What happens when a political party slips into a permanent minority within a community? For Rock County, it means that the party – no matter how strong statewide – runs bottom-tier candidates. The WISGOP dominates state government, but in nearby Rock County, a blue-tinted electorate means they’re stuck with few candidates who can win.
Only this September, the nineteen-year-old Republican candidate for 44th Assembly district had to withdraw from the race after ordinary residents (but not the county party, apparently) discovered that he had a stream of racist and otherwise bigoted posts on social media. See, On Vetting Candidates: Be Sure to Check “Social Media.” You Know, on the Inter-Webs.
Now comes Brian Fitzgerald, a middle-aged Republican candidate for the 15th Senate District, with two of the ripest political ads Wisconsin has seen in a while. It’s understandable that Fitzgerald needs to do something to get attention in a district that’s mostly blue (Democrat Tim Cullen, now retiring, holds the seat).
What’s truly nutty is that, somehow, Fitzgerald thinks that a campaign commercial in which he warns a fellow tavern patron to stay out of the bathroom so as to avoid the malodorous emissions Fitzgerald has produced upon relieving himself would be a good commercial for his campaign.
It’s that bad:
As it turns out, Fitzgerald says this is his favorite of the commercials he’s preparing. See, subscription req’d, Senate candidate’s ads feature bathroom, bar, swearing.
There’s a difference between edgy and vulgar.
Honest to goodness, can the Rock County GOP not find better candidates? I’m a libertarian, and not a Republican, but the simplest thing one could say about the Rock County GOP is that each and every one of its party leaders needs to (1) quit, (2) soak his or her head, and (3) promise never to return to party leadership again.
By the way, for the campaign supporters who have a big, red sign for Fitzgerald along Main Street in Whitewater — you’re now out of step with your candidate.
Let me suggest something more suitable to your candidate’s own tastes:
