Stung by criticism over its political activities, the state's largest business lobby is rethinking the tenor of its election-season advertising and how it sells itself to the public.

The move by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce comes in the wake of recent criticism from former UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley, major Dane County employer Epic Systems and liberal groups over its campaign ads and political activities.

"If we're going to be perceived as the sleaze carriers in the state, I don't want that and our members don't want that," Jim Haney, WMC president, said in a recent interview. "If we have to reposition ourselves a bit, we'll do so."

Members of WMC's board of directors say the group isn't abandoning its advocacy for lower taxes, less government regulation and limits on business liability. And they dismiss arguments that the group has aligned itself too closely to state Republicans.

But some WMC officials worry the group's image is at risk because of its high-profile campaign advertising and its role in the increasing partisanship among Madison lawmakers.

"Everybody's aware of it," Paul Jadin, president of the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce and a WMC board member, said of criticism of the group, which he said has created "an image issue."

But Wiley said WMC has more than an image problem. Since his essay criticizing the group appeared in August, he said, business leaders inside and outside the business lobby have contacted him to offer support.

The State Journal tried to contact each of the 44 members of the WMC board of directors listed on the group's Web site to discuss its political activities and the impact of criticism from Wiley and others. Eight agreed to speak publicly.

None said the criticism has caused the group to rethink its policy agenda, and none validated reports of internal dissent among the directors over WMC's political activity.

But some board members acknowledged WMC's political activity contributes to the hard turn toward partisanship in the Capitol.

"Both parties are not working very well together, and interest groups, whether it be (the teacher's union) or WMC, are a part of it," said Reed Hall, executive director of Marshfield Clinic and a board member.

High court campaigns

WMC traces its roots to 1911, but it wasn't until the mid-1990s that it began getting involved in political campaigns, Haney said. The business lobby sought to be a counterweight to the powerful Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state teacher's union that typically endorsed and funded Democratic legislators.

In 2006, Haney said, WMC changed tactics in a move suggested by staff and backed by the board: It endorsed and funded so-called issue ads in statewide races, backing Republicans for attorney general and governor. And it laid the groundwork for the state Supreme Court campaign in 2007.

"Suddenly we found very activist judges with an agenda and substituting their judgment for the governor and the Legislature, the people elected to make policy," Haney said.

The business community chafed at a court decision to allow paint companies to be sued for lead poisoning even if plaintiffs can't show which companies' products caused the harm, and another throwing out state caps on medical malpractice awards.

Washington County Circuit Judge Annette Ziegler, a conservative backed by WMC, won the 2007 race over liberal Madison lawyer Linda Clifford. In an echo of the criticism the group received in the 2006 general election, WMC was denounced by opponents of outside spending on Supreme Court campaigns and by Clifford's supporters for spending an estimated $2.2 million on behalf of Ziegler, mostly on negative ads.

As a result of the scrutiny, WMC board members last year formed an advisory group to review its political advertising.

"We were satisfied" with the advertising, said John Beckord, of Forward Janesville. "But a cautionary note was given to the staff that for future ads we weren't wallowing in below-the-belt advertising."

This year, WMC mounted another massive ad campaign on behalf of a conservative Supreme Court candidate, little-known Burnett County Circuit Judge Michael Gableman. He was challenging Justice Louis Butler, who had been appointed by Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle.

WMC's "Loophole Louie" ad criticized Butler for a dissenting opinion in a murder case, "almost jeopardizing the prosecution."

FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan group at the University of Pennsylvania that monitors the truthfulness of political advertising, found that to be a false claim. Moreover, FactCheck said the case had nothing to do with WMC's core mission of improving the state's business climate.

"Would it be more pure if we talked about (Butler's) lead paint decision or some of those? Sure," Haney said. "But combined risk contribution theory' would have caused glaze to form on everyone's eyes. Nobody would have known what the heck we were talking about.

"You talk about finding loopholes in the criminal law, they understand it."

More criticism

WMC members pointed to other ads in the race they considered even uglier. In one, the liberal group Greater Wisconsin Committee connected Gableman's Burnett County judgeship to his political donations. In another, the state teacher's union accused Gableman of coddling child sexual predators. And an ad from Gableman about Butler's job as a public defender "hoodwinks the viewer," according to FactCheck, by suggesting Butler's actions led to a convicted child molester attacking another child.

Nonetheless, the "Loophole Louie" ad and others WMC produced this spring generated a new round of criticism of the business lobby -- this time, with consequences.

J.P. Cullen & Sons, a Janesville builder, left the WMC board in June after Verona-based Epic Systems, citing WMC's ads in the race, announced that it wouldn't do any business with vendors that support WMC's agenda.

Despite Cullen's withdrawal, WMC directors decided to continue its political activities, said Thomas Howatt, president of Wausau Paper and WMC's vice chairman.

But again some board members argued that WMC needed to tone down its political advertising -- even as they felt the group was being unfairly criticized and singled out.

"We want to make sure it's clearly understood that we take a positive and constructive approach to public policy in the state of Wisconsin and our communications need to reflect that positive and constructive approach," Howatt said.

The board plans to discuss the tone and tenor of WMC-sponsored ads leading into the fall legislative races at its meeting this month, several directors said.

Haney said the group is considering public opposition to liberal Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, who is up for re-election next year. But he said no decisions have been made. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Randy Koschnick is likely to run against Abrahamson, a GOP political consultant said last week.

Wiley's essay

Cullen's withdrawal from WMC was followed two months later by Wiley's essay in Madison Magazine.

In it he argued that WMC's agenda has impeded not only the University of Wisconsin System's progress, but economic development across the state. He called the group the "single biggest driver" of the poisonous partisanship often displayed in the Legislature and the "single biggest obstacle to the recovery of Wisconsin's economy."

WMC directors and Haney said Wiley's criticisms are unfair, and they disagreed with his assertion that the group's positions on taxes, business regulation and limited government are hurting the state's economic growth.

The group supports more Republicans than Democrats because more Republicans support WMC's agenda, they said.

"It's unfortunate in the state of Wisconsin that the business agenda doesn't garner the support of one of the parties," said Thomas Boldt, chief executive officer of The Boldt Company in Appleton and chairman of WMC's board.

Haney said that before Wiley's essay, the group pledged to state university and technical college leaders that the group would lobby for their 2009-11 budget requests.

Some WMC members, including Haney, said they have had private conversations with new UW Chancellor Biddy Martin in the wake of Wiley's essay. The group has also invited her to its board meeting this month. Martin didn't respond to a request for an interview through a spokesman.

WHAT IS WMC?

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce is the state's largest business lobby, a result of the merger of the state chamber of commerce, the state manufacturers association and the state safety council.

Based in Madison, it has nearly 4,000 members statewide, including manufacturers, trade associations, chambers of commerce and service corporations, according to the group's Web site. WMC doesn't disclose its membership list.

For more information, go to www.wmc.org.