The Milwaukee Post

Is it too close to the November election to implement the state's voter ID law? "Yes it is too close for everyone, including students, elderly and others ... who have their birth certificates to get their IDs in time. The motor vehicle department and voting hours should be extended to give every- one a chance to vote, which is their right in a true democracy." — Merilyn Faucett Milwaukee Are you panicking after the Green Bay Packers' 1-2 start as it heads to Chicago to play the Bears? Editor's note: When responding to the Question of the Week, please include your full name with spelling, phone number and city where you live. Phone numbers will not be pub- lished. Anonymous responses are no longer accepted by the publication. Call 744-6370, Ext. 15 and leave a brief answer. Readers may also send an email with a brief answer to: dbutler@conleynet.com. 8 • Milwaukee County Post • September 26, 2014 By JESSICA MCBRIDE I turned on my TV the other day and was quite surprised to see Gov. Walker standing in a dirt hole. "Why is Gov. Walker standing in a hole?" I asked, trying not to laugh. That's not the reaction you want to a political ad. The news out of the latest state political poll last week was basi- cally what we already knew about the governor's race: This one is a toss-up. That means it will likely come down to turnout, barring some unforeseen last-minute rev- elation (and the ad wars — who will outspend whom? Walker has more money, who has the better messaging?) The poll did show that Republicans have gained somewhat in the excitement fac- tor. That helps Walker. Everything else is just in the mar- gin of error, like before. We are a polarized electorate. We've made up our minds. I'd like to believe that ads don't matter, but I'm not naive enough. They can change elections. Remember Feingold's brilliant ads that propelled him into the Senate? So far, Walker's ads could be better whereas Mary Burke has taken to falsely comparing herself to Ronald Reagan without challenge (someone needs to say, "Ms. Burke, I knew Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan was a friend of mine"). Who can we nominate to say that? How about Waukesha's longtime Republican Party head Don Taylor? If anyone knew Reagan, it's probably him and Mary Burke is no Ronald Reagan. The hole ad was unfortunate. I know what they were trying to accomplish, but it looked more like Walker was digging his own grave than a hole and part of the problem was that Walker never really gets out of the hole in the ad. When you look at the thumb- nails of the ad online, it's even worse — you are treated to a pic- ture of Gov. Walker standing in a hole. What were they thinking? Even more absurd, though, was the union leader who promptly crit- icized the gov- ernor for sending the wrong mes- sage on work- place safety because he was standing in an unrein- forced hole (it would be impossible to make this stuff up). Nice to know the unions are so concerned about the governor's safety. I am not saying one ad will make or break the governor's race. It won't. But Walker's cam- paign might want to not create unfortunate metaphors. There is little margin for error here. Then there was the goofy, con- fusing, not necessary ballot creat- ed at the last minute by the Government Accountability Board. The confusing ballot could actually matter in a super tight election. I would think not con- fusing the voters would be some- thing we can all agree upon. Apparently not. If it wasn't malevolent, it was dumb. There was no reason to pioneer a new ballot because the old one wasn't controversial and worked well over the years. If they did want to pioneer a new ballot, they might have chosen a nonpartisan person to make it. They could have taken time for various people to weigh in. They should have introduced this new ballot in a low-key, low-turnout primary as a test run, not a few weeks before a super contentious, super close governor's race. What a mess. Can you say "but- terfly ballot?" But the real news out of the recent poll didn't involve the gov- ernor's race at all. It was the news out of the race for attorney gen- eral. It turns out that the more people hear about Democratic candidate Susan Happ, the less they like her. Happ's lead has closed from the last poll, and now she and Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel are neck-and-neck (as a matter of disclosure, my husband, the for- mer DA, used to be Schimel's boss and supports him in this race). Happ's brilliant primary cam- paign (fueled by a creative Harley ad) has evaporated into one of the most offensive campaign strate- gies in recent times. Basically, the strategy is blam- ing a 25 year-old alleged victim of child molestation. Yes, that's what it's come to. I wrote about this before — the controversy over Happ's office (a subordinate handled it) giving a deferred pros- ecution agreement to an accused child molester that she and her husband had earlier entered into a land contract with over a home. That plea deal would be a concern even without the financial tie. The alleged victim has now filed a complaint against Happ. That led to Happ attack dogs like former AG Peg Lautenschlager (!) impugning the alleged victim by arguing her complaint was a political attack due to the timing. Isn't it possible that the timing is due to the fact the woman may have just learned about the land contract due to the recent media attention? It's completely despicable to attack an alleged victim of child molestation. This woman was in fourth grade when allegedly assaulted. Happ is not vetted. There's just a lot we don't know about her yet, and the stuff we're learning isn't great. Even worse, the alleged victim said Happ's taxpayer-fund- ed victim witness coordinator tried to stop her from talking to the media. Why that's not a big- ger story is beyond me. (Jessica McBride is a member of the journalism faculty at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. Her column runs occa- sionally in The Post. Readers may email her at jessicamcbride05@live.com.) OPINION Not a 'hole' lot of room for error Question of the week McBride Ads have potential to swing tight election LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Educating one's self on EPA Clean Water Act To the editor: Clean water is fundamental for people and wildlife. But right now, 2 million miles of streams and mil- lions of acres of wetlands are stuck in a legal limbo, leaving the drinking water supplies for rough- ly one-third of all Americans, and many species of wildlife, unpro- tected. The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a common- sense rule that would restore Clean Water Act protections to these waters. Nonetheless, last week agribusi- ness and mining lobbyists were able to convince the House of Representatives to pass a bill that would not only scuttle this particu- lar proposal, but it would make future efforts to restore clean water protections very difficult. There is a simpler solution: Everyone who is concerned about clean water and the proposal's impacts should educate them- selves by visiting www.epa.gov/uswaters. The public comment period is closing soon, however, so take action today. The recent toxic algae out- breaks, dead zones, and chemical spills make it clear that leaving our waters open for further pollu- tion and destruction is simply not an option. We cannot afford to be so short- sighted when it comes to clean water for future generations. Marie Walker Cudahy McBride opinion column dead on with reader's thinking To the editor: Wow, what a great article Jessica McBride wrote in her "Opinion" piece in the Sept. 19 Milwaukee County Post. To my way of thinking, you real- ly nailed it. If we could somehow put our political partisanship aside, we would be far better off locally, statewide, nationwide, and internationally. Thanks for expressing my exact sentiment per- fectly. Dan Surges Greenfield Send your letters to: The Milwaukee Post, c/o Dwayne Butler, 3397 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53207, or by e-mail to: dbutler@conleynet.com. We reserve the right to edit letters for style, length and clarity. Letters should be typewritten or printed and include full name, phone number and address. Please keep your letters to no more than 400 words. Letters policy

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