When Gov. Jim Doyle was inaugurated in January, Republican legislators seemed eager to expunge from state government the partisan bickering that marred Gov. Scott McCallum’s administration.

A little over a hundred days later, Democrats and Republicans alike seem to have abandoned those aspirations in favor of mudslinging.

Monday, Secretary of Tourism Kevin Shibilski resigned in a letter to Doyle effective May 2. Shibilski said the position was taking too much time away from his family and that he would be pursuing interests elsewhere.

Tuesday, Republican Party of Wisconsin Executive Director Darrin Schmitz issued a statement saying Doyle ordered Shibilski’s resignation to cover up his own sordid practices in his 2002 gubernatorial election campaign.

“This whole thing stinks,” Schmitz said. “Gov. Doyle was clearly feeling the pressure to step as far away from this sleazy mess as possible, so he decided to pitch an expendable Kevin Shibilski overboard.”

Doyle press secretary Dan Leistikow said that the only known reasons for Shibilski’s resignation were the ones listed in his letter to the governor, who is currently involved in finding another tourism secretary.

Wednesday, Democratic legislators and members of the Forest County Potawatomi nation demanded the Republican Party of Wisconsin remove Flash animation from their website, www.bobbleheadjim.com, which makes what they called a racist reference to the practice of “scalping.”

“I can’t say that I was surprised when it was reported today that the Republican Party is standing by their racist cartoon,” Rep. Frank Boyle, D-Superior said in a release. “There is nothing lighthearted about this ad, and it clearly demonstrates how Republicans truly feel about Native Americans.”