Take a breath before your head explodes.

Saw this on digg tonight. Thought it was a succinct two-minute summary that helps to explain the perpetual train wreck that is President Bush's approval numbers.

I'm not saying you have to like Tim Ryan's style or even agree with the guy. But objectively, he does manage to rattle off about a dozen reasons why President Bush doesn't have and will probably never regain the trust of the majority of those he governs.

Sometimes the enemy of your enemy is your friend

Northwestern University Law Professor Anthony D'Amato lays out the case that the largest contributing factor to the decline in actual and attempted rapes in recent decades has been the increasing availability of pornography. Go on, click and read. It's six pages. It'll take you three minutes to get through. I haven't read anything this tasty since the Steven Levitt laid out a plausible argument in "Freakonomics" that legalized abortion has reduced rates of violent crime. Wow, that sure pissed off conservatives!

Granted, I'm sure there's a counter argument to be made. But it's just so much fun to watch values on both sides collide headlong with one another. What if DVD's chock-full of hot girl-on girl-on-guy action actually do make men less likely to commit acts of sexual violence against women?

That'll piss conservatives off, since they think both are examples of immoral, sinful behavior. Feminists will squirm because they want desperately to believe that pornography is exploitative. They must confront the fact that women having sex on camera for money might actually keep other women from having sex against their will.

We pick bad over worse in foreign policy matters all the time. That sort of approach used to be routine, at least until Bush 43 came along and decided to lump all 64 flavors of Muslims into the same category. Just look at the support the Reagan administration directed to Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war. Neither side was angelic but Iraq was the lesser of the two evils, at least in the moment.

Why then are so many ideologues reluctant to accept that similar patterns could present themselves in matters of social policy? If abortion does reduce violent crime, if access to pornography does reduce instances of rape, shouldn't politicians think about whether abortion is worse than violent crime? Whether pornography is worse than rape? What if the best governing policy in these situations isn't idealism but pragmatism or relativism? It'd make for an interesting discussion, that's for sure - something there's far too little of in politics these days.

Like Neil Heinen, I'd be interested in your thoughts. Except I actually mean it. Neil's just full of crap.

Have a good weekend, readers.

Concerned about video cameras, Reynolds to boycott family reunion

Tom Reynolds announced today that he was boycotting the 25th annual Reynolds family reunion this Saturday, after hearing rumors from Aunt Judy that Reynolds' cousin Jim was planning on bringing a video camera to capture the event on film.

Sen. Reynolds could not confirm the validity of this report, adding that he "couldn’t even say who would be there."* When pressed further about his planned absence, Sen. Reynolds added that "there's just the basic strategy in filming these events, trying to find some strange pose that you’re in." Sen. Reynolds then expressed concern that cousin Jim was in fact cooperating with groups affiliated with his Democratic opponent, Jim Sullivan. According to Sen. Reynolds, he will "not have these groups filming their attack ads there" at the reunion. He was especially concerned that footage of the traditional three-legged race could prove damaging. Reynolds has made it clear that the only kind of bondage he supports is figurative bondage, in which the wife is subservient to the husband at all times.

When asked of his intent, Jim Reynolds indicated that he was only intending to capture general footage and brief profiles of each member of the Reynolds clan for distribution of a family DVD at Christmas. "I'm not sure what Tom's deal is," said Jim. "I mean, he's a politician. You think he'd be used to cameras and all that attention. Instead, he'll probably have Bob Dohnal write some incredulous, head-up-his-ass column about how I'm 'out of touch' with the family on this matter, and his work-at-home staffer J.J. Blonien will start up some kind of smear campaign against my wife and kids."

Jim added that he "wonders if Tom ever bothered to take Blonien off the state payroll when he started doing campaign work for him. I mean, even an average Jim like me can see how that's blurring the lines between legislative and campaign duties. Besides, didn't Blonien say he wasn't going to be there past June anyway?"

When asked for a response to Jim Reynolds' comments, Sen. Reynolds refused to come out from underneath his plywood kitchen table, where he was found playing with nativity figurines and babbling about the end times.

Note: The words in purple are actual quotes from Tom Reynolds. See Senator, just like video, words too can be taken out of context and used against you. Guess you better shut your damn mouth then, too.

Jeskewitz Unleashes Fury of Microsoft FrontPage on Primary Opponent

Rep. Sue Jeskewitz announced yesterday that she has a campaign website. According to the release, Jeskewitz says "I have gained a wealth of knowledge in the past ten years and I want to put that and my seniority to work for the citizens of the 24th Assembly District." She then added something about crushing her opponent with the awesome, unstoppable power of cascading style sheets.

