Barrett: WI Governor Based in Milwaukee?

Could Tom Barrett appear more reluctant to run for governor of Wisconsin?

Dan Bice writes:

"Barrett looks like a kid being forced to eat his spinach," said Mark Jefferson, executive director of the state Republican Party. "He's not showing that he wants to lead this state."

But Barrett's indecisiveness is nothing new. It's a lifelong trait.

When faced with a major decision - from getting married to voting on legislation to running for office - the 55-year-old politician is prone to analyze and stew.

"He's the last person I've worked with for whom I'd expect a knee-jerk reaction," said former Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager, who has worked with Barrett since their days as lawmakers in the 1980s. "Nothing for him is black and white."

Since first running for office as a 28-year-old lawyer, he has survived and advanced in a series of political jobs. Most recently, he ran for governor in 2002 when he was squeezed out of his congressional seat through redistricting. He then ran for mayor in 2004 when the gubernatorial bid came up short.

He is, at heart, a legislator who has been forced to become an administrator.

Now he must decide whether he wants to remain mayor for life, overseeing a city desperate to shake off a dowdy, stagnant image, taking on the grunt work of potholes and schools and budgets. Or he can enter the rough-and-tumble world of another statewide run, a tavern-to-tavern relay of glad-handing, speech-making and hand-shaking (with his left hand, naturally).

"It's difficult to be away from your family campaigning on a nice summer weekend," said John Barrett, the mayor's brother and the Milwaukee County clerk of courts. "I would love Tom to be governor, but it's just such a difficult task."

As mayor, Barrett has carved out a surprisingly family-friendly schedule.

Barrett and his wife, Kris, who recently took a job as a second-grade teacher at Longfellow Elementary in Milwaukee, have four children ranging in age from 10 to 17.

It is not unusual for city residents to see Barrett working the concession stand at a soccer tournament. Or to spot him amid a group of parents at a school assembly. Or to bump into him at the end of a 5K race.

..."There is nothing stopping Tom from living in Milwaukee as governor," said a Doyle strategist. "Forty percent of the voters in Wisconsin live within 40 minutes of Milwaukee."

It's an intriguing option. Doyle's folks point out that the governor already has a little-used office in downtown Milwaukee. Barrett could travel to Madison several days a week and continue to use the governor's mansion for official functions without living there. Governors in many other states, including Illinois, routinely live outside the capital.

It's not an intriguing option at all.

Here's an option, Dems: Why don't you move the state capital to Milwaukee to ease the burden on Barrett and convince him to run for governor?

Yes, intriguing.

I think this is hilarious: "As mayor, Barrett has carved out a surprisingly family-friendly schedule."

"SURPRISINGLY FAMILY-FRIENDLY SCHEDULE"?

Translation: Barrett is a slacker as mayor of Milwaukee.

Barrett sounds like a dedicated family man. That's admirable. However, are Milwaukeeans being short-changed?

I think it's a legitimate question.

...Barrett all but declared that his family would stay in Milwaukee if he runs and wins. He said he has always been directly involved in the lives of his wife and kids, and that won't change if he's governor.

"It's the only way I would do it," Barrett said.

This is not good for the Democrats.

Do Wisconsinites want a governor concerned with keeping a "surprisingly family-friendly schedule"?

It seems Barrett barely wants to be mayor let alone the governor.

I wonder if Barrett would agree to run if he could work from home.

He could be a new sort of governor, an online University of Phoenix-type of executive.