... I think his name would be Governor Doesntgiveashit.
To their credit, Team Doyle showed themselves to be shrewd and adept competitors in the political arena for the first six years of his tenure. But lately, I can only wonder if anyone in that office still gives a crap about 2010, or if they're all just phoning it in because the big guy is going to hang it up.
First, we were treated to Doyle's near-absentee performance on the state budget, which consisted of him dropping off the ball in February and then hiding under a rock until it was passed.
Then, there was his no-bid tango with Talgo, which earned him raspberries from Democratic legislative leaders for not even bothering to inform them what was going on.
Now, he hires Mark Miller's daughter, a Berkeley grad, to work in his office of legal counsel, and then pushes her under the bus when people complain that she hasn't been licensed by the bar yet - even though pre-licensure hiring is rather routine in the legal profession, and by all accounts of the Doyle administration, she passed the exam. Sounds like a great way to get a Christmas card from the Senate co-chair of JFC.
Budget crises are never fun and nobody comes out smelling good, but has Doyle made even a single effort to fight off his swooning approval rating, now in the low 30's? Or is he just conceding at this point? His political team is demonstrating the same sort of cluelessness we saw from Scott McCallum in 2002, when he apparently thought it was okay to just accept the use of a free boat provided by Mercury Marine because Governor Thompson had a boat and, well, he wanted a boat too.
Does anyone think Doyle is running at this point? And if he's not, is this the kind of sloppy, derelict governance that Wisconsin has to look forward to for the next 16 months?
To their credit, Team Doyle showed themselves to be shrewd and adept competitors in the political arena for the first six years of his tenure. But lately, I can only wonder if anyone in that office still gives a crap about 2010, or if they're all just phoning it in because the big guy is going to hang it up.
First, we were treated to Doyle's near-absentee performance on the state budget, which consisted of him dropping off the ball in February and then hiding under a rock until it was passed.
Then, there was his no-bid tango with Talgo, which earned him raspberries from Democratic legislative leaders for not even bothering to inform them what was going on.
Now, he hires Mark Miller's daughter, a Berkeley grad, to work in his office of legal counsel, and then pushes her under the bus when people complain that she hasn't been licensed by the bar yet - even though pre-licensure hiring is rather routine in the legal profession, and by all accounts of the Doyle administration, she passed the exam. Sounds like a great way to get a Christmas card from the Senate co-chair of JFC.
Budget crises are never fun and nobody comes out smelling good, but has Doyle made even a single effort to fight off his swooning approval rating, now in the low 30's? Or is he just conceding at this point? His political team is demonstrating the same sort of cluelessness we saw from Scott McCallum in 2002, when he apparently thought it was okay to just accept the use of a free boat provided by Mercury Marine because Governor Thompson had a boat and, well, he wanted a boat too.
Does anyone think Doyle is running at this point? And if he's not, is this the kind of sloppy, derelict governance that Wisconsin has to look forward to for the next 16 months?
8 comments:
If he's not running I wish he'd say it so the Democrats can bring in a viable candidate and not just hand it to Scott Walker. By viable I don't mean Barbara Lawton.
He wants to run and the dem infrastructure wants him to run. In several parts of the state TV ads have been running telling the public to thank Jim Doyle for health care. There is no reason to do these ads unless someone wants to rehabilitate him. No point in rehabing a lame duck.
Bring on Lawton. I can't wait for her ads en espanol:
"Hola...me llamo Babara Lawton; ¿Me puede dar un abrazo? (Can I have a hug?)
Do you frighten yourself on how much you nailed this one just hours before the Politico report?! Well done.
I'm betting Gov. Doyle does't finish out the remainder of his term, giving Lt. Gov. Lawton some time in the big chair.
However, Lawton doesn't stand a chance against legitimate challengers in a Democratic primary.
"giving Lt. Gov. Lawton some time in the big chair"
Do you really think he hates her that much? She's a much more attractive candidate as a blank slate, before she's had the chance to make any serious blunders.
OJ, whether Lawton does fill out some of Gov. Doyle's term or not, she's going to end up being associated with everything the Doyle administration did, whether good or bad.
Being #2 with no obvious accomplishments can work if the person preceding you is relatively popular (e.g. Bush 41 in '88). But on the whole, I think Zach is right. It's usually an uphill battle. You have no positive record to run on and you get lumped in with people's negative feelings about the previous administration.
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