Republican Year?
Republicans have been frustrated this year, but history suggests next year will be filled with bright hopes.
Democrats now solidly control both the federal and state governments. Democrats have majorities in the Legislature and Congress. Democrats also hold the White House and the governor’s mansion in Madison.
President Barack Obama has dominated coverage in the traditional news media. That’s not uncommon with a new president. Jack Kennedy and Ronald Reagan certainly dominated media coverage in their first years in office. The spotlight on the new president and health care also has squeezed attention away from the budget issues in the state Capitol.
Republicans at the state Capitol have received limited coverage from reporters. That creates a certain amount of frustration because politicians, no matter their political hue, want to be heard.
For nearly four decades, Wisconsin voters have bounced political control back and forth between the parties. That’s especially true of the governor’s chair when there is not an elected incumbent governor seeking re-election.
Not since 1962 have Wisconsin voters elected a governor of the same political party as his predecessor. That year then Attorney General John Reynolds succeeded fellow Democrat Gaylord Nelson, winning the closest Wisconsin gubernatorial election of the 20th century. Reynolds’ margin was 11,995 votes out of the more than 1.2 million cast.
Another development to help the Republican cause is the case before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the federal limits on corporate contributions to political campaigns. If those provisions in the McCain-Feingold Act are struck down as unconstitutional limits on the freedom of speech, it will impact Wisconsin elections.
Helping fuel the Republican hopes has been the public opinion polls about incumbent Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle. The latest polls continue to see a slide. Billions of dollars in fees and taxes have been increased to balance the state budget.
Democrats are responsible for those increases, chirp Republicans. Being totally out of budget-balancing power this year may be the best thing for state Republican hopes.
Being out of the national media spotlight has enabled Republicans to avoid any substantial health reform plan of their own. That, too, may be a plus. The status quo may be attractive to many such as senior citizens who already have their Medicare coverage.
At this point the only announced candidate for the Democratic nomination is a woman, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton of Green Bay. Wisconsin has never elected a woman as governor, and that adds an element of uncertainty.
A final note of uncertainty is the impact if Republicans mount a serious campaign to unseat three-term U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold. That could mobilize older Democrats who remembered how Democrat Gaylord Nelson lost his U.S. Senate seat 30 years ago in another Republican year.
