News & Views
Greed and the Wisconsin Supreme Court
If you’ve been in front of a television recently, you’ve probably seen those ads trying to influence the election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Incumbent Louis Butler is being challenged by Butler County Circuit Judge Mike Gableman. Gableman is the bobblehead who allegedly bought his seat on the bench and Butler is the alleged criminal coddler. For years and years candidates for state Supreme Court conducted low-key campaigns awash in decorum and highfalutin legal principles. But that was then and this is now. Over the last two contests, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business group has decided to spend an inordinately large amount of money to elect candidates to the state Supreme Court who are friendlier to business interests. Last year, the group spent big bucks to elect Annette Ziegler to the court, despite the ethical lapses that led to her being sanctioned for failing to disclose her ties to a bank that was involved in a case before her. Now it is throwing its girth into a campaign to unseat a respected incumbent on the court by attempting to portray Louis Butler as soft on crime. The business leaders who have signed off on this transparent effort to make the court more pliant to the state’s wealthy corporate interests should be ashamed. This isn’t about crime, this is about greed. Newsweek did a fairly comprehensive analysis of this race and cited “uncanny parallels” between the election in Wisconsin and the plot of John Grisham’s novel, “The Appeal,” where business interests fund attacks on an African-American member of the state Supreme Court in Mississippi. In both cases, the business groups falsely accuse the sitting justice of acting to release a convicted sexual predator. The Greater Wisconsin Committee, a liberal advocacy group, has responded to these horrid attacks with ads questioning the challenger’s record on crime. To his credit, Butler has called on all third party groups on both sides to “stand down” and allow the candidates to make their own cases. Unfortunately, challenger Gableman has engaged in his own outrageous attack campaign which is drawing fire from the state’s good government groups, including the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign , Wisconsin Judicial Integrity Campaign Committee, Common Cause and Citizen Action, for false statements and misrepresenting Butler’s record. But those fine, upstanding folks at the WMC definitely deserve a dubious achievement award for acting so selfishly and egregiously on behalf of the state’s wealthiest interests. Former Madison mayor and liberal blogger Paul Soglin is engaged in a personal campaign to call the members of the WMC to account for this greedy behavior. The members of the WMC board are ultimately responsible for this reprehensible slander of Justice Butler. These business executives probably support token good causes and are undoubtedly regarded as respected pillars in their communities. But they shouldn’t be able to hide behind the relative anonymity of the front group they control. How can we expect citizens to have faith in our government when the groups with the deepest pockets […]
Mar 18th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
A Stunning Fall
One of my favorite scenes in one of my favorite movies is when George Bailey, Jimmy Stewart’s character in Frank Capra’s great Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life, pleads with a group of customers at the savings and loan not to withdraw all of their money. George says the money isn’t in the vault, it’s helping build their neighbors’ homes and start their businesses. He eventually persuades them to only take out what they need, thereby allowing the bank to remain open. But, for me, the “money shot” is when the sound of fire trucks or ambulances or police cars distracts the crowd and everyone moves to the window to see what’s going on. Our attention is riveted by the crisis in the bank but they can’t help but turn their gaze to the street. Which brings me to the news that uber-prosecutor turned New York governor, Eliot Spitzer, has been implicated in a sex-for-money scandal. Nothing sucks up the public’s attention more than a story that combines sex, scandal and celebrity. And when the celebrity in question is a stuffed shirt politician who has made a career out of prosecuting wealthy businessmen who were caught stealing, cheating or otherwise taking advantage of their high positions in society, well, the hypocrisy is stunning and overwhelming. While the story is unfortunate in that, once again, parents are having to explain terms like “prostitution” and “call girls” to their children who happen to be watching the news with them it brings some relief to those of us who have been overdosing on the contest between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. After yesterday’s Mississippi primary, which was won decisively by Obama, the next contest isn’t until April 22 in Pennsylvania. There will continue to be news relating to the presidential contest, most notably the expected resolution of the imbroglio involving the Florida and Michigan delegation to the Democratic convention. But this amounts to something of a news blackout for six weeks. Six weeks! Of course, locally we have important elections coming up on April 1st including the Wisconsin Supreme Court race between incumbent Justice Louis Butler and challenger Mike Gableman. But the Spitzer story is filling a void with the overwhelming power of a raging tide (sorry, sorry, sorry!). Spitzer announced his resignation today. Some will say he should have stayed and defended himself since this is such a personal matter and, after all, Bill Clinton didn’t leave office after he was involved in a sex scandal. But Clinton’s Affaire Lewinsky did not break any law (though, of course, he was charged with perjury for denying the relationship in grand jury testimony) and the campaign to impeach Clinton was such a political witch hunt. Spitzer was caught in an investigation launched by the IRS and the FBI based on the unusual transfers of funds that he was using to funnel money to the “escort service.” Arguably, the investigators expected to find evidence of a bribe or other form of public corruption and were […]
Mar 12th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
Whose Supreme Court Is It?
