WisPolitics Budget Blog

Republicans need to keep a grip. The only folks those WEAC ads are impacting are Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser (Kenosha) and State Senate Minority Leader Judy Robson (Beloit).

The content of the TV ads, touting Governor Doyle’s budget leadership, ain’t bad. It’s just they will be forgotten the moment someone needs a fresh beer from the fridge.

It’s summer in Wisconsin. It’s 16 months before the next gubernatorial election. No one cares, except for Kreuser and Robson.

Milwaukee County Exec Scott Walker campaign manager Bruce Pfaff called it right; airing political TV ads 16 months in advance of an election signals the vulnerability of the incumbent governor.

That lesson has already been taught by ex-interim Governor Scott McCallum. McCallum spent 14 years serving in anonymity as Tommy’s Lieutenant Governor. His strategic objective in spending early money on TV was his desire to be somebody.

At least Governor Doyle has a surrogate spending on his behalf.

Kreuser and Robson, on the other hand, need maximum teachers’ union money to build hope of gaining seats; even deep-pocketed WEAC has a finite pool of political activity money.

But measuring the credibility of Rep. Mark Green and County Exec. Scott Walker’s governor campaigns, WEAC will need to keep spending on behalf of Doyle. And the only winners are State Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz and Assembly Republicans