I posted earlier about the Democrats’ recall forum on 4.25.12 at UW-Whitewater. I’m not a Democrat, but it was an event well-worth attending. All four Democratic candidates for governor, and other office-seekers, were there. For my posts on the evening, see The Democrats’ Recall Forum @ UW-Whitewater and The Democrats’ Recall Forum @ UW-Whitewater (Compas…
Politics
Elections, Politics, Recall
The Democrats’ Recall Forum @ UW-Whitewater (Compas and Jorgensen edition)
by JOHN ADAMS •
I wrote yesterday about the Democrats’ recall forum, focusing on the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor. (See, The Democrats’ Recall Forum @ UW-Whitewater. ) Below is a summary of two other candidates’ presentations: Lori Compas, running in the 13th Senate District against Sen. Maj. Leader Scott Fitzgerald, and Rep. Andy Jorgensen, now representing the…
Daily Adams, Politics, Recall
The Wisconsin Democrats’ Recall Strategy
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here in the land of recall primaries and recall general elections (5.8.12 and 6.5.12 respectively), the WisDems have a strategy that’s light on collective bargaining, but big on education, legislative issues perceived to be affecting women disproportionately, and Walker’s honesty & candor. Writing in Mother Jones, Andy Kroll describes the tack the Dems plan to…
City, Elections, Hip & Prosperous, Politics
Hip & Prosperous through Political Clarity
by JOHN ADAMS •
Most people don’t think about a contest for a single council district when they’re thinking about ways to make Whitewater hip and prosperous. In fact, political races — and how we describe them — make a big difference. Not just a race, but the way we describe it (or any other contest), matters. It’s the…
Politics, Walworth County
Election Transparency: How Jefferson and Rock Counties Still Top Walworth County
by JOHN ADAMS •
On April 5, 2011, I wrote about the more transparent and informative election websites in the area: Election Transparency: How Jefferson and Rock Counties Top Walworth County. It’s a year later, and Walworth County still lags behind Jefferson and Rock Counties. The Walworth County website doesn’t list results by precinct, leaving residents in the dark…
City, Politics, School District
Political Recap: The Whitewater Schools’ Referendum
by JOHN ADAMS •
Sometimes one sees something impressive. Last night was one of those times. After all but a few votes have been counted, the Whitewater Schools’ referendum has likely passed. I wrote about the referendum on January 18th, and made two principal points: (1) the referendum faced long odds (“I’d guess that a referendum in the spring…
Gov. Walker, Politics, Recall
Republican Betting on Walker’s Recall Opponent
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Republican Governors Association expects Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to be a candidate in the recall race against Gov. Walker (Barrett’s promised to announce his intentions between 3.30 and 4.3). Most people expect him to be a candidate. (I’d guess that, should he run, he’d beat candidates Kathleen Falk and Kathleen Vinehout in recall primary).…
City, Free Markets, Immigration, Libertarians, Politics
The Right and Immigration
by JOHN ADAMS •
Steve Chapman, writing in a reposted 2007 article at Reason, explains Why the Right Shifted on Immigration. Chapman thinks the shift began with the fall of the Berlin Wall, when many conservatives no longer saw immigrants trying to reach our shores as proof of America’s sound economy and society. If so, consider the cynicism of…
Corruption Probe, Daily Adams, Gov. Walker, Law, Politics
Wisconsin’s Shoddy Partisan Analysis
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsin has a fuller political calendar than most states: we’ve not merely the traditional state and federal races, but recall elections likely for May and June. A libertarian will look at these issues with sharp interest, but without a partisan attachment. Perhaps all those contests, sure to be fought tooth and nail, have made some…
Elections, Politics, Recall, Uncategorized
Assessing the (Current) Recall Challengers’ Public Speaking
by JOHN ADAMS •
As I write, there are three declared challengers to Gov. Walker, should there be (as there will be, really) a gubernatorial recall race. More will enter, but for now it’s Kathleen Falk, Hari Trevedi, and Kathleen Vinehout. I’ll consider their presentations at the challenger-friendly Fourth Annual Grassroots Fest Candidate Forum held February 18, 2012 in…
Elections, Politics, Recall
Reviewing Kathleen Vinehout’s Initial Campaign Steps in a Recall Race
by JOHN ADAMS •
Many Wisconsinites have never heard of Kathleen Vinehout, a Democratic state senator representing western Wisconsin’s 31st Senate District. (Vinehout lives in tiny Alma, population 781.) She, like all her partisan senate colleagues, left the state in 2010 to prevent a quorum. She was not, and is not, as well-known as some of those who left…
Politics, Presidential race 2012
Gingrich on Reagan, 1992
by JOHN ADAMS •
One finds all one would ever need to know about candidate Newt Gingrich in his remarks on Reagan from a 1992 speech to the ‘National Academy of Public Administration’: ….he didn’t think government mattered…. The Reagan failure was to grossly undervalue the centrality of government as the organizing mechanism for reinforcing societal behavior.” There’s Gingrich:…
Politics, Presidential race 2012
Wisconsin: Obama, Catholic vote, and contraception mandate
by JOHN ADAMS •
Craig Gilbert crunches the numbers. This is bad and overreaching policy, and it’s surely bad politics. It’s is an unforced error, and never should have happened this year. Many who support a contraception requirement were already going to vote for Pres. Obama; it’s some of those who don’t support a requirement who were in play, and…
Libertarians, Politics, Presidential race 2012
The Tea Party’s Tepid Support for Ron Paul
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Tea Party’s not even warm for Ron Paul, and CNN anchor Ashleigh Banfield asks Dick Armey why that’s so. Armey doesn’t speak for every Tea Party group (Banfield’s introduction actually inflates his role within that movement). Still, why? Although I don’t think Paul’s libertarian enough, that shouldn’t stop the Tea Parties from favoring him…