April 1st is shaping up as an important election day for Wisconsin, perhaps rivaling the presidential primary of February 19th. Locally, we have State Sen. Lena Taylor challenging Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker. Walker was elected on a one-note platform of opposing new taxes and he has stuck to that mantra even as financial shortfalls and poor management have lead to cutbacks and fee increases in transit services and park programs. The Journal Sentinel has published exposes documenting gross lapses in the supervision of mental health patients resulting in some deaths and insufficient staffing of the county detention center leading to criminals escaping and committing heinous new crimes. Walker famously dismissed the announcement that regional leaders were creating the Milwaukee 7 initiative to improve the community’s profile as an attempt to “put lipstick on a pig.” Maybe it’s time for voters to elect someone who is more committed to making government work rather than making excuses for its failures. A number of city aldermanic and county supervisor seats are either open or being challenged. For example, Patrick Flaherty and Nic Kovac are engaged in a spirited race to fill Ald. Mike D’Amato’s open seat representing the city’s third district and, of course, imprisoned Alderman Michael McGee faces Milele Coggs. But perhaps no contest holds as much significance for the state of Wisconsin as the election to decide whether Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler should be returned to his seat. Once again the state’s largest business group, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, is preparing to spend millions of dollars in order to elect a justice more supportive of the state’s corporate interests. You may have already seen the attack ads run by the WMC and the Club for Growth, another pro-business organization. They resort to the time-honored tactic of charging Butler with being soft on criminals. The evidence? He voted along with a 4-3 majority to require a new trial for a convicted murderer since new analysis of DNA samples indicate it may not have been him. How could he! The truth is pretty transparent. Go to WMC’s web site and you see little mention of crime. Their stated priorities are “lower taxes, reduce regulation, and reform the legal system” and they go on to explain that government intervention and nuisance lawsuits interfere with an open business environment. Aren’t you glad they care about public safety? I mean they feature a quote from Milton Friedman, fer chrissakes! The Greater Wisconsin Committee, a liberal advocacy group isn’t taking this sitting down. They are running ads charging Butler’s opponent, Burnett County Circuit Judge Michael Gableman with buying his appointment from former Gov. Scott McCallum with campaign contributions. Check out the competing ads and judge for yourself. Gov. Jim Doyle appointed Butler to the Supreme Court following his 14 years of experience as a judge in Milwaukee. He has been endorsed by five major law enforcement organizations including the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, the Wisconsin Troopers’ Association and the Milwaukee Police Association, more than 200 […]
Mar 7th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
Keep Your Hands to Yourself and Eat Your Own Food!
An editorial in The New York Times today makes the strongest case yet that the tight race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama should be good for the country as long as the candidates keep the focus on the issues. Unfortunately, both have demonstrated that they are willing to pander to voters and attack their opponent which risks alienating he public and screwing up their party’s chances in the November election. Who would have thought that this contest not only wouldn’t be decided by now but that it could actually continue on to the convention in Denver in August! New York Times columnist Gail Collins has some fun dissecting what happened in Ohio and Texas. Can you imagine a better metaphor for this competition than an elementary school cafeteria? Keep your hands to yourself and eat your own food!
Mar 6th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
On to Pennsylvania … and Possibly Denver!!!
