WisPolitics Budget Blog

I can not add to the moving tributes Bill Christofferson has penned on former governor, former U.S. Senator, Gaylord Nelson. Obviously, he was not of my Party. If Nelson were still serving today, it would be my Party's job to knock him from office.

However, since his passing, I have been listening to people who knew him well. No pun intended, Senator Nelson was an earthy guy.

If the stories are true, and given the sources, no doubt they are, Gaylord Nelson would have been comfortable sitting at Norm's Hideaway on Lake Koshkonong, or the Anchor Inn in Newville, or the Showboat at the Indianford Dam. And I do believe he and I could have shared several cocktails at those watering holes, while disagreeing over environmental policy and partisan politics.

Bad politicians lose reelection because they change. Good politicians lose because times change. Nelson is certainly in the latter category. The country shifted in 1980, not Senator Nelson's character or convictions.

Gaylord Nelson's legacy to Wisconsin and the country is that of a giant. And as I am fond of saying, the world needs giants.