OPINION & EDITORIAL
Playing politics quietly
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Also by Paul Temple:
- Stop genocide in Darfur (April 28, 2005)
- America turns blind eye to Darfur (December 5, 2005)
- Examining The Badger Herald from outside (January 26, 2006)
- Newspapers must take extreme care in dealing with victim identity (February 2, 2006)
- Editorial on Covenant plan inadequately researched (February 9, 2006)
Related Stories:
- Herald ASM reporting does students a service (September 6, 2001)
- Giuliani's ego looms large (March 28, 2007)
- To the student government, from the apathetic majority (October 9, 2002)
- Apathy may skew boomers' power (February 23, 2007)
- Do not complain if you do not vote (November 5, 2002)
by Paul Temple
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Participation in power. It is a fundamental principle upon which democracies build success. Allow people to choose their representatives, the reasoning goes, and you have a better government. But as any politician knows, playing to the people’s ever-shifting preferences can be a successful way to maintain power. Likewise, when the people aren’t paying any attention, you can pull a fast one and no one will notice.
Our own Gov. Doyle seems to be playing by these rules. Only this time, he’s keeping his mouth shut on legislation that will critically affect the nature of democracy itself.
It’s time to call him out.
Amid the furor of conceal and carry as well as the anti-gay-rights bill, a little-known bill introduced by Republicans passed the State Senate on a party-line vote: S.B. 18. It would allow future gubernatorial candidates to select their own lieutenant governor candidate after they get through the party primaries in September.
Under current law, the lieutenant governor must endure the democratic scrutiny of a party primary, and the winners of the two separate elections then move on to the general election in November.
The current system sounds pretty democratic, doesn’t it? The people, those from whom a democratic government rightfully derives its power, pick those who represent them in a position specifically designated by the Wisconsin Constitution.
Take the current governor and lieutenant governor, for example. Gov. Doyle won his primary in a three-way race, taking a plurality of the vote. Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton won her race by majority, defeating Kevin Shibilski.
Ahh, but now we know why Gov. Doyle has not mentioned a thing at all about this legislation — you see, he wanted Shibilski to be his lieutenant governor. The trouble is, Kevin Shibilski was the only Democrat to vote for the Republican budget proposal when he sat on the Legislature’s most powerful committee — the Joint Finance Committee. As a result, he was rightfully vilified within the Democratic Party on what was the most critical piece of legislation during that session. Days later, Democrats across Wisconsin called Barbara Lawton and asked her to run against Shibilski for the lieutenant governor’s slot. Shortly thereafter, she declared her candidacy — and Shibilski’s numbers tanked. In the primary, she went on to garner more votes for her nomination than Doyle did for his.
So I tip my hat to all you Senate Republicans — you’ve used your majority to successfully pass a piece of legislation that divides Democrats. You knew that Doyle didn’t like Lawton, and that he had kept her from “getting on the inside” of hot legislative negotiations by giving her assignments like the Arts Board and burying her popular campaign finance reform legislation. And, predictably, Gov. Doyle has played right into your hands — one source close to Lawton says that her office has no idea what Doyle plans to do on the bill, and they are scrambling to find out what will happen.
It’s too bad Doyle has not yet come out against the legislation — perhaps it’s his ego. His pick for lieutenant governor was a bad one, and it is precisely for this reason that primary voters got him a better one. (Shibilski later resigned from his position as tourism secretary amidst scandal.) It’s funny how democracy works that way. The people pick what they think best represents their interests — and more often than not, they make the right choice.
Politically, taking a stance against this legislation also makes sense for Doyle. Right now, the State Democrats are in disarray — half of the Senate caucus just voted for legislation to allow concealed weapons, just enough to override his veto. And an override of the same legislation is just a few votes short in the Assembly, where Democrats also crossed over.
All this in spite of the fact that law-enforcement associations — as well as a majority of Wisconsin citizens — are against the gun legislation. If Doyle wants to keep his party together and maintain the relevancy of his veto pen, he should get on board (openly and legislatively) with Lawton and the majority of the Democratic Party she represents.
So here’s a piece of advice for you, Gov. Doyle: Stop playing politics quietly, and let the people decide. The people picked Lawton, and there is nothing wrong with a little democracy every now and then. Hey, it might even help you in the political arena — that’s what matters most to you, right?
Paul Temple (ptemple@badgerherald.com) is a senior majoring in political science and philosophy.
