There’s fuss — but there shouldn’t be surprise — that the WISGOP and Sen. Majority leader Fitzgerald have schemed to run fake Democrats against real Democrats in recall races. Their goal is to force recall primaries, before recall general elections against GOP senators, to buy the GOP candidates an additional month to fund raise, etc.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — a paper that endorsed Gov. Walker, and opposes recall elections — sees the brazen Fitzgerald plan for what it is:
Wisconsin Republicans acknowledge that they are recruiting other Republicans to run as phony Democrats in upcoming recall elections so that GOP senators facing recall have more time to prepare. If more than one Democrat runs, there will be a primary election and the general election would be pushed back four weeks to Aug. 9.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald wholeheartedly endorses the plan: “It gives us another month to campaign,” the Republican from Juneau crowed.
What Fitzgerald doesn’t tell you is that his party’s high jinks will cost taxpayerstens of thousands of dollars. La Crosse County Clerk Ginny Dankmeyer estimated costs to the county and various municipalities would total $50,000 for a primary in Republican state Sen. Dan Kapanke’s recall election alone.
To see Fitzgerald in action, here’s a clip of him talking about his prospects, and those of his younger brother (Assembly Speaker) Jeff Fitzgerald, to run next year for Senator Kohl’s office. It’s a cringe-worthy performance: if there’s ever been a man unsuited for a Wisconsin federal senate seat, since Joe McCarthy, it would be Scott Fitzgerald.
He goes on about himself, as though he had a significant statewide following, all the while insulting the reporter in a failed attempt at humor. The Wisconsin Reporter‘s a right-of-center publication, but in publishing this clip they’ve done Fitzgerald no favors.