Labor Day is past. Summer is over and campaigns will go into overdrive. With Wisconsin primaries just one week away and the general election less than two months out, voters are sure to be hit with lots of deceptive information.
So, let's cut through all the phony rhetoric and posturing and stick to the facts. No spin. That's a scary proposition for Jim Doyle.
Be afraid, Doyle. Be very afraid.
Here we go...
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign concludes in its report, "Gagging Democracy":
[There's] a link between large campaign contributions and the success wealthy special interests have in permanently stifling local laws that hurt their pocketbooks.
To serve their rich campaign contributors, state policymakers concoct proposals that block communities from tailoring laws that best fit the needs or wishes of local citizens. The proposals highlighted in this report affect individuals of all ages and economic status because they dictate how a community may or may not regulate salaries, recreational venues, schools and land use activities.
Finally, both Democrats and Republicans tout an allegiance to local control but they forget their pledges when they get a call from wealthy special interests that need help bridling communities.
Doyle and his allies have been relentless in their efforts to paint Mark Green as indebted to special interests and in the pockets of wealthy contributors.
I really think that's a miscalculation on the part of the Doyle campaign.
It's like Bill Clinton attacking an elected official for lying under oath.
It's like Bill Clinton chastising someone for being an adulterer.
Why would the Doyle campaign highlight that Green is a special interest puppet when that's exactly what Doyle is?
From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Doyle campaign spokeswoman Melanie Fonder said the shift of money from [Mark] Green's congressional account obscures the out-of-state money he is relying on in the race.
"It seems like Mark Green is trying to trick the voters again," she said.
In reality, Jim Doyle, his campaign, and the various shadowy hit groups flooding the airwaves with attack ads smearing Mark Green are the tricksters.
Let's take a look at where Doyle's money is coming from.
A lot, and I mean A LOT, comes from special interests and some very strange out-of-state individual contributors.
Here's an interesting chart.
Click to enlarge image.
It's stunning, isn't it?
Doyle has pocketed over $2,000,000 from lawyers, law firms, and lobbyists. Green, in the same time span, has taken in less than $64,000.
Lawyers, law firms, and lobbyists must have a lot of influence with Doyle. $2,000,000 can buy a lot of favors, and we know that Doyle is the generous sort when it comes to rewarding campaign contributors.
In addition to special interests, Doyle depends heavily on out-of-state individual contributors.
The [Journal Sentinel] analysis, which covers individual contributions from January 2005 through June 2006, shows Doyle got 22% of his total from outside the state - a percentage that surprised even veteran campaign watchers.
California, Illinois and New York topped the list of states, with donors in the three giving a combined $539,965.
...Green, meanwhile, received 96% of his money from Wisconsin residents. Virginia residents led his out-of-state donors, donating $18,862 of the $115,217 non-Wisconsin total.
Green actually had more individual contributions than Doyle - 16,149 to 9,183. But the average size was smaller: $176 for Green, to $440 for Doyle.
Sifting through data provided by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign reveals some enlightening facts.
Of contributors of $100 or more, from January 1, 2003 through June 30, 2006, Doyle took in a whopping $1.24 million from out-of-state contributors.
Illinois donors (FIBs) contributed nearly $300,000 to Doyle during that time period.
In ads, Green is being vilified as a puppet of "Enron" (note to Doyle campaign: Enron doesn't exist) and "Halliburton," when in fact, the data show Doyle took millions of dollars from special interests like lawyers and lobbyists, and out-of-staters.
From now until the eve of the election, I will be spotlighting a DOYLE DISTANT DONOR OF THE DAY.
I think we should know more about these out-of-state donors. They come from all over the country.
Who is influencing him? Who has contributed to Doyle's campaigns?
DOYLE DISTANT DONOR #1
New York attorneys David Bershad and Steven Schulman
Bershad and Schulman gave $10,000 to Doyle in 2004.
They are stand-out donors, but not only because of the size of their contribution or their New York location. They've been indicted.
Democratic Governor Jim Doyle accepted $10,000 in campaign contributions in 2004 from attorneys at a New York law firm accused this month of paying more than $11 million in illegal kickbacks to get people to participate in lawsuits against corporations.
The firm, Milberg Weiss Bershad and Schulman, and attorneys David Bershad and Steven Schulman were indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles of secretly paying people to be class action plaintiffs in shareholder lawsuits handled by the firm since 1981.
Campaign finance records show Schulman and Bershad were among 10 of the firm’s lawyers who contributed a total of $10,000 to Doyle, mostly on June 29 and June 30, 2004. No contributions were made to any other Wisconsin candidates for legislative or statewide office by employees of the firm before or since.
The 20-count indictment includes money laundering, racketeering, mail fraud, filing false tax returns and obstruction of justice charges.
That's impressive. Bershad and Schulman are men of many talents, and they support Jim Doyle.
All of this illustrates what a joke McCain-Feingold is.
Be proud Russ Feingold.
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