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Waking a Sleeping Barrett
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It may have been a matter of nanoseconds after Governor Doyle announced that he would not seek a third term that Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton joined the race. It’s pretty logical that someone who has been rarely utilized by her boss would jump at the chance of being able to call the shots. Most political insiders, as well as the general public, assumed that would not be the only Democratic candidate for the 2010 race.
The names of State Senators Russ Decker and Jon Erpenbach, Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan, our own Kathleen Faulk, Congressman Ron Kind, and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett have been dropped. Other than Barrett, the rest have either publicly declined to seek the position or appear unlikely to attempt to build a statewide campaign. The depth chart of Democrat Candidates in Wisconsin is getting close to rock bottom, especially given that Senator Russ Feingold would have little interest in taking over a job that would be at best a lateral career move. Congressman Kind appeared a near lock to enter the race, but appears to have been talked out of it after the Democratic National Committee realized they didn’t have a backup plan for his seat.
So that leaves Lawton along with the rest of those who are paying attention to the Wisconsin Governor’s Race watching Mayor Barrett’s every move to get a sense of whether or not he is going to jump in. You can’t blame Lawton for having her fingers crossed that she can get through the Democrat primary without a major challenger. Lawton, though, has taken an extra step and begun to poke a sleeping Barrett by slowly but surely shoring up support right in his back yard. These endorsers include the Milwaukee County Democrat Party Chair, Rep. Barbara Toles (D-Milwaukee), Rep. John Steinbrink (D-Kenosha), and State Sen. Jim Sullivan (D-Wauwatosa).
The fact that these Democrat figures in the Milwaukee area are willing to endorse Lawton so soon with Barrett’s decision unknown means one of two things: either Barrett really doesn’t have the support that it seemed when he was crime fighting at the state fair or Barrett has given off enough signals that he has more than enough on his plate in Milwaukee. With the city budget process under way, the debate over the mayoral takeover of Milwaukee Public Schools, and the demand for family time, there are plenty of reasons for Barrett to not get involved in the governor’s race. It appears, with every passing day and the endorsements for Lawton adding up, she will be the only big named democrat on the primary ballot.
The bottom line: this is great news for the Lieutenant Governor; however, questions remain. Does the Democratic Party of Wisconsin hold the same opinion? As we close in on one year until the election, they may not have a choice. One thing is for sure: most Republicans would be ecstatic at the idea of a Lawton vs. Scott Walker or Lawton vs. Mark Nuemann matchup. If Mayor Barrett is serious about being a candidate for Wisconsin’s Governor, it’s time for him to wake up.
For more info on Lawton’s Endorsements:
http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=172909
For more info on Barbara Lawton’s Campaign:
For more info on Scott Walker’s Campaign:
For more info on Mark Nuemann’s Campaign:
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Did you forget the third option? Maybe the Milwaukee leaders support Lawton regardless of whether or not Barrett jumps in the race
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Senator Decker has never expressed interest being governor and was included in your list while you neglected to mention Mark O’Connell, the executive director of the Wisconsin Counties Association, who has publicly stated that he is considering entering the gubernatorial race.
Please also consider that your writing will not be taken very seriously and neither will your publication if you cannot spell Falk and Neumann correctly in an article about politics in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin college students are a huge and critical voting demographic and should have accurate information when making political decisions.
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Thank you for correcting the spelling on those names, which was a careless mistake on my part.
As State Senate Majority Leader, Russ Decker’s name was drop by pundits, as was J.B. Van Hollen’s and Paul Ryan’s. That does not mean that these officials were considering running, just that people were speculating that they may run.
As for Mark O’Connell, though his position is reasonably important, he is not known as a Major Democrat, which was the point of the article. O’Connell has mentioned interest in running, but would have major issues (setting up a statewide campaign, fundraising, name recognition, etc.) to overcome before he was considered a top contender.
I appreciate your enthusiasm and knowledge in the Wisconsin politics.