So Hillary Clinton did what she had to do. Her victories in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island gave her the justification she needed to keep this battle going. She still trails Barack Obama in pledged delegates and it does not appear likely that she can catch him. But Obama is unlikely to get to the 2025 delegates necessary to claim victory before the August convention in Denver. So what is the party to do? Well, just as President Bush remained officially neutral until John McCain won the requisite delegates to secure the nomination (though his father endorsed the Arizona senator weeks ago), the party big shots need to hold their fire, urge the two combatants to fight fair, and let the process play out. Yes, that means on to Pennsylvania on April 22 (seven weeks away!) and maybe even on to a contested convention. If that’s what it takes, so be it. What we have here is basically the same as a heavyweight title fight when neither of the two palookas has been able to land the knockout punch. When that happens the outcome is decided by a panel of judges who award points based on their expertise and judgment. That’s where the superdelegates come in. Folks who complain that letting these party insiders decide the nominee is undemocratic are missing the point. Former Congresswoman, and Vice Presidential nominee in 1984, Geraldine Ferraro said on NPR today that the role of the party leaders returns some fairness to the process since many states (including Wisconsin) allow independents and even Republicans to vote in the Democratic primary, possible interfering with the best interests of the party. The role of the superdelegates serves as a safety valve to insure that the nominee accurately reflects the best interests of the party. All hell would break out if they overturned the strong wishes of the voters. I say let’s see where this leads. One outstanding issue for the party leaders is what to do about Florida and Michigan. Both were banished from having their delegates seated at the convention because they dared hold their primaries before the party wanted them to. Those were the rules that all the candidates agreed to so the easiest thing would be to stick to that position. But Hillary Clinton won both states so her camp will push to seat both delegations. Holding new primaries or caucuses would be costly and impractical. There are no easy answers to this dilemma. In the meantime the candidates should continue making their best cases for support and avoid launching unnecessarily negative attacks on each other. Hillary Clinton already has dabbled in this area with her “kitchen sink strategy” and it finally appears to have worked. Party leaders may need to step in and warn her about low blows then tell them to come out from their corners. May the most worthy candidate win.
Mar 5th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
Then I looked up
Yesterday I had an anti-epiphany. At least I think that’s what it was; I’ve never had one before and I’m not sure about the correct term for what I experienced. Epiphanies are big realizations or sudden flashes of inspiration. What I experienced was more like suddenly remembering something obvious I used to know and shouldn’t have forgotten. I was driving to pick up my sister and then my oldest daughter to do a little shopping for my wedding in June. I was thinking about table decorations and desserts and dresses and what we would do for dinner later when it occurred to me that it’s been awhile since I’d driven down the street thinking about shopping and dinner – and nothing else. It felt great. Normal. To celebrate, I turned the radio from NPR to a Top 40 station and started singing. Loudly. Now I imagine everyone goes through similar periods in their lives. One minute you’re routinely thinking about Saturday night or what color you’d like to paint your kitchen; the next it’s all very serious. Money. Health. Family crises. Career. Relationships. Sometimes everything at once. And before you know it, a year has passed – or maybe two – since you cared about your garden or what’s happening in your neighborhood, let alone the world. At 41, this certainly isn’t the first time I’ve been absorbed by matters of personal gravity, but what I didn’t take note of in the past is the actual process of returning to normalcy after heavy times. Then again, maybe I didn’t used to need a formal process. Probably I’m less resilient now in some ways than when I was younger, and therefore more conscious of what I’d like to avoid re-experiencing in the future. Remember how there was a time when you could fall in love easily, then have your heart broken and almost immediately do it all over again with equal abandon? Yikes. I’m madly in love with my fiancé, but getting to know each other contained elements of a job interview that I would once have found deeply disturbing. While chemistry was definitely a factor, neither of us dropped the reins until we were solid with each other’s personal resumes – from work ethic to parenting style. It was a first for both of us, and awkward in a few spots, but in the end we’re definitely better together for knowing and accepting each other up front. There are lots of things you can’t control – like, for example, who you meet – but you can control how much you engage with that person. It’s a model that can be extended across many parts of one’s life, and to good purpose. (I’m sorry if you already know this, but since this is my column I can only write from personal experience. Thanks for your patience as I work to catch up.) Which comes back around to coming back around. It’s so easy to lose yourself when life becomes intense, but […]
Mar 1st, 2008 by Jon Anne Willow
The Clintons and the Dallas Cowboys
While most of the universe has already reached the conclusion that Barack Obama will ultimately receive this year’s Democratic nomination for president, there are a few voices reminding us that it ain’t over until it’s over. Among them is Dan Schnur, a Republican consultant originally from Wisconsin, who presents his argument in terms all fans of the Green Bay Packers can relate to. He compares the Clintons to the dreaded Dallas Cowboys who could never be counted out while there was still time left on the clock. I also recall inspired come-from-behind victories by the Cowboys though mostly from an earlier era. Back in the ‘70s, I was often amazed by the Cowboys of Tom Landry and Roger Staubach who routinely scored two or three touchdowns in the closing minutes of key games. More recently, the Jimmy Johnson-Troy Aikman teams committed similar atrocities at the expense of the “green and gold.” Schnur draws a parallel between Dallas’s mojo and the times that the Clinton clan came back from certain death, during the 1992 New Hampshire primary, following the health care reform debacle (aka Hillarygate), the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994 and the Lewinsky scandal of the late 1990s. For the most part, I don’t buy it. For Hillary Clinton to overcome Obama’s lead in delegates, she would not only have to win the remaining primaries in delegate-rich states of Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania but by extremely large margins. But it certainly is entertaining to imagine some Republicans shuddering at the thought of facing the Clinton machine. Surely, Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole and George H. W. Bush wish they had a wooden stake they could bury in the heart of this family. It is true that in politics, as in sports, momentum can shift in a New York minute. So make sure you don’t get a sandwich or take a bathroom break until either Obama or Clinton have nailed down the nomination. You don’t want to miss this finish.