Funny thing is, this website isn't even political. I can't give money on it. It doesn't give me volunteer opportunities or ideas. It just looks like all the other boring websites that LTSB helps staff maintain even though nobody cares enough about the legislators or their work to look at these homages to self-importance.

Jeskewitz could probably donate the site to her office once she's done with it. That'd actually be a refreshing change, donating a campaign resource for a legitimate legislative purpose.

As we all know, that's like driving a car the wrong way on a one way street.

Slap fight!

Just when I didn't think the sheer childishness and immaturity of J.B. "Two Mortgages" Van Hollen and Paul "Jessica's Husband" Bucher couldn't be topped, we get this treat from Owen and Jessica.

Thanks for the exchange, guys. Funny stuff. Reminds me of why I only read two or three conservative blogs anymore. As I've said before, if I want to listen to people shill for candidates, I'll read guys like Fraley and Xoff, since they do it well enough to get paid for their efforts.

Nobody cares about the AG race. Furthermore, nobody will care about this race. Van Hollen and Bucher are both boring candidates and Peg isn't exactly the life of the party either. Or Kathy Falk, but I think the Dem side is a done deal. Surely as I say that, Falk will win by 6.

I can't wait for you both to be shaking your heads on the morning of November 8th as you try to figure out how the Republicans managed to hand this race to the Democrat.

Multimedia weekend!

So this week in latent GOP racism we've already had "Welcome to America, Macaca" and "well, you know, if he comes in wearing a turban and his name is Mohammed, that’s a good start."

Now, the Playground is proud to present "blacks are not the greatest swimmers," featuring Tramm Hudson, candidate in Florida's 13th Congressional District. That's right, the seat that Katherine Harris is vacating to lose a Senate race.

Enjoy!

Reminds me of a legislative budget caucus.

Sometimes numbers can be tricky. You're watching for the last two minutes of this one...

Playground Politics License Plate of the Week

Allen steps in (ma)caca with use of racial slur

Conservative darling and candidate for president Sen. George Allen has proven once again why nobody should let him anywhere near the White House, let alone give him the keys.

In a campaign stop last Friday, WaPo reports that Allen referred to one of Jim Webb's staffers, a young man of Indian descent, as "macaca."

Sayeth WaPo...

"This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt, macaca, or whatever his name is. He's with my opponent. He's following us around everywhere. And it's just great," Allen said, as his supporters began to laugh. After saying that Webb was raising money in California with a "bunch of Hollywood movie moguls," Allen said, "Let's give a welcome to macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia." Allen then began talking about the "war on terror."

President Bush can call Adam Clymer a "major league asshole" and I could care less. It's one thing to dislike a reporter because of things he's said about you or your campaign. But in a day and age when America has never been more diverse, a white guy calling someone of Indian heritage a monkey is not acceptable.

Want to hand the White House to the Democrats on a silver platter? Push Giuliani and McCain to the side and nominate this guy.

Update: Wonkette has a fabulous spoof of George Allen's diplomacy skills here.

More on the UW System

In the interest of disseminating another viewpoint on a topic of discussion a few weeks ago on the Playground, I'd encourage you to read Rep. Steve Nass' column on the UW system that was put out yesterday.

I don't always agree with Rep. Nass, but I have no problem with offering praise in addition to criticism. It's good to see a legislator who is critical of the UW System coming forward with something that can at least start a discussion. I think Nass is right on when it comes to restructuring the UW System and reducing the size of the Board of Regents. I've always wondered why we're running so many schools with so many overlapping programs. If we got rid of Stout or River Falls, would anyone notice? Can't we just make room for those students (including a lot of Minnesotans) at Eau Claire or Superior?

The other ideas I'm not sold on. When Nass starts rumbling about "Wisconsin values" and whatnot, well, those are things that are hard to quantify. For instance, I'm not sure I want legislators involved in content control of what is taught in the UW System. I'd rather leave that to the Board of Regents, individual campuses, or some non-partisan body. Curriculum and content shouldn't be a political football.

And I think Nass is off base when it comes to reforming the admissions process. Holistic admissions is entirely appropriate. Colleges should admit human beings, not test scores and GPAs. The world is a diverse place, much more diverse than Wisconsin. It's good for all students to be exposed to students of different ethnic backgrounds, religions, and cultures - provided those students are able to succeed academically at a given school. A diverse student body is indirectly beneficial to all students.

