Mary Burke is a smart, likeable, generous woman. If you don’t believe me, take a look at this eye-opening — and thoroughly heartwarming — 2011 Isthmus article on her philanthropic work. Then, when you’re done reading that, hit the return button on your Web browser and come on back to the hateful sarcasm. Because we live in a cruel, unforgiving, unjust world — a world where talented artists starve while George W. Bush flaps his gums on the Today show about his Vladimir Putin and Tony Blair portraits, which look like Muppet versions of their subjects photographed through a slice of head cheese. (I don’t know how much Bush’s Putin painting is worth, but I sure hope it’s $2 trillion.)
Many in the leadership of the Wisconsin Democratic Party believe Burke would be an excellent governor. I have no reason to doubt them. But I continue to scratch my head in jaw-dropping, horrified disbelief over what she’s doing with her campaign.
Burke recently earned her second PolitiFact “Pants on Fire” of the young political season when she said, in her jobs plan, that “Wisconsin wages are declining at double the rate of other states, and current indicators suggest these trends will continue if we stay on the current path.”
It’s not true, as PolitiFact points out.
This latest gaffe comes on the heels of a statement made in Burke’s first TV ad, which declared that unemployment is up under Walker. That earned her her first PolitiFact “Pants on Fire.” Because, you know, it wasn’t true either.
It’s a shame, because Walker really is vulnerable on the jobs front. Presiding over the lower unemployment rate that accompanied the nation’s recovery from Bush’s less-than-helpful imaginary conversations with Jesus is not an accomplishment. I could have done it. You could have done it. Anyone capable of taking the oath of office could have done it. And if you’d waived the oath of office requirement, a Burlington Coat Factory mannequin with ’80s Hasselhoff hair and a half-finished Marquette University degree could have done it. That’s not hyperbole. All Gov. Walker had to do was wait. The question is, how has he performed relative to his counterparts in the other 49 states?
Not well, it turns out.
Unfortunately, Burke’s high-profile gaffe has stolen the thunder from the rest of her jobs plan, which seems pretty astute, particularly in relation to Walker’s jobs plan, which largely consists of turning down federal Medicaid and high-speed rail funds and riding the rearmost coattails of a national recovery.
As Burke correctly points out in the introduction to her plan, private-sector job growth has lagged under Walker, and has been especially dismal compared to that of our Midwest neighbors.
That’s a message worth repeating, but no one will hear it if the Burke campaign keeps stumbling over the facts.
Meanwhile, Walker is once again telegraphing his presidential aspirations. About a week and a half ago, he traveled to Las Vegas, not for the usual wholesome reasons but to surround himself with potential big-money donors — in particular billionaire business magnate and casino owner Sheldon Adelson, who famously blew $150 million attempting to prop up Republicans during the 2012 election cycle.
This is a dude who heads the world’s biggest casino company and has the gall to oppose online gambling on moral grounds, declaring that it’s a “train wreck,” a “toxicity,” and a “cancer waiting to happen.”
Yeah, that’s the kind of person you want your governor to get his marching orders from. And I’m sure there’ll be no quid pro quos in place when Adelson finally chooses his anointed one.
(Continued)
Personally, I do not fear a Walker presidential run. I think his chances of winning the presidency are slim to none.
His economic record is poor.
His positions on reproductive rights (he opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest) are far, far to the right of the American people.
He signed that odious transvaginal ultrasound bill.
He showed extremely poor judgment in his handling of the Solidarity Singers, and the video footage that resulted could easily be used to portray him as a thin-skinned bully.
Finally, he’s a citizen in good standing of the insular conservative echo chamber. It’s a world where Barack Obama had no chance of defeating Mitt Romney, Obamacare was destined to die in its crib (with the help of some GOP smothering), and Sarah Palin — who as an adult human being residing in the US of A had no clue why North and South Korea were two different countries — is a foreign policy guru.
So, I may regret saying this, but anything that gets Walker to take his eye off the ball during this year’s gubernatorial election is okay with me.
So go ahead and run, Scott. It’s a fruitless exercise anyway. We progressives really have nothing to fear.
And after all, Burke needs all the help she can get.
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