Although Trump carried Wisconsin in ‘16, and although 2020 is likely to see a hard fight against him in Wisconsin, Trump has significant obstacles he did not have in the last election. On Twitter, Joe Handrick (@joeminocqua) offers a sound analysis of Trump’s electoral position in the Badger State. Embedded below is the first of…
Elections
Congress, Elections, Putin, Russia, Trump, Trump-Russia
In questioning of DOJ’s inspector general, Sen. Klobuchar debunks GOP lies about FBI Russia probe report
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
America, Congress, Elections, Federal Government, Foreign Affairs, Impeachment, Poll, Presidential race 2020, Sen. Ron Johnson, Trump, Wisconsin
Sure enough…
by JOHN ADAMS • • 5 Comments
Ron Johnson really is America’s Dumbest Senator™: MIDDLETON – U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said Thursday there’s nothing improper about President Donald Trump’s call on Chinese officials to investigate his top political rival in his 2020 re-election bid. Trump extended the invitation Thursday to the foreign country as he faces impeachment over a similar request of the president of…
America, Congress, Elections, Trump, Trump-Russia
Moscow Mitch
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
America, Courts, Elections, Federal Government, Law
Major Supreme Court Decisions (And Where to Find Them)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
There were two major United States Supreme Court decisions handed down today, on partisan gerrymandering and on a possible citizenship question for the 2020 census form. There will be significant commentary – some informed, some not – about these decisions, but it’s worth reading them in full. Like most decisions, they’re lengthy, yet always worth…
Elections, Politics, Presidential race 2020, Trump
That’s Not Confidence…
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
One reads at Politico that Donald Trump is confident his core coalition of die-hard supporters can propel him to a second term in the White House, asserting in a new interview that he may not even bother reaching out to swing voters in his re-election campaign. “I think my base is so strong, I’m not…
Authoritarianism, Elections, Fellow Traveler, Fifth Columnist, Foreign Affairs, Herrenvolk, Never Trump, Politics, Russia, Trump, Unfit
The Fifth Columnist at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
While a fellow traveler – however detestable – is merely someone who sympathizes with an adversarial foreign power, a fifth columnist is someone who actively cooperates – colludes, one might say – with a hostile foreign state. For all the talk of no collusion (styled as NO COLLUSION in a bigoted authoritarian’s tweets), Trump at…
Elections, Local Government, Politics, Trump
Forget Electability
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Jennifer Rubin looks at the latest Quinnipiac Poll and concludes Dumping the ‘electability’ canard is liberating: If Trump were not delusional, he would be panicked by the [poll] results. He loses to not only former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), but also South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sens. Elizabeth Warren…
CDA, City, Elections, Local Government, Wisconsin
Local Election Roundup 2019
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
Wisconsin’s spring general election is over, and a quick discussion follows. For unofficial results, see the pages for Walworth, Jefferson, and Rock counties. Wisconsin Supreme Court. This was a close election, but for supporters of Lisa Neubauer (as I am), it’s a disappointing result. Neubauer performed not as well overall as Rebecca Dallet last year,…
City, Courts, Elections
Local Elections 2019: Municipal Court (Part 4 of 4)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Whitewater has a municipal court, and since a municipal court then a municipal judge presiding over that court. In the course of the campaign between Chad Buehler and Patrick Taylor, the candidates have discussed questions of experience, background, and perspective. They’ve both offered outlines of how they would serve, but they both face this same…
Bad Ideas, City, Elections, Government Spending, Local Government
Local Elections 2019: City Council (Part 3 of 4)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
In 1926, Hugo Gernsback began publishing Amazing Stories, an American science fiction magazine of fantastic, but entertaining, tales. The magazine was benign: even if the stories described impossible or improbable events, they caused no practical harm. One cannot say the same about lingering fantasies of fiscal and economic policy in Whitewater, Wisconsin: they produce real…
Education, Elections, School District
Local Elections 2019: School Board (Part 2 of 4)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
The Whitewater area – the city proper and smaller townships nearby – are jointly part of a unified public school district. These last years have been difficult for Wisconsin educational funding, for the rural economies in this part of the state, and surely for Whitewater in both matters. The district has recently completed both a…
Elections, Local Government, Trump
Local Elections 2019: The Limits of Local (Part 1 of 4)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Whitewater, like other cities in Wisconsin, will hold local elections on Tuesday, April 2nd. Even in difficult times, this state and this country has carried on, and properly so, with local elections. In Whitewater, residents of the city will vote for council members, school board members, and for the city’s next municipal judge. Those races…
Elections, Gerrymandering, Scott Walker, Speaker Vos, State Government, Wisconsin
The Gerrymander Kings
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Many of former Gov. Walker’s legislative victories depended on gerrymandering, and Speaker Robin Vos would not be the speaker today without a wildly gerrymandered state. Say what one wants about those men, they’re staying true to their shared dance partner: Walker has joined a GOP group that favors gerrymandered redistricting, and Vos refuses to answer…