That said, Rep. Nass' column is a worthwhile read. Check it out.

It's like this. No, it's like that.

Majority Leader and leading candidate to preside over the fall of Rome, Mike Huebsch, will have you know that he does not support allowing Wisconsin citizens to cast ballots on whether they think their taxes should be raised for important cultural projects.

Says Huebsch...

"It is unfortunate that some members of the Milwaukee County Board are wasting their time and energy looking for ways to stick it to the taxpayer instead of looking for ways to cut spending and control costs."

So that's the message to county governments. Suck it up. Cut spending.

Unless the county we're talking about is in Huebsch's district. And as long as that money is going to the Republicans' special friends, the roadbuilders. In that case, Huebsch says...

"If you want to spend more money than the freeze allows, you ask the taxpayers."

So what Huebsch seems to be actually saying is this..

"Citizens should be able to vote on whether to increase local spending, unless I, Mike Huebsch, don't like what the money will be spent on."

Could make for interesting times in the kingdom with visionary leadership like this.

Nusbaum endorsed by two old guys nobody remembers, cares about

Today, Nancy Nusbaum announced the endorsement of her 8th CD candidacy by two former governors of Wisconsin, who combined for a whopping six years of service over two decades ago and combined to win exactly one gubernatorial election: Tony Earl and Marty Schreiber.

This, of course, raises a question. Which ex-gubernatorial endorsement is least valuable in this primary season?:

• Nancy Nusbaum: Tony Earl
• Nancy Nusbaum: Marty Schreiber
• Paul Bucher: Lee Sherman Dreyfus

Do guys like Earl, Schreiber, and Dreyfus actually retain loyal constituencies within their own parties? Also, is an endorsement valuable if voters aren't immediately familiar with the endorsers or don't have general impressions that are favorable?

To me, this all seems about as ridiculous as a Republican putting out a release bragging about the endorsement of Scott McCallum. Steve Kagen has a boatload of cash and a lead in the polls. If all Nusbaum can fight back with is Earl and Schreiber, it might be a telling sign that this primary is all but over.

Grow Wisconsin invests another $208.6 million in state

Word today is that the winning $208.6 million Powerball ticket was sold to 100 workers at a Sargento cheese factory in Fond du Lac County. And facing a tough re-election campaign, Governor Jim Doyle has already taken credit for the win.

"One of the keys of my Grow Wisconsin agenda is investing in people," said Doyle. "And today, my passive decision to allow Wisconsin to continue participating in Powerball has successfully invested $208.6 million in 100 lucky residents of Northeast Wisconsin. Of course, it'll be less if they opt for the lump-sum option. And the state is going to take about $13 million of that in taxes, which will also help to further other Grow Wisconsin initiatives. This is a great day for Grow Wisconsin."

Doyle added that "since I was elected, my Grow Wisconsin agenda has consistently improved life for the millions of working families here in our great state. Today, we salute gambling, which has made millions of Wisconsinites just a little poorer, but a lucky few much, much richer."

The Doyle campaign also cited the following additional Grow Wisconsin achivements:

• 372,000 kids successfully potty trained
• 871,000 smiley face pictures drawn by schoolkids
• over 1,300 consecutive sunrises
• millions of workers not laid off, downsized by Wisconsin businesses
• 2 budgets balanced, the same way a table with three legs is balanced

Doyle then drew a stark contrast with his gubernatorial opponent by noting that "(his) extreme agenda has never cured juvenile diabetes or caused anyone to successfully pick five numbers and the Powerball correctly. The only way we're ever going to cure juvenile diabetes and improve the ability of Wisconsin residents to successfully predict winning numbers is through stem-cell research, which my Republican opponent vehemently opposes. Grow Wisconsin isn't just about people. Grow Wisconsin IS people!"

The devil is in the details.

The MJS reported yesterday that a bit of a quagmire has arisen in regards to the gay marriage/civil unions amendment up for a vote in November. Seems that some Republicans don't like the way that Attorney General Peg "One For The Road" Lautenschlager has phrased the plain language explanation of the amendment that will appear on the ballot. They suggest the wording is biased by the Attorney General's own opposition to the amendment.

Jessica's Husband is threatening a lawsuit over the wording. Aren't the Republicans the ones always complaining about people being overly litigious? And since when do they trust the decisions of those pesky activist judges?