Feb 29th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
The Kitchen Sink Strategy
It’s about time that I set the record straight. Despite my vast experience and Mensa-worthy intelligence, the public seems enthralled by the soaring rhetoric and surface appeal of my rival bloggers. Since being raised modestly by working class parents, I have devoted my life to poking fun at the foibles and hypocrisies of the worlds of politics and government. Who can deny that I am best prepared for a career as an online political humorist? I attended the same high school as Art Buchwald and the same college as Dave Barry! My career in journalism and media relations has given me unparalleled insight into the compromises and petty struggles that are endemic malignancies on the authority figures and institutions of power of our time. Now that I am toiling away day and night to share my insights with the masses surely the world will recognize that I am entitled to my rightful place as blogger extraordinaire despite its apparent attraction to the pretty words of my clearly less deserving competition. So after careful consultation with my coterie of respected advisors, I have decided to launch my “kitchen sink” strategy to point out the flaws of these pretenders who dare challenge my blogger preeminence. Before I start, let me state clearly and unequivocally that I have the utmost respect for all of my peers in the blogosphere. They are all extremely accomplished and, if I wasn’t in this race, I would passionately and energetically support whichever one of them wins the endorsement of the public. But you would have to be deaf, dumb and blind (not that there’s anything wrong with that!) not to recognize that I am the most qualified and therefore undeniably entitled to ascend to the throne of top blogger. For starters, let’s take a look at my distinguished colleague from Madison, Ed Garvey. I welcome Ed’s contribution to the public discourse; his liberal credentials and institutional memory are assets that we all should treasure. But surely I am not the only one to notice that Ed spent years working for one of those unions representing athletes. With all the controversy surrounding sports these days, is it really much of a stretch to imagine Ed sticking a syringe into the butt of Roger Clemens? Think about it? I hereby declare that I have never injected an athlete with performance enhancing chemicals. Et tu, Ed? Next, I call your attention to Bill Christofferson, a smart and talented former journalist and political operative who I have the utmost admiration for. Nobody gets under the skin of Wisconsin’s conservatives more than Bill. They blame him for every tactic undertaken by the state’s Democrats and assorted progressives ranging from creating 527 groups to masterminding Jim Doyle’s election as governor. But isn’t it time that we reject the politics of the past? Certainly nobody has ever compared me to Rasputin and I doubt Charlie Sykes or Mark Belling even know my name! Then there’s James Rowen, another worthy blogger whose contributions on politics […]
Feb 27th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
Hillary’s bipolar campaign
So which is it? Is Hillary Clinton choosing to go negative against Barack Obama, as in attacking him for “plagiarizing” the words of his friend and campaign co-chair, Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts? Or is she taking the high road and praising her opponent as she did when she said how “proud” she is to be in the race with Obama? Clinton’s vitriolic attack on Obama yesterday for distributing fliers that dared to criticize her positions on health care and trade (“Shame on you, Barack Obama”), comparing his tactics to “Karl Rove and the Republicans,” suggests that she is willing to go nuclear in a desperate effort to salvage her campaign with victories in Texas and Ohio next week. It makes you long for the good old days, like last November and December, when she withstood barbs from her male opponents with class and humor, leaving it to her husband and other surrogates to call attention to how the guys were ganging up on the one woman in the race. Sen. Clinton’s mood swings create the appearance of a campaign off its medication. You would think after her “Xerox” line drew boos and her graceful “I’m so proud” comment generated her most enthusiastic response at last week’s debate in Texas, she would have learned a lesson. It’s certainly not unusual for people with political ambitions to lose touch with reality. By most accounts, Richard Nixon was one whacked-out dude. And then there was Ross Perot, who said there was some kind of conspiracy to interfere with his daughter’s wedding towards the end of his third party candidacy. Funny how we haven’t heard much from him since! Those close to Hillary always stress what a normal and decent person she is, remembering their birthdays and asking about their families. How sad to see her morph into the Captain Queeg of 2008. Saturday Night Live’s opening skit poked fun at Clinton’s increasingly bizarre rationalization of her string of losses. But the writing is on the wall. Even her husband has said that wins in Texas and Ohio were absolutely necessary for Clinton to continue. Let’s open our hearts to Hillary. May she find comfort in her strong family and close friends, when it comes time to step aside and endorse Obama for the good of her party and nation. At some point, however, it may be necessary for a good old fashioned intervention. I hear Dr. Phil is good at this sort of thing.
