We all know “that guy.”
He’s in our lectures and discussions, raising his hand with asinine questions and interjecting misguided commentary while professors and TAs are talking.
He’s the annoying guy trying to monopolize party conversation by talking over people and one-upping every story.
He’s the guy you always try to avoid but you inevitably run into.
Well, Rep. Brett Hulsey seems to be “that guy” in the Legislature.
If there’s one person who loved the media attention generated by the budget repair controversy even more than Gov. Scott Walker, it’s Hulsey, the freshman Democrat from Madison. His omnipresent voice in various news stories to gain public notice even merited a feature story in Isthmus, though he may not appreciate the portrait News Editor Bill Lueders presented in “Why Brett Hulsey Won’t Shut Up.”
I’ve been asking myself Lueders’ question for a while. Even though I consider myself a left-leaning individual, I just can’t bring myself to like Hulsey.
Elected just last November, Hulsey never met a news reporter he didn’t like. It’s as if he has a sixth sense for when a recorder or video camera is nearby. And he always had a fresh set of rehearsed talking points to decry Walker and other Republicans and rabble-rouse the Capitol crowds.
One such example of this behavior is when Hulsey attended a Walker press conference. As soon as the governor left the podium, Hulsey bustled over to take his place and field his own impromptu question and answer session with the press. Naturally, Walker’s aides weren’t pleased with this and tried to drown out Hulsey by turning off the microphone and opening the doors to the rotunda noise.
Hulsey was one to stand on a chair or some other platform among the crowds of protesters to fan the anti-Walker fires. That’s right; there were times were he literally raised himself on a sort of pedestal to fire off scripted rhetoric.
Not surprisingly, some of Hulsey’s colleagues have made clear to members of the media that he’s a pain to work with. The caucus likes to coordinate its general public message, and especially during the recent controversy it was important for it to have a united, strong message. Some saw his exaggerated rhetoric as taking away a bit of respectability from the opposition.
Now, to be fair, Hulsey was not the only legislator gaining attention for his agitation with the other side, given the deep partisan divides of the budget repair debates.
In particular, Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca of Kenosha and Rep. Gordon Hintz of Oshkosh gained a lot of liberal support for fiery speeches on the Assembly floor. And of course, the “Wisconsin 14” achieved a sort of folk hero status when they fled the state to break quorum.
However, it’s hard to believe Hulsey is sincere when he’s so new to the Legislature and yet grandstands like he’s been there for years. A lot of the budget repair issues he opines on are complicated and involve a lot of history, so it’s hard to think him qualified to come out on the forefront of this fight like veteran legislators, such as Barca.
Perhaps Hulsey saw the budget controversy the same way as Walker did: a chance to bolster his political resume and popularity in preparation for a higher-up office.
That certainly wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for Hulsey. He first exhibited his tendency toward political coat-tailing during his Assembly campaign last fall.
Despite a pretty strong assurance of victory against Green Party candidate Ben Manski, Hulsey felt the urge to brag about endorsements from prominent Democrats like Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and state Reps. Kelda Helen Roys, Mark Pocan and Spencer Black.
The problem? Well, Baldwin, Roys and Pocan never officially endorsed Hulsey in his race. And despite Black’s endorsement, Hulsey ran campaign literature with quotes that Black never actually uttered and never approved for use, so Black rescinded his endorsement.
Talk about a dishonest politician.
In the aftermath of the budget repair bill controversy, it would be wise for Hulsey to take a step back and try to mend fences among his Democratic colleagues if he ever wants to be taken seriously in the Legislature. It’s one thing to be a maverick. It’s another thing to be “that guy.”
Alicia Yager ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism and French.
