Evjue - A Wisconsin Politics blog

State Rep. Jeff Wood, who was elected as a Republican from northwest Wisconsin's 67th district in 2002 and reelected as such in 2004 and 2006, has quit the Grand Old Party to run for reelection as an independent. Wood, a resident of the Chetek area who has long been a renegade within the Assembly Republican Caucus, made his move formal Tuesday, when he filed his nominating papers just before Wisconsin's deadline for candidates for state and federal posts. The legislator did not merely express frustration with state Republican leaders. In a letter to constituents, Wood argued that the national GOP has abandoned its traditional values when it comes to pursuing the war in Iraq, protecting civil liberties and practicing fiscal responsibility. "I first joined the party of Ronald Reagan because I believed it was the party of fiscal responsibility and limited... READ MORE

Guess which candidate for president has begun airing television ads that celebrate the fact that he battled the backward-thinking George Bush on global warming. Here's a hint: It's the same contender who is promoting himself as the candidate of "Reform. Prosperity. Peace." Who is this radical battler against a corrupt, dangerous and brain-dead status quo? John McCain. The Republican candidate for president is running harder against the current Republican president than Democrat Barack Obama. Here's the script for the McCain campaign's new ad, which begins airing today in battleground states such as Wisconsin. ANNOUNCER: John McCain stood up to the President and sounded the alarm on global... READ MORE

Remember when Madison conservatives -- looking for something... anything -- to use as an issue against Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz attacked his campaign for using a photo of the city's chief executive with the city's firefighters. It was inappropriate the mayor's critics said in 2007 for Cieslewicz to "use" uniformed firefighters as campaign props. Will these same folks will now savage presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain for using an image of General David Petraeus as part of a particularly creepy fund-raising appeal. Here's the link to the McCain appeal: http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/mccain_raises_off_of_iraq_visi.php Here's what McCain's long-time friend... READ MORE

U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Middleton, is not giving up on his friend Ted Kennedy. The Massachusetts senator may have been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor Tuesday, but his long-time colleague on the Senate Judiciary Committee says Kennedy's a fighter. And Feingold says Kennedy's up to the challenge. "My thoughts are with Senator Kennedy and his entire family today," said Feingold this evening. "His fighting spirit is legendary, and I know that he will meet this difficult moment as he has met so many... READ MORE

Barack Obama still has Wisconsin on his mind.  In the victory speech he gave after winning the North Carolina primary and almost winning the Indiana primary Tuesday, the Democratic presidential candidate celebrated his best night since he swept the Feb. 19 voting in the Badger state.  ... READ MORE

The last round of polling data for Tuesday's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina suggests that the contests are incredibly volatile. This means that the contests could produce surprises all around. In Indiana, where Hillary Clinton is supposed to be ahead, a late poll by the Zogby group puts Barack Obama in front narrowly, 44 percent to 42 percent. Three other surveys give the lead to Clinton. Insider Advantage puts the New York senator in front 48-44. Suffolk University has it Clinton 49 to Obama 43. The only poll that predicts as easy win for the New Yorker is SurveyUSA's, which gives Clinton 54 percent to Obama's 42 percent. The pattern suggests a Clinton win and the large number of undecideds in most of the surveys is good news for her... READ MORE

O.K., it's dueling Democratic National Committee chairs. Former DNC chair Joe Andrew, who headed the party at the end of Bill Clinton's second term and then became an enthusiastic supporter of Hilliary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, switched his endorsement to Barack Obama this week. That was a painful blow to the Clinton -- especially because Andrew, a Hoosier, made his move just before Tuesday's Indiana primary; doubly especially because Andrew explained his decision with a thoughtful letter that argued Clinton's continued candidacy is harming Democratic prospects in November. But the thing about painful blows to the Clintons is this. They don't fall down. They hit back. Now comes a letter from... READ MORE

