OPINION & EDITORIAL
Falk It!
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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:
- Falk for AG (October 31, 2006)
- AG race turns dirty yet comical (September 7, 2006)
- DA race dilemma for area Democrats (November 8, 2005)
- Experience vital for effective AG (October 4, 2006)
- Falk neglecting issues in attack ads (October 25, 2006)
by Badger Herald Editorial Board
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
In a nearly unprecedented move last fall, Democrat Kathleen Falk announced she was throwing her hat in the ring for the state attorney general's post, effectively dividing the Democratic Party by running against incumbent Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager.
During her kickoff speech, Ms. Falk said she felt she could "do better" than Ms. Lautenschlager, and we think she can too.
Though Ms. Falk's actual in-court experience has been called paltry, she spent 14 years as an assistant attorney general and 12 years as public intervener before being elected Dane County Executive for three consecutive terms.
Ms. Falk has a solid history of working to protect the environment and families, and she also bolstered the Dane County Sheriff's Department by adding more than 100 positions to the force.
And despite initially remaining tight-lipped on the issue during her kick-off, Ms. Falk has recently cited Ms. Lautenschlager's drunken driving conviction as a major roadblock in ensuring the office stays under Democratic control and thus, further justification for challenging the incumbent.
Ms. Lautenschlager has recently committed herself to rectifying the DNA crime lab backlog, but it seems she only took action to do so after the problem drew widespread media attention.
While we applaud Ms. Lautenschlager for her work in challenging the Food and Drug Administration's stonewalling of the approval of the morning-after pill for over-the-counter sales, we feel her career as AG has been too heavy handed in bringing about civil litigations. This distracted her from dealing with issues more pertinent to the state of Wisconsin, such as rising crime rates in the state's two biggest cities.
Additionally, her grandstanding during the murder trial of Chai Sou Vang in Sawyer County was clearly an attempt to improve her public image.
Ms. Lautenschlager's rap sheet will inevitably be at the forefront of many voters' minds. Because of this, we feel Ms. Falk would be the better candidate, if the Democrats want to keep the office in their hands.
Anonymous (September 12, 2006 @ 3:47am):
Peg is the greatest, no matter what you say! Falk is a tool for Doyle, who hates students almost as much as the GOP does! Peg will be an independent voice for student power, like she was in busting the Board of Regents for their illegal meetings.
Anonymous (September 12, 2006 @ 6:11am):
JB VanHollen for AG!
Anonymous (September 12, 2006 @ 7:59am):
Boooooo
Anonymous (September 12, 2006 @ 9:54am):
How was the Vang trial grandstanding when Ms. Lautenschlager actually brought about a genuine victory, while the Plan B suit was not, when Ms. Lautenschlager was media whoring with full knowledge that nothing could come of her petty actions?
The ed board is right here - Falk is the better candidate. And the DUI is reason enough. But taking these sort of partisan political pot-shots in an endorsement only weakens the voice of the piece.
Also, the Herald is a student paper. How is any of the above - with the possible exception of alcohol policy hypocrisy - a student issue?
-Victor Blake Marx
Anonymous (September 12, 2006 @ 11:51am):
Victor,
who is elected AG is very much a student issue.
Anonymous (September 12, 2006 @ 12:24pm):
Vic,
you honestly believe that the attorney general race has nothing to do with students and shouldn't be covered?
get real.
Anonymous (September 12, 2006 @ 12:33pm):
You guys blew it on this one. Falk is a hack who is only interested in improving her resume. The number of past and present legislators who have been caught drunk driving is enormous... yet they don't receive primary challenges.
This board failed to examine the true motivations behind the key players in Falk's candidacy: Doyle and certain Dane county-area legislators. It's no secret that Doyle has not gotten along well with Lautenschlager. She's taken positions and prosecuted cases that hurt his pro-business image. So he turned to Falk, the ever-ambitious "I'll-run-for-anything-if-it-means-I-might-be-governor-one-day" dane county exec. Lo and behold, she gets a bunch of assembly reps from dane county to back her, cause they all know they'll suffer the consequences if they don't.
This is a simple power grab by a Governor fed up with an independent AG, an ambitious county exec, and some leggies fearing reprisal if they don't get in line.
This has nothing to do with the crime lab, the drunk driving arrest, or prosecuting experience. It's intra-party political hardball on steroids.
Anonymous (September 12, 2006 @ 12:49pm):
Peg is a drunk.
Anonymous (September 12, 2006 @ 6:04pm):
Peg is independent? Remember when Doyle and Gard got together illegally to bury the Madison minimum wage? Where was she on that? Protecting Doyle's ass, that's where.
