error. Against Falk, La Follette and Vinehout, Walker is under 50% against all of them. 

In the primary race, Barrett leads with 36%, Falk is next with 29%, and Vinehout and La Follette each have 8%.

.PolitiFact Wisconsin takes a double hit today, with a Shepherd Express article by your truly, and another piece from Erik Gunn at Milwaukee Magazine's website.

Regular Xoff readers know I'm a frequent critic of PolitiFact, but I tried to be more thoughtful and not just blast away as usual. See what you think.

And, yes, the Shepherd fact checked my piece before it ran.

One after another, they stepped to the microphone.  Some spoke strongly, some hesitatantly, some through tears, as they described, in two or three sentences each, how gun violence had affected them, their loved ones, and others. 

"I'm here today because my husband, 28 years old, my son 25, my niece 11, my nephew, my brother all died from gun violence.  If my support can keep one person alive and prevent the families from suffering the heartache we continue to go through, then you have my support."

A woman who's daughter, age 11, was killed by a stray bullet... a mother whose son, a law enforcement officer, was killed at a gas station in a robbery attempt ... someone whose two best friends died from gun violence  ... the brother of a young woman killed at Virginia Tech... a woman whose son was gunned down when leaving a bar ...