The Genuine Article

"I have made my mark professionally for nearly two decades now and clearly am my own man."

That’s what JB Van Hollen asserted when his opponent Paul Bucher said he felt like he was running against the legacy of JB’s father, John Van Hollen.

Forget the fact that he is only 40 years old and graduated from law school just 15 years ago. JB Van Hollen has used his father’s name and association with Tommy Thompson perpetually since his campaign for Attorney General began over a year ago.

And if in fact this man has been making his own mark for nearly 20 years, why does he continue to blame others for his mistakes? And why did the only original idea to come out of his campaign result in several days of bad press and his permanent loss of credibility with the mainstream media?

Remember the disastrous press conference during which Van Hollen claimed terrorists were raising money and training in Wisconsin, but declined to back up his statements with facts? Van Hollen said that information was top secret and he was not at liberty to share it.

Van Hollen had an equally childish response to criticism by radio talk show host Mark Belling that he was a do nothing U.S. Attorney for failing to find and prosecute corruption in the Doyle Administration. To this Van Hollen proclaimed that he had wanted to pursue corruption cases against Doyle, but higher ups at the U.S. Department of Justice shut him down.

But the best evidence of Van Hollen’s vaucous style came today when his campaign released a radio ad identical in theme to that of Paul Bucher only a few days after Van Hollen criticized Bucher for running the ad.

Van Hollen defended his own statements but said he wouldn't use an ad like Bucher's, saying it could distract voters from the issue of which candidate could solve the Crime Lab problem.

I suppose Van Hollen heard the praise others doled out to Bucher for his effective radio spot and decided if you can’t beat em, join em.

I choose to throw my support behind the candidate who really has been making his mark for two decades, fighting crime and building coalitions in one of Wisconsin’s most populated counties.