Doyle Blinks

The state Elections Board, arm of the slimy Jim Doyle campaign, elected not to rock the boat any more than it already has.

The Doyle-rigged board chose not to request that Mark Green give back even more money than it had already demanded from him.

Good idea.

It would have been adding fuel to the fire for Doyle to give the board marching orders to rob Green of additional funds.

I assume that it was the Doyle campaign that instructed the Dems on the board to back off, at least for now.

Doyle lawyer Michael S. Maistelman is already under investigation for his dirty tactics.

The Doyle campaign needed to take attention off its connections with the state Elections Board after its previous blatant abuses.

Brookfield -- The state Elections Board Wednesday let stand its previous decision to order Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Green to divest his campaign of $467,844 but declined to act on a request that the board instruct him to return an additional $775,000.

Already under attack by Republicans, the board decided not to generate any new controversy after a two-hour, closed-door meeting during which the nine-member board met with a state Justice Department lawyer. Four of the board members are Democrats, three are Republicans, and the two others are appointees of the Libertarian Party and chief justice of the state Supreme Court.

When the board returned from the closed meeting, no board member tried to get the panel to order Green to give up the additional $775,000, which was part of nearly $1.3 million he transferred from his U.S. House campaign fund to his state election account.

Democratic appointee Robert Kasieta earlier had said he would push for Green to give up the $775,000. But on Wednesday he pulled back from that promise.

...In addition, no one on the board - including the Republican appointees - attempted to get the board to rescind its Aug. 30 order that Green divest his campaign of $467,844 in donations from out-of-state political action committees. That amount also was part of the $1.3 million he transferred from his federal campaign fund on Jan. 25, 2005.

...The state Republican Party asked the board to reconsider its Aug. 30 order, arguing that it should be rescinded because Michael S. Maistelman, a lawyer for Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's campaign, lobbied three Democrats on the board before that meeting to punish Green's campaign.

...The board's newest member, Greg Paradise, said it was time to stop playing politics.

"We don't need to have to posture anymore in front of the media," and "the motion to cause Green to give up more money and the motion to rescind the orders were more posturing," said Paradise, a Republican appointee who filled the vacancy left by Hodan's resignation last week. "The reality is that the board made a decision that has to now go through the court system, and the Democrats have all sorts of egg on their faces for improperly influencing board members."

Paradise is right. The Dems really stepped in it.

They brought this mess on themselves. They were caught red-handed, with a trail of e-mails documenting the impropriety.

...Green campaign lawyer Don Millis said he was pleased the board didn't take further action, allowing the Green campaign to focus on the court challenge of the Aug. 30 order and bigger campaign themes.

Millis said that the campaign today likely would formally ask the state Supreme Court to consider the case.

It will benefit Green to let his lawyers handle this case so he can focus on the issues in the final month of the campaign.

Although voters should know just how low Doyle is willing to go to win the election, rigging the state Elections Board, I still think that it's to Green's benefit to talk about his plan for Wisconsin instead of getting bogged down in that particular Doyle scandal.

Naturally, Doyle wants to run from his record. I think it's important for Green to confront him with it.

It's rather pathetic that the Doyle campaign is so lacking in direction and ideas that it is forced to run a game plan based on going after Green's money.

Instead of running a positive campaign of substance, Doyle is hoping to lie, cheat, and steal his way into a second term.

Those are the actions of a governor who's in trouble.

Doyle campaign spokesman Anson Kaye said it was time for the Green campaign to stop fighting the order and return the money in question.

I think it's time for Doyle to stop pretending to be an ethical man.

Mark Green can get Wisconsin back on track.