DUMP DOYLE

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle's ears must have been burning on Friday. They must be burned to a crisp.

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The National Rifle Association wants Wisconsin to be the 49th state to legalize carrying concealed weapons, and Gov. Jim Doyle is squarely in the group's cross hairs after twice vetoing the legislation.

Acclamations to "Dump Doyle" are everywhere at the 135th annual NRA meeting this weekend at the Midwest Airlines Center and U.S. Cellular Arena.

From a simple seminar on grassroots organizing to a gala opening ceremony with national music acts, Doyle's name never got a rest Friday. Placed around the convention were orange posters saying "DUMP" on the left and "DOYLE" spilling from a dump truck on the right.

"Your governor spent as much time defending your Second Amendment freedoms as O.J. (Simpson) did searching for the real killers," Chris Cox, the NRA's chief lobbyist, said at the convention's opening ceremonies. "Forty-eight other states trust their citizens in this way. Why don't we? We need to get rid of this anti-gun governor."

A rousing guitar solo of "The Star Spangled Banner" from rocker, hunter and NRA board member Ted Nugent stoked the crowd, who also heard Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker say, "I'm a proud member of the NRA and one of the few urban leaders to support the right to carry arms."

Walker hoisted an NRA card over his head as he addressed the crowd.

Doyle responded to the attacks by saying in an interview that the NRA was stirring up its members with pro-gun rhetoric.

"If I have to listen to experts on public safety who are against carrying concealed weapons or the NRA rhetoric, I'll put my trust in law enforcement," Doyle said. "If I have a choice of listening to Ted Nugent or the police officers of Wisconsin, I'm going to listen to police officers of Wisconsin."

Doyle argues that the safety of state residents is not improved by carrying "loaded guns in their pockets."

"It's hardly a radical notion of mine," Doyle said of preserving the illegality of carrying concealed weapons. "It's been a law since 1870."

He added: "I have to consider the safety of the people of Wisconsin. I can't waver when some interest group comes in and yells loud about it."

So, are the governors of the forty-eight states with concealed carry laws derelict in their duties? Are all of the people in those states at risk?

How funny that Doyle, servant of the teachers' union and liberal special interest groups, claims that he can't waver under the pressure from the NRA!

His statement is so lame.

Doyle's little history lesson is equally lame. "It's been a law since 1870."

So what?

Would he have used that same reasoning back in 1973 to argue against abortion?

Not a chance.

During a Friday seminar on grass-roots organizing, the mantra was voter registration among NRA members and supporters of the group's initiatives.

This shows that voter drives are not limited to Leftists and supporters of illegal immigrants.

In this case, however, I get the sense that voter registration is seen as sinister -- The gun nuts are going to the polls!

Doyle wasn't only coming underfire from attendees at the NRA convention. The message was very anti-Doyle at the state Republican convention as well.

From The Duluth News Tribune (AP):

Gov. Jim Doyle is the most vulnerable Democratic governor up for re-election this fall, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman said Friday as he sought to energize GOP activists.

"I think if you look around the country, I can't think of a single state where there's a greater likelihood that a Democratic governor will be replaced by a Republican governor," Mehlman told reporters as the state Republican convention got underway in Appleton.

Mehlman and other Republican leaders said they would use the weekend convention to make the case that U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Green Bay, should replace Doyle as governor.

Mehlman criticized Doyle's vetoes of bills that would require voters to show photo identification, labeled Doyle a big spender and noted questions about whether his campaign donors have received state contracts.

"Voters clearly want reform. The polls have shown it for a long time and I think Mark Green will offer real reform," Mehlman said.

He framed the election as a "choice between pay to play and honest reform, a choice between a man who is committed to fair elections versus an incumbent governor who ... vetoes legislation to protect voters."

Doyle's record as governor is sure to work against him. He's a puppet.

The convention continues Saturday with speeches from top Republicans including Green, who was expected to make the case for his election as the state's chief executive.

...With the path clear, Green is hoping to start getting his message of change to voters. Polls already show he and Doyle are locked in a tight race even though many voters do not know Green.

Voters don't know Green, yet polls show that it's a tight race.

That doesn't bode well for Doyle. Voters aren't familiar with Green, but their disapproval of Doyle's performane is so intense that they're willing to support someone they don't know.

Anybody but Doyle.




Doyle should be nervous. He's got a target on his back.

Obviously, the Republican Party of Wisconsin wants to get rid of him, and replace him with Mark Green.

Obviously, Doyle has antagonized NRA members, Wisconsin gun owners, and probably Ted Nugent, too.

Doyle's argument that a concealed carry law is bad policy just doesn't fly. Forty-eight states have such laws. Wisconsin is decidedly in the minority.

The notion that permits for law-abiding citizens to carry guns will turn these responsible members of society into murderers or armed robbers is ridiculous. That hasn't happened in the forty-eight states that have adopted the policy.

The fact is if not for Doyle's two vetoes, forty-nine states would have concealed carry laws, making Illinois the lone state that prevents law-abiding citizens from carrying guns.

Although we have no guns in our home, I like the idea that criminals can't make that assumption. Similarly, although I wouldn't carry a gun, I would like the idea of criminals not being able to assume that I'm unarmed.

The bad guys walk around with loaded guns right now, and they don’t hesitate to use them to kill and commit other crimes. They have no respect for the law and no respect for life. Concealed carry laws have no affect on those people since they are morally bankrupt and don't follow society's laws anyway.

If it became legal for the good guys to carry guns, those individuals wouldn't become killers and armed robbers. They would just no longer be vulnerable to the bad guys.

A gun is morally neutral. It's not good or bad.

Doyle disagrees. He thinks that the problem of gun violence can be solved by blaming guns. I think he's wrong.

Guns aren't responsible for violence. People are.

So what does the tale of the two conventions tell us?

Doyle is vulnerable.

Mark Green can win.