No word yet as to whether Republicans intend to push the following explanation of the intent of the amendment, preferred by some in the Vote Yes camp:

Living the Good Life

Congratulations to Rick Graber on his confirmation as the next United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic. There are probably few gigs sweeter in life than Ambassador. Perhaps royalty, but as a royal you have to deal with paparazzi. Ambassador is like getting all of the perks without any of the drawbacks. The nicest perk might be Graber's new digs in Prague, one of central Europe's real jewels.

While there are many jokes that could be made about Rick's woeful batting average in statewide elections since he took over RPW in 1999, I'll save those for another day. I only hope he doesn't lose the Czech Republic back to the Communists.

Hodně štěstí, Rick!

So...

If Joe Lieberman loses his primary next week as expected, and manages to run as an independent and win re-election anyway, who does he caucus with come January? The Republicans? The Democrats? Jim Jeffords? Himself?

"Fixing" the UW System requires the kind of balls that legislators don't have.

The MJS reports today that the Ozaukee County Board (no, Screech is not a member) is cutting funds to the UW-Extension in response to UW-Madison's decision to retain Kevin Barrett. Um, nice try. But that's an entirely different pool of money. I mean, I guess it's okay if your idea of getting even with UW-Madison is slashing funding for agricultural and business development programs across the state. But really, it's just more stupidity from the writes-with-crayons crowd in local government. You know, the ones we're constantly sending to Madison to screw things up there.

This is just part of an ongoing problem with the UW System - namely, that the Republicans who control the legislature have a remarkable and contradictory set of demands for those who run the show.

Here's what Republicans seem to want:

1. Cap tuition
2. Make the UW accept more in-state students, which costs the UW System about $10K a head per annum
3. No GPR increases for the UW. Heck, maybe even GPR cuts.
4. Don't compromise the quality of education provided.
5. Don't make any other cuts that would hurt students.

But in reality, Republicans have no clue how to make any of these ideas work with one another. All Republicans want to do is gut the system and tell the Regents to figure out how to pay all the bills. The same Regents they don't trust to make a single decision about the UW System - well, except the unattractive, ugly decisions that will piss parents and students off.

It's pretty much what you'd expect from the legislative Republicans - half-assed solutions that force everyone else to do the heavy lifting. Sort of like solving legislative ethics problems by making staff sit through interminable sessions with Jonathan Becker and Roth Judd while they make fundraising calls on their cell phones in the back office. That is, the ones ambitious enough to do that for themselves.

Oh, but there's that magical category of "waste, fraud, and abuse." That's why you should elect Mark Green. When he's done investigating, we're going to find out that UW janitors are taking home network servers, professors are running crack houses out of their offices, and administrators have department timeshares in the Caribbean.

Give me a break. It's absurd that Republicans, who allege to be so supportive of our state's economy, constantly trash the biggest and best economic engine this state has. That is, when they're not busy scaring everyone away from Wisconsin by talking about what a terrible place it is to do business.

Instead of recognizing that thousands of UW professors teach tens of thousands of course annually, legislators choose to focus on one week of one syllabus for one class offered by one lecturer at one school. Kevin Barrett's week of conspiracy theories will cost taxpayers approximately $468. So surely we should kick the system in the teeth for another $10 million annually. They're wasting FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS teaching conspiracy theories!

Politicians have been bleeding the UW System dry over the last four years while pumping money into all sorts of other programs with equally questionable returns, like SeniorCare. Here's an idea - let's scrap SeniorCare altogether. At least money spent on the UW System is an investment in the future. SeniorCare is just throwing money at people whose productive years are almost entirely behind them. Harsh, yeah. But face it. It's also true. There's no real economic benefit to squeezing a few more Thanksgiving dinners out of grandma and grandpa.

Eliminating SeniorCare gets me nearly $60 million annually in GPR that I can use to limit tuition increases to 3% or increase slots for in-state students. This indeed makes a statement about my values. It says that I value the future more than I value keeping dead people alive longer. I'm okay with that. It sucks that sometimes choices like that have to be made, but we elect politicians to make difficult choices, not avoid them.

Politically possible? Probably not. But you know what? At least it's a real idea, something Republicans are painfully short on when it comes to seriously addressing the UW System.

Now, if you're willing to sacrifice in some areas, you can make the GOP's LSD-induced pipe dream work. For example, we could let UW-Madison deteriorate to the level of Marquette. But even they've got their own issues. Hell, they might be willing to trade Daniel Maguire for Kevin Barrett straight up.

