WisPolitics Budget Blog

Republicans will continue to lose statewide elections in Wisconsin until the riddle of Western Wisconsin can be solved.

A big step in that direction was State Senator Dale Schultz's congressional campaign last year in WI-3 against incumbent Democrat Ron Kind. Yes, we know he lost. Yes, we know it was not particularly competitive. However, no one argues that Schultz was among the best of a small clique of Republicans to make the race.

Western Wisconsin voters began their shift from Republican to Democrat during the Reagan years. Many of my Republican friends forget, or do not scrutinize voting patterns, that incumbent GOP U.S. Senator Bob Kasten would have lost his first reelect effort in 1986 to Ed Garvey, had he not spent heavily on the Minneapolis ADI. Garvey simply could not afford to buy in that expensive media market and Kasten drove-up his margins to win statewide 50.8% to 49.2%.

By 1992, the magic was gone for Republicans. The Clinton-Gore ticket launched their post-convention campaign right here in Wisconsin. Had Bill and Al's Excellent Adventure partaken in a road trip to State Street and parked their VW micro-bus painted with smiley faces and peace signs near UW-Madison, Western Wisconsin might have remained more swing than Democrat.

Russ Feingold's election that same year, and Ron Kind's four years later, sealed the deal for Democrats along the county shores of the mighty Mississippi.

So why was Schultz’s campaign so important to the future voting behavior of Western Wisconsin? For the same reason the Bush campaign targeted this region of the country in 2000 and again in 2004; trends are reversed incrementally, through a combination of a personal touch and issues that draw distinctions between us and them.

With Dale Schultz’s candidacy and President Bush’s retail campaigning in Western Wisconsin, future Republican campaigns will bear the fruit (votes) of their efforts. IDing Republican voters, recruiting Republican volunteers, communicating the Republican agenda and Election Day turn-out programs are critical persuasion tools. And they are only executed (paid for) by credible campaigns led by legit candidates.

Besides, running and losing a race for Congress is the best attitude adjustment for any politician. Dale Schultz is already a more effective (and a bit more humble) state legislative leader as a result of his defeat.

If either Mark Green or Scott Walker defeats Governor Jim Doyle next year, they will have done so by running strong in Western Wisconsin. We can all thank Dale Schultz for helping bring those voters home for Republicans.