Feb 25th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
A Not So Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
Elections, like sports, can be incredibly entertaining, especially when the outcome is in doubt. Both, however, require the proverbial “level playing field” which is why attempts to gain an unfair advantage or improperly influence the outcome of either are so infuriating. Whether it’s the use of steroids by overpaid athletes or misdeeds by overly-enthusiastic campaign supporters, it’s dishonest and it ain’t right. So when I heard a few conservative voters say that they had held their noses and voted for Hillary Clinton since she would be the easier candidate for the Republicans to defeat in November, I was troubled. Yesterday morning, I heard several callers to the morning talk show on WTMJ-AM say that they had voted for Clinton to undermine the Democratic primary and urged others, including host Charlie Sykes, to do the same. One recommended that Sykes should buy a bar of soap on the way to the polls so that he could take a shower after voting for Clinton since the very idea of doing so was so distasteful. Later, I noticed that Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Crocker Stephenson reported on the paper’s election blog that a Republican voter had told him that he had voted for Clinton to improve his party’s chances in the fall. Suddenly I began to suspect some curious right wing conspiracy was afloat to, of all things, benefit Hillary Clinton. An especially ironic development given that she once said such a conspiracy was responsible for the many investigations of her husband’s administration. Surely there weren’t too many voters who were engaging in this nefarious enterprise but if the election turned out to be as close as some suspected then, who knows, maybe these cranky Republicans would ultimately influence the selection of the Democratic candidate for president! We now know that I didn’t need to worry. Yesterday’s Wisconsin primary represented a stunning victory for Barack Obama. He won the state 58% to 41%. Not so shabby. He won by similar margins in Milwaukee, Madison and Green Bay, all three of the major Democratic strongholds in the state. He won or held his own across demographic categories only ceding older women to Clinton. The last 36 hours of the campaign were not pretty. The Clinton side escalated its charges against Obama by attacking him for plagiarizing part of the speech he delivered to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s dinner on Saturday from Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, an Obama friend and supporter. Most acknowledge this incident is largely a tempest in a teapot but it recalls the ill-fated presidential campaign of Sen. Joe Biden in 1988 that collapsed following the disclosure that he had extensively borrowed language from a British politician. Obama’s wife Michelle didn’t do her husband much good when she said in Milwaukee on Monday that “for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country.” You can imagine the fun the Republicans will have with that. Likely Republican nominee John McCain was quick to have his wife […]
Feb 20th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
The Gloves Come off
They say politics ain’t beanbag (confused? think hackey sack) so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the gloves have come off in the Democratic race for President. Hillary Clinton’s campaign is running ads here in Wisconsin attacking Barack Obama for not agreeing to debate and for falling short of promising universal health care coverage for all Americans. The interesting thing is that she is basically correct on the merits but it doesn’t seem to matter. Obama deftly dismisses her criticisms as old-style politics and calls attention to her past support for NAFTA and bankruptcy reform which were not in the best interests of the poor and middle class. His rhetorical jujitsu is something to behold. He is such a natural politician, combining a remarkable personal history with an outstanding command of policy and a riveting speaking style that people are falling victim to the Obama swoon. At one time, Bill Clinton was the reigning practitioner of this art. As recently as fall, 2006, the former President had the touch. He filled the Milwaukee Theatre at a rally in support of Gov. Jim Doyle’s bid for reelection and he