Doyle's Rose-Colored TV Ad

Have you seen Doyle's first TV ad of this campaign season?

Why wait to catch it? WisPolitics has it on demand.
Here's the transcript.

Here's the video.

Warning: If you have a strong gag reflex, you may not want to watch it.

It's a series of Wisconsinites pictured with their full names included, singing the praises of Jim Doyle.

This one kills me.

Nathan Johnston says, "He passed tough property tax limits and our bill actually went down."

HUH?

How did that happen? Did the value of Johnston's property go down?
My experience has been nothing like Johnston's.

The year before Doyle took office, my property taxes went up only .7 percent.
Since Doyle has been in office, I've seen my property taxes go up significantly every single year.

My property taxes have gone UP 14% since 2003.

That's an enormous increase. During that same time period, the cost-of-living adjustments rose a combined 4.8 percent. The percentage increase in my property taxes under Doyle is almost triple the cost-of-living adjustments.

I guess I wouldn't have made a good spokesperson to be in Doyle's commercial.

Tough property tax limits? Right.

NOT TOUGH ENOUGH!

This one REALLY bugged me, too.

Jody Montgomery says, "He stopped extreme lawmakers from making stem cell research illegal and raised millions so scientists can one day find a cure for my daughter’s diabetes."

"Extreme lawmakers"?

Is it "extreme" to believe in the sanctity of human life in all its stages?

Should tax dollars be used to fund medical research that some citizens find to be morally objectionable and akin to murder?

Furthermore, Doyle vetoed Assembly Bill 499, a ban on human cloning.

It was not a bill to outlaw ALL stem cell research, as the ad suggests.
NO "EXTREME LAWMAKERS" TRIED TO MAKE STEM CELL RESEARCH ILLEGAL.

That's a disgusting misrepresentation.
Another Doyle testimonial comes from Mike Killian. He says, "He’s brought in new business, helping to create 140,000 new jobs."

And how many jobs have been driven away because businesses run from Doyle's Wisconsin tax hell?

How many businesses have decided NOT to locate in Wisconsin?

Erica Gottschalk's line also ticked me off. She trumpets Doyle's great work on education, chiming in, "He’s requiring a third year of high school math and science to give our kids an edge."

Yeah, that's leadership on education. That's making a difference.

That's a joke!

What about school choice?

The fact is Doyle is in the pocket of the teachers' union. He stood in the schoolhouse door, threatening to displace choice students in Milwaukee, blocking their access to schools by refusing to lift the enrollment cap.

Requiring more math and science doesn't give kids an edge if they aren't in successful schools. Simply put, Doyle is against programs that produce results.

Here is something that's not mentioned in Doyle's ad.

Milwaukee public high schools have one of the worst graduation rates in the country among large school districts, according to a new report that takes the unusual step of trying to make comparisons across large school districts as well as states.

Ninety-four of the 100 largest school districts in the country have higher graduation rates than Milwaukee, where the graduation rate is 45%, according to a study by the Manhattan Institute, a think tank in New York.

...The Manhattan Institute studies have repeatedly found that while Wisconsin has one of the highest graduation rates overall, it also has one of the worst graduation rates for African-American students. This year, Wisconsin came in third, with an overall graduation rate of 85%. For African-Americans, the statewide graduation rate was 55% - the second-lowest in the country. MPS was about 60% black in 2003, according to the state Department of Public Instruction.

Clearly, not all Wisconsin kids are being given "an edge." The figures from Milwaukee make Wisconsin a national disgrace and Doyle needs to answer for that.

In sum, Doyle's first TV ad is terribly misleading (AKA a pack of lies).

It presents a rose-colored view of Doyle's record and how his actions as governor have impacted Wisconsinites.

It's quite an accomplishment to fit so many distortions into such a relatively short spot.

Although it's filled with misrepresentations, I do give Doyle points for not attacking Mark Green personally in this first TV ad. Mark Green isn't mentioned at all.

Of course, why should he bother?

He has the Greater Wisconsin Committee to do that dirty work for him, allowing him to give voters the illusion that he's Mr. Nice Guy with squeaky clean hands.
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Here is a statement from the Green campaign in response to the launching of Doyle's ads.