OPINION & EDITORIAL
A clean cut above
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Also by Badger Herald Editorial Board:
- A security fee-for-all (December 11, 2007)
- Farewell, Chancellor (December 10, 2007)
- $$FC (December 6, 2007)
- In a bind (December 5, 2007)
- Entitlement Town (December 4, 2007)
Related Stories:
- AG race turns dirty yet comical (September 7, 2006)
- Paul Bucher: AG post needs hands-on leader (September 11, 2006)
- Falk neglecting issues in attack ads (October 25, 2006)
- AG must promote Wisconsin interests (November 1, 2006)
- J.B. Van Holistic (August 31, 2007)
by Badger Herald Editorial Board
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
The résumés of Paul Bucher and J.B. Van Hollen are very similar. Combating Wisconsin's drug war, running fair elections and fighting cyber crime are on the radar for both candidates, but a few subtle issues set Mr. Bucher ahead of his opponent.
Mr. Van Hollen has been running somewhat of a dirty campaign. In a debate, he went so far as to tell Mr. Bucher, "You suck," and some suggest he distorted facts about his opponent in a recent flier. Mr. Van Hollen, who has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association, implied Mr. Bucher was soft on guns, though Mr. Bucher is an avid supporter of law-abiding citizens' right to bear arms.
In an online chat, Mr. Van Hollen claimed that terrorists are still "training and being financed" in Wisconsin, an unsupported claim clearly intended to create a stir.
What's more, many of the questions students have for Mr. Van Hollen remain unanswered due to unreturned phone calls and requests for interviews by the student press — Mr. Bucher has been very open an responsive to the University of Wisconsin student body.
While Mr. Van Hollen has been busy raising money and taking out personal loans to finance his campaign, Mr. Bucher has continued to prosecute homicide, sexual assault, drunken driving and government corruption while also continuing as Waukesha County's longest-serving district attorney.
Tomorrow, this board encourages all students to support a candidate who differentiates himself from the competition for Attorney General in the Republican primary — Paul Bucher.
Anonymous (September 12, 2006 @ 3:49am):
"JB didn't call us back, so we're endorsing Paul." See, that wasn't hard!
Anonymous (September 12, 2006 @ 10:32am):
JB thinks there are terrorists training all over Wisconsin. I don't want someone that delusional as my attorney general.
Anonymous (September 12, 2006 @ 11:12am):
Based on the above editorial, I understand why the Herald is not endorsing Mr. Van Hollen. Arguments against him are made in a clear, cogent and reasonably manner.
But why is the board endorsing Mr. Bucher?
He seems like an afterthought within this editorial -- almost an "Anybody but Van Hollen" choice.
If the Herald is going to come out against negative ads - which is a wise move - then the paper would be well served to tell us who to vote for, not who to vote against.
-Victor Blake Marx