There are real answers here, but they're not attractive, so Republicans continue to peddle the message that the taxpayer and the student can have it all. In reality, the student and the taxpayer are on opposite sides of the fence. If you don't want to compromise quality, lost GPR has to be made up for with increases in program revenue - namely, tuition.

But maybe that doesn't matter to most legislators. After all, a lot of them weren't smart enough to get into UW-Madison anyway.

Hmmmm...

Anyone else think that it's more than just coincidence that the guy who composed the soundtrack to "Titanic" is penning the new music for the CBS Evening News?

Put me down as a skeptic. I think that after an initial spike in the ratings, CBS's binge-spending on Katie Couric could well end up as the Crystal Pepsi of network news.

Doyle to State Employees: 7 days, 6 nights, and 3 outpatient visits can keep Wisconsin moving forward

Today, DWD Secretary Roberta Gassman is touring Covance Laboratories. Covance is "a world-class contract research laboratory, testing new products for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical, and food additive industries," according to DWD flack Rose Lynch.

However, according to a Doyle administration insider, Gassman is going for more than a tour. "The Governor believes so strongly in making Wisconsin a destination for medical research that he's sending Gassman to Covance to see if we might be able to send surplus legislative and agency employees there during the summer," said an aide who requested anonymity. "Now that they can't campaign, they're all playing solitaire and leaving at 3 p.m. The Governor believes this resource can be better allocated."

The staffer referenced Study 6511-232 as being a prime target of the Doyle team. "$4600 for 23 days, 22 nights, and one outpatient visit. We get ten staffers in there and that's $46 grand that we can spend on stuff to make Wisconsin even better," said the source. When asked what stuff he was referring to, the source said that "the campaign team makes those decisions now. I just spend my days on Full Tilt Poker and I answer the phone. Or if I have a good hand I'll let it go to voicemail. But don't quote me on that voicemail part."

It is reported that backup participants will be recruited in case any state participants are released because of an unacceptable metabolism rate.

Ugh... I have to agree with Jenna.

Jenna has rightly trashed DPW for their absolute laziness in a recent open records request filed with Congressman Mark Green's office.

Perhaps DPW is unclear as to what the phrase "opposition research" means. It's where you hire people to do research on the other candidate, dig through his garbage, stalk his wife in an unmarked vehicle, pore over his tax returns... you get the idea. Ask Katie Falk. She's got it figured out.

"Opposition research" does not mean grab a bag of chips and your Lost: The Complete Second Season DVD's and wait for the opposing candidate to research himself for you, then hand over the results. Was this your strategy in college, too? Sit next to the smart kid, then copy his answers?

I guess they're all too busy in the basement of the Executive Residence trying to get the Governor to sound like a human.

Uncle Rodney hits a penny on the track

Staffers and agency employees had to be laughing when they read yesterday that Wisconsin's Railroad Commissioner, Rod Kreunen, is being slapped with an ethics complaint by a railroad president who has accused Kreunen of influence peddling, among other things.

"Uncle Rodney," as he creepily insists on being called, is best known in Capitol circles for doling out enormous, laminated wall maps of Wisconsin's railroads to legislators who need freebies to give to constituents. Often, when calling a legislative office, he will simply refer to himself as "Uncle Rodney" as though staffers are just supposed to know who that is. Like he's Uncle Fester or something.

Anyway, perhaps what this article really does is make us all consider a bigger question: why are we paying for a Commissioner of Railroads anyway? Do we have a Commissioner of Highways? A Commissioner of Bike Paths? Navigable Waterways? Couldn't we merge his duties with those of the Secretary of State? Some desk jockey at DOT?

Let's do taxpayers a favor and get this guy out of the news by getting rid of his job in the next budget. How about it, leggies?

In his new ad, fiscal conservative John Gard...

... brags about bringing home the pork! Ha!

Oink oink, Johnny old boy. Good to see you've learned that nobody likes a guy who only talks about how terrible government is. Maybe there's hope for you after all.

Except for the fact that Steve Kagen does the work of angels in saving allergy sufferers from runny noses. And he's really, really wealthy.

That could be a problem.

So if you were forming a legislative committee on affirmative action, who would you pick to chair it?

If you're the Joint Legislative Council, apparently the answer is Glenn Grothman.

Mail ballots went out recently to members of Joint Legislative Council for membership on Legislative Council Study Committees. These special committees convene in the summer and fall of election years and are important for three reasons:

1. They give legislators a chance to fully explore their pet issues.
2. They're an excuse to rack up more per diem days.
3. They allow vulnerables to brag about taking action on issues that legislators have no intent of ever addressing.

