Across the state, it has been headline news that Republican candidate for lieutenant governor Rebecca Kleefisch has refused to debate Democratic candidate Tom Nelson. A story by the Associated Press on Oct. 5 was picked up by many newspapers and TV and radio stations. But one week later, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has still not reported this to its readers.
The media, of course, routinely pushes candidates from either party to debate. The La Crosse Tribune did an editorial calling on Kleefisch to debate. It also noted that you can’t find any details of her stands on the issues at her website.
Adding irony is that Kleefisch is a former journalist herself who worked as a reporter at WISN-TV Channel 12 in Milwaukee. But she seems quite unavailable to the media. She declined a week’s worth of requests to do an interview with the Madison weekly Isthmus.
Kleefisch wouldn’t even talk to the press about her refusal to debate. A spokeswoman for her campaign was left to inform the media that Kleefisch won’t debate, explaining that she wouldn’t because Nelson and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett are only interested in running away from their records and using false TV ads to distort the record of Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker. I would have thought that was a reason to debate the issues and clarify the truth.
Kleefisch ran to the right of everyone in the race for lieutenant governor. She has declared herself 100 percent opposed to abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. She supports allowing the concealed carrying of guns. And she religiously notes her Christian views. “It’s important to voters to know that I answer to a higher power,” Kleefisch told the JS. “If we aren’t Christ-centered, who are we to say we should be leading?” she declared in a speech in July.
Kleefisch appeared on Fox News in July as one of the “Mama Grizzlies,” a Sarah Palin-coined term for conservative women eager to protect their cubs. “Kleefisch is very Sarah Palin-esque, and she’s embraced that,” UW political science professor Barry Burden told Isthmus.
Isthmus suggested Walker’s campaign handlers could be trying to keep Kleefisch under wraps. “It hurts her credibility if she’s not allowed to talk to media,” Burden told the weekly.
Perhaps. But it’s worth noting that Palin was seen by Americans as losing her debate with eventual vice president Joe Biden. She – and Republican presidential candidate John McCain – would have been better off if the debate had never happened. That appears to be the thinking of Wisconsin Republicans – better to protect Kleefisch from a Sarah-style debacle in a debate.
Hiding from a debate, of course, wasn’t possible for Palin. That would have created a storm of protest from the national media, which would never allow a presidential or vice presidential candidate of either party to refuse to debate.
But there’s no such storm in Wisconsin over Kleefisch’s refusal, largely because the state’s largest newspaper has decided not to pursue the issue. The JS still has tremendous power, and when it chooses to be a crusading newspaper, it can influence state legislators and other policymakers, as well as the media. In this case, the editors have decided to ignore an issue that’s normally considered of vital interest in an election. Why?
Packers Big Plans to Expand
The new revenue model for pro football teams is Patriot Place, a massive complex built by the New England Patriots. It includes more than 15 restaurants, more than 50 retail shops (including Victoria’s Secret, Old Navy and Bed Bath & Beyond), a four-star luxury hotel and spa, a 14-screen cinema complex, a concert hall and a full-service hospital. A Boston Globe story on the complex offered the cheeky headline, “Are You Ready For Some Shopping?”
That is clearly the model for the Green Bay Packers, who announced in July their plans to create a “Titletown Development District.” The Green Bay Press-Gazette has reported in detail on the plan, which is likely to be smaller than Patriot Place, but still substantial. The district could include shops, hotels, restaurants, youth sports and recreation facilities, a 100,000-square-foot exhibition hall for trade shows and conventions, and some kind of health care facility. The Packers want to triple the annual visitors to Lambeau Field and its adjoining area, a number currently estimated at 2.5 million people.
The Packers also want to expand Lambeau Field’s south end zone with five levels of new construction, including standing-room-only seating and rooftop seating. There could also be “theme seating,” Packers spokesperson Aaron Popkey tells me, with “a picnic-type area or beer garden.”
The Packers had estimated they could add 4,000 additional seats plus another 3,000 or so standing room-only seats. But the recently released economic impact study by AECOM Technical Services has recommended the addition of 10,000 seats, as I noted in my column last week.
Is that report laying the groundwork for public financing of the Packers’ expansion plans? In last week’s column, I questioned why the press didn’t ask that question of Packers’ CEO Mark Murphy. I heard from Journal Sentinel reporter Don Walker, who told me he had asked that question and Murphy responded that it was too early to tell. Walker felt that was too vague to include in his story. I disagree. It means the Packers haven’t ruled out some public contribution.
Popkey says the Packers have had ongoing discussions with Brown County, the city of Green Bay and the village of Ashwaubenon. Those talks are particularly important for the Titletown development. Its total cost has yet to be determined, Popkey says. But the team is looking for “cooperation and collaboration” with these government entities, he adds. Will that cooperation include public financing? “The financing really hasn’t been discussed,” Popkey responded.
The Buzz
-How will long will new Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Thornton last? One source says he’s told people it could be just two years.
-Perhaps the strangest part of the first debate (Friday) between incumbent Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold and Republican challenger Ron Johnson was their back and forth over who had read the U.S. Constitution more times. Early in the Republican primary, Johnson muffed a constitutional question from a Tea Party group, saying he hadn’t given a lot of thought to what kinds of constitutional infringements he would support. But Johnson claimed on Friday that he actually reads the constitution all the time – as did Feingold. Makes you wonder how either of them ever get any other work done.
-Former Waukesha County Executive Dan Finley is wearing a cowboy hat and running a Wild West museum? News Buzz reports.
-And is the Packers season already over? The Sports Nut offers an autopsy, er analysis.