was in fine form. The place rocked as Bill segued from praising Doyle to critiquing President Bush and the crowd loved him (the Clinton swoon was in the air). Interestingly, Barack Obama also addressed a crowd here in support of Doyle’s reelection at Pere Marquette Park and his eloquence and ability to inspire was apparent. Shift back to the present and the bloom seems off the Clinton rose; a development nobody could have predicted mere weeks ago. Obama is the rock star at this point in time and Bill Clinton seems like yesterday’s news. Obama drew 18,000 to the Kohl Center in Madison, and thousands more in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Green Bay and everywhere he goes. President Clinton, the most popular Democrat since John F. Kennedy, has only been drawing much smaller crowds including 2-300 here in Milwaukee on Thursday. Arguably, Bill Clinton has only himself to blame with comments about Obama like the “fairy tale” remark in New Hampshire and the comparison to Jesse Jackson in South Carolina. Here in Wisconsin he’s been more careful. He gave a fine speech Thursday but he comes across as a link to the past and that’s not a formula for success this year. Obama still needs to finish strong and I know better than to count out the Clintons but there’s an undeniable feeling in the air that this Obama thing is the real deal. The ad wars are nicely documented here by the New York Times. If you want to dig further and try to make sense of the differences on health care reform check out http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/theyve_got_you_covered.html. Finally, Doyle’s appearance on Hardball with Chris Matthews is worth watching. Wisconsin is the center of the political universe for a few days so enjoy the ride. Obama and Clinton are both scheduled to speak at tonight’s Democratic dinner at the Midwest Airlines Center. The […]
Feb 16th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
It Doesn’t Take a Weatherman
The deluge has begun. In case you haven’t noticed, Wisconsin’s primary is next Tuesday so our state is suddenly drawing attention from the candidates and the national media. On some levels the race for the Democratic nomination is too close to call and nobody expects either candidate to deliver a decisive blow for at least for a month or so until Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania have had their say. Those states, some say, are a firewall for Hillary Clinton and if she finishes strong she can still establish herself as the likely candidate prior to the convention in August. But that’s not how it looks from here in the dairy state on Valentines’ Day. The momentum of the Obama campaign is palpable in Wisconsin and the evidence that he will win here is everywhere. The crowds he is turning out across the state are amazing. The ads he is running are compelling. The money he is raising and the endorsements he is gathering are impressive. The groundswell of support for the first term senator from Illinois is dramatic and authentic. Clinton’s campaign is struggling to reinvent her as the underdog insurgent in this race. I like and respect Hillary but this is yet another sign that she is destined to finish second. Not only are the voters clamoring for change but, perhaps more significantly, they are seeking authenticity. Both candidates are incredibly bright, hardworking and accomplished but Clinton loses to Obama on the intangible of being in sync with the times. On Tuesday, Obama drew 18,000 to the Kohl Center in Madison with hundreds more in the Pavilion next door watching on two giant video screens. I drove from Milwaukee with my daughter and one of her friends and we ended up in the overflow. The two teenagers with me were impressed by Obama’s speech and were excited that we were able to squeeze into the main arena after he was finished so they could catch a glimpse of the politician. What better sign of his impact? He is truly the rock star candidate. Obama continued his march across the state on Wednesday with appearances in Janesville, Waukesha and Racine. I made it to the Waukesha Expo Center to see what effect he’d have on a smaller crowd in a largely Republican community. He delivered with flying colors. The nearly 2000 in the audience were treated to a tour d’ force speech combining detailed policy specifics with inspirational oratory. If people arrived with an open mind, the chances are good that he closed the deal. Former President Bill Clinton addressed a much smaller crowd this morning at Milwaukee’s Italian Community Center. I couldn’t stay away because I was curious to see what he would say and what impact he would have on his audience. Only part of the ballroom was filled, maybe two hundred. Many of those gathered appeared to be devoted supporters of Hillary Clinton and he gave a fine speech highlighting her accomplishments and pointing out her prescriptions […]
Feb 14th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