Here are some of the highlights:

Special Committee on Affirmative Action: So we've got Glenn AND Crazy Mary Lazich AND Scott Suder, who I think is still busy trying to figure out a way to get himself sent to Baghdad so he can use the pictures in his next district newsletter. What the hell ever happened to diversity of opinion? We've got three people fighting over the gavel to chair the Wingnut Caucus, a lame-ducker in Ann Nischke, and one African-American legislator.

I'm sure that affirmative action is a huge issue in Grothman and Suder's district, what, with all the black and latino people living in West Bend and Abbotsford. Nice work on this one.

Special Committee on the Review of the School State Aid Formula: Wow, Brett Davis, Jeff Mursau, Debi Towns, AND Mary Williams? This smells like Republican leadership is desperate to give their vulnerables something pro-education to put in campaign literature this fall. Do they even HAVE schools up in Mary Williams' district anymore? I thought all the public schools north of 29 went bankrupt. Also nice of them to put Andrew Reschovsky on the committee. Ten bucks says he decides the answer is to spend billions more on all schools.

Special Committee on Expunction of Criminal Records: Robin Vos will chair this committee, and it is rumored that at the first meeting he will immediately try to expand the scope of the committee to include expunction of criminal records and online dating profiles.

Special Committee on Highway Weight Limits: Props to legislative leaders for not just giving the roadbuilders all of the public membership spots on this committee. Still, the purpose of this committee is to decide how many gazillions of dollars we should spend rebuilding every little bridge in Wisconsin so that truckers can travel heavier on our roads. I smell an attempt to lend legitimacy to what ultimately is nothing more that a complete giveaway to campaign donors.

Special Committee on Navigability and Drainage Districts: Um, I'll save you all time. If it's navigable, it's not a drainage district, it's a river. And if it's not navigable, I should be able to take my backhoe and fill it with dirt. Problem solved. Next? How about wetlands?

Special Committee on Placement of Sex Offenders: Thank God we don't have too many people from Milwaukee on this committee or NOTHING would get accomplished. After all, isn't it their plan for everyone else to take all of their perverts so they don't have to deal with them?

Special Committee on State-Tribal Relations: Spencer Coggs? Okay, either we're throwing a bone to the Potawatomi there or legislative leaders mistakenly thought this committee had something to do with A Tribe Called Quest. Of course, Terry Musser is the chair. Which is better than having him chair the Special Committee on Veterans' Giveaways, because God only knows the damage he could do there.

Now, let's kick back, wait for these ballots to be rubber-stamped, and see what these guys come up with in the coming months.

Anyone who makes a Pettis-Musser joke will get play here.

Go check out Political Capital, and pray that whoever is writing it can find a sustainable pace for writing stuff like this.

Now only if this person could shed some light on how many GOP leggies are renting porn in their rooms over at the Inn on the Park...

Let the ad wars begin.

If you haven't checked out the new Mark Green "webmercial" you should. It's funny and humanizing and, well, it's pretty well done. The horse's ass question was particularly clever. And it's good to see that Mark Green also had the 1970's porn mustache that some lawmakers still haven't shed. The only problem I have is the whining mom whose daughter can't get into UW-Madison. She's on the honor roll? Okay, so she could have a 3.3 GPA. We've got lots of other UW schools for kids with 3.3. GPAs. If your kid was smarter than those out-of-state kids, she would've gotten in.

Jim Doyle might have a good issue in stem cell research, but he's still got to overcome the fact that, to the average voter, Mark Green is going to seem way more likeable. This webmercial is a prime example of that. Doyle's ad with the Montgomery family is good on content, and unlike some of my fellow bloggers, I don't find it exploitative. But having watched it eight or ten times just now, it just feels awkward. Doyle's got a soccer mom calling Mark Green an extremist? Huh? Why is the Governor sending an average citizen onto the airwaves to serve as the hatchet man for his campaign?

The only way Doyle can seem personable is by having other people say nice things about him while smiling at the end of his ad. That was a smile, wasn't it, Governor? And even there, we've got Jody/Jodi/Jodee Montgomery tossing around the extremist label.

Voters don't see nice people as being extremists. Tom DeLay? Sure. Mark Green? Nope. So if this is how Mark Green can come off in his commercials, Doyle could well be wasting a lot of money on a very bad strategy. Voters won't see Green as an extremist. They'll see Doyle as a very desperate incumbent.

And that may well be the case at this point.