"All politics is local."
Tip O'Neill knew what he was talking about. The local races shape debate as much if not more than the national and global ones. And, often, many of the national and global issues started small.
It seems so easy for so many people, however, to skip over the local-only elections. Turn-out is low and a lot of the time, people don't even know what or who is on the ballot. That is, of course, unless there is some serious bomb throwing in the form of (usually negative) advertising.
Here in Wisconsin, there are a slew of local races. School boards. Town boards. Mayors. Binding referenda for projects, schools, and other proposed needs. But the one that matters most, in my opinion, is the one state-wide race: that for a seat on the state's Supreme Court. And, boy, has it been nasty.
I'll spare you the details, since unless you live in Wisconsin, it doesn't matter. And if you do live here and you turned on the radio in the past two weeks, you know. But two candidates are in a veritable slap-fight for this seat. One's been a circuit court judge for about ten years. The other is a Madison (liberal alert!) attorney. One is, allegedly, a crook.
The usually conservative Wisconsin State Journalwent out on a limb, albeit on a Saturday so few would see it, and endorsed the attorney, Linda Clifford over the judge with questionable judgment, Annette Ziegler. And you can tell they did it grudgingly.
Annette Ziegler has substantial experience as a judge in Washington County.
Ziegler seems genuinely committed to ruling on existing law, rather than legislating from the bench.
Ziegler has proven throughout her life that she's willing to work hard.
Yet the State Journal cannot endorse Ziegler in her bid for Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Uh-oh. Not good for Judge Zeigler. And it's downhill for her from there.
Ziegler showed extremely poor judgment in handling dozens of cases involving a bank for which her husband is a paid board member. This flies in the face of Supreme Court rules forbidding even the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Ziegler also presided over 22 cases involving companies in which she owned more than $50,000 in stock each. The cases included mortgage foreclosures, small-claims actions, personal injury and medical malpractice.
The best the paper could say for the candidate they are endorsing?
Clifford has shown that she is an incredibly hard worker. She was first in her family of factory workers to go to college. Clifford has served as an assistant attorney general under Republican and Democratic attorneys general.
Anything else?
Today, Clifford is a partner in the Madison law firm of La Follette Godfrey & Kahn, which handles legal matters for the State Journal and many other clients.
Clifford is the paper's lawyer? Well, not exactly. Her firm is their firm.
Wait for it.
A few Ziegler supporters have suggested the State Journal's thin tie to Clifford might influence our endorsement.
That is ridiculous. Just last year, for example, the State Journal endorsed the opponent of another La Follette Godfrey & Kahn employee who was running for Dane County Board.
OK. Whatever.
Through all the negative campaign ads, reporting skewed both ways depending on the source, and the electorate's inability to be able to name many (any) of the sitting state justices, I fear a lot of people will skip this one. Even if they go in to vote for mayor or against the new high school gymnasium, it is so easy to think "who cares" about a seat on the state supreme court.
You should care, if you live in Wisconsin. You should do a little research and come to the conclusion that Clifford is the better choice.
If you live in another state, I am sure that there are races you should care about tomorrow or whenever your next election is held. You need to care. We all need to care.
All politics is local.
cross-posted on Kerfuffle