As somebody who had his political coming of age before junior year of high school, it’s hard for me to estimate exactly what the incoming class of freshman at UW-Madison remembers about the 2004 election.

To summarize: The thousands of hours of futile debate about terrorism, health care, Iraq and greenhouse gases were undermined by the clear choice between a French-speaking windsurfer and a Spanglish-speaking brush-clearer.

What’s important for you starry-eyed future interns and campaign volunteers to remember is Wisconsin was almost evenly split between the two choices — a truth displayed not only in the decidedly moderate suburbs of Milwaukee, but even in the liberal haven of Madison.

Don’t be fooled by the head shops and the fair trade coffee houses. The white domed building at the end of State Street should be a constant reminder to you political science majors that the Badger State is still at the heart of the ongoing power struggle in America between Democrats and Republicans.

Although that building theoretically should represent government function, a more accurate perception of the state capitol would be one of political war. UW-Milwaukee political science professor Mordecai Lee was right when he described the last legislative session as legislative “failure” but politically “fabulous.”

This cynicism of state government is a direct result of our state’s unique political moderation, which has presented us with a state Legislature split between a Republican-controlled Assembly and a Democratic-controlled Senate.

Because Gov. Jim Doyle, is a Democrat, the Republicans have essentially been the opposition party for the last 5 1/2 years, albeit a strong one.

In 2007, the partisan deadlock was painfully displayed in a nine-month showdown over the state budget proposed by the governor. Republicans in the Assembly opposed the budget, citing concerns over tax increases, while the Democrats countered the charge by labeling the Republicans as obstructionist grandstanders, and further argued it was the GOP who would be costing taxpayers by delaying the budget and forcing localities to raise property taxes — to make up for the lack of funding from the state.

The process proved ugly, but the governor finally got his way and passed a budget, including a dollar increase in the cigarette tax, an extension of health care insurance to 98 percent of state residents and an increase of $62 million for the UW budget.

However, even the funding for UW has been an issue of partisan contention. While UW officials have complained the state has not “paid its due” to Wisconsin’s land grant university, budget hawks and anti-academics have pressed the university to cut wasteful spending and in certain instances revise its curriculum.

The most prominent character from this group of UW critics is Rep. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater.

So far Mr. Nass has used his position as chair of the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities to deliver what he considers some tough love to Wisconsin higher education — especially UW-Madison. Besides criticizing Chancellor John Wiley for paying administrators too much, Mr. Nass also blocked a bill that would grant UW faculty and staff collective bargaining rights, reflecting his belief that professor salaries are too high already.

Mr. Nass’ conservative ideology will also likely come into conflict with a stated desire by many in the UW community to extend to same-sex partnership benefits to UW faculty and staff. This issue will undoubtedly become all the more apparent as UW’s new chancellor, Biddy Martin, is the first openly gay leader of the Madison campus.

Of course, barring a natural disaster, the Legislature will not even engage in the most futile attempts at governing during your first semester of college. It adjourned in March and will not re-convene until either Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. John McCain is inaugurated as president.

However, that does not mean legislators will be partying as hard as you this fall — quite the opposite in fact. For a politician’s hardest work comes on the campaign, and in Wisconsin this truth will be illustrated in a hard fought contest for control of the state capitol.

Both parties are playing a zero-sum game to protect their majority in one house of the Legislature and attempting to gain a majority in the other. Incumbent legislators will undoubtedly try to place the blame for the legislature’s inaction on the opposite party, while challengers will paint the incumbents as ineffective and lazy.

The only question is which party will come out of this war of words with the advantage.

Although this year both parties will likely owe their success or failure to their presidential nominees, millions of dollars will nonetheless be poured into legislative races from individuals, the parties themselves and political action committees as strategists try to seize opportunities to gain that crucial one or two seat edge that defines state power.

The Democrats hold the Senate by two seats; the Republicans hold the Assembly by four. Polls show Mr. Obama with a slight lead over Mr. McCain and voters to be more concerned about the economy than anything else.

My guess? This is a good year to be a Democrat. But the only thing I know is this is a good year to be involved in state politics.

Jack Craver ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in history.