As predicted here yesterday, the immigrant rights rally in Madison -- which organizers said drew around 700 people -- highlighted serious talk about launching an effort to recall Sheriff Dave Mahoney. Angered over the sheriff's continuation of a practice of notifying federal officials regarding the immigration status of inmates held in the county jail, the Immigrant Workers Union that helped pull together the successful rally issued a release announcing, "IWU says that the only way out for this situation is to call for a recall of Sheriff Mahoney." Recall elections occur when critics of an official collect sufficient signatures to force a special election for the position. The official then must seek reelection in order to remain in his or her post. ... READ MORE

There is talk today about recalling Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney, whose practice of notifying federal officials regarding the immigration status of inmates held in the county jail has stirred resentment. The top demand on the list posted for this afternoon's immigrant rights rally at Brittingham Park was: "Sheriff Dave Mahoney to Step down Immediately."  The sheriff won't do that. So the next step, which has been discussed by some activists, is to launch a recall drive, with the purpose of forcing a special election at which Mahoney could be removed by the voters. The notion of attempting to remove the popular sheriff, a Democrat who was easily elected in 2006 with strong support... READ MORE

You can argue with Bill O'Reilly about a lot of things. But the Fox Newsman got something right Wednesday night. "(The) media in America," O'Reilly explained, "has become very corrupt, partisan."  No viewer of O'Reilly's program could possibly disagree. Watching him get cozy with Hillary Clinton, his guest on Wednesday night, was one of the creepier moments in the creepy history of Fox's experiment in partisan broadcasting. And the pursuit of their mutual agenda -- discrediting Clinton's rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama -- confirmed the the full extent of the corruption that results when a political campaign and a broadcast outlet start working together. O'Reilly and Clinton tag-teamed Obama on the only issue that Fox covers these days: the Rev. Jeremiah Wright O'Reilly... READ MORE

Want to tell a super delegate to the Democratic National Convention how to vote? University of Wisconsin student Awais Khaleel is, by virtue of his status as the current vice president of College Democrats of America, in the same league as former President Jimmy Carter, U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold and other prominent Democratic officials and party insiders. He's an un-pledged super delegate to the convention that will decide whether Illinois Senator Barack Obama or New York Senator Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee for president of the United States. Unlike most super delegates, Khaleel remains genuinely uncommitted "“ despite heavy lobbying from Obama, Clinton and their backers. ... READ MORE

This is The Capital Times' first day as a digital newspaper. Part of the point of this change was to reach readers more quickly with the hope of energizing citizen engagement and progressive reform. It's working. Today's Capital Times editorial urged readers to attend a forum this evening on reforming state politics, which was organized by Common Cause in Wisconsin. The editorial went up at 7 a.m., and by noon -- before the old print editions of the paper would have hit the streets -- it had already had precisely the impact we were hoping for. At 11:52 a.m., Common Cause in Wisconsin executive director Jay Heck -- whose photo appears with the editorial -- sent this email blast to the group's members and supporters. There appears to be increasing Interest in this evening's... READ MORE

John Gard, the former state Assembly Speaker who WTDY radio newsman Tim Morrissey used to refer to as "the Peshtigo Pissant," is again running for Congress. Not put off by the fact that voters who knew him as their state representative for the better part of two decades rejected his candidacy in favor of a political newcomer "“ Democratic Congressman Steve Kagen "“ the Republican will run again. Two years ago, when he and Kagen first went up against one another, Gard ran one of the sleaziest campaigns in Wisconsin history. Pro-Gard television ads actually tried to portray Kagen, a respected physician, as a friend of child pornographer. ... READ MORE

This blog is named for William T. Evjue, the founding editor of The Capital Times, a newspaper with which I have been associated for most of my adult life -- and which my great-grandfather started reading when the first edition rolled off the presses in 1917. Though now long departed, Bill Evjue remains my editor. And his approach to politics -- which always put the progressive ideology ahead of party and personality -- will be the touchstone of this daily review of Wisconsin politics. The point here will be to do what Evjue did with The Capital Times and with his pioneering radio commentaries -- which older Wisconsinites will remember for the editor's booming greeting: "Hello Wisconsin." This blog will break news,... READ MORE