It is Election Day. I am not going to say go out and vote. I am going to say that if you have properly researched candidates so that you are comfortable in knowing the differences in those running for office that you are able to make an informed decision, by all means go out and vote. On the other hand, if you go in to the voting booth with a firm belief in the “eenie-meenie-mieny-mo” strategy, I am personally okay if you decide to sit this one out.
As I have not hidden, I am neither democrat or republican and have a great amount of distaste for both parties at the moment. As such, in November I had a number of people ask who I was voting for and why, to try to get a non-partisan feel for things. I was worried about the insults and hate that was going to fly in the comment section when I made a leap of faith and blogged about my choices. However, the discussion that followed was civil and those who disagreed with my choices were able to verbalize their reasons they thought their candidate was the better choice using good sound logic and reason. Civil discourse is still possible in a political discussion… who knew?
So… I thought we would try it again. I was at the Town Hall building this morning at 7 AM when polls opened to find a line. That impressed me. After giving my name and address and being checked off of two different lists, I was given my ballot. After making my choices, the machine counted me as Town of Wausau voter #6.
Normally, the spring elections are non-partisan, so the vote is about the people and not about the party. We will start off with the Wisconsin Supreme Court seat. For all practical purposes, the Supreme Court seats have become a partisan post. The last few election cycles, you will have a conservative candidate backed by the same groups who back Republican candidates and a liberal candidate backed by the same groups who back Democrats. Anyone who says that Supreme Court races are not Democrat versus Republican have their head in the sand.
My choice was made even before the primaries. My vote went for Kloppenburg. I was a speaker for a group in Milwaukee this winter when Prosser kind of invited himself and asked to address the group for a few minutes. His half-hour campaign spiel set my presentation back a bit. And, he did a pretty good job in that half hour of explaining (to me anyway) why he should NOT be on the bench. There were a number of points he made where we had fundamental differences. The job of the Supreme Court is not to be pro-business or pro-victim rights or pro-hard on crime… the job of the Supreme Court is to ensure that laws passed fall within the supreme law of the land (the Constitution), and that once a law is established, that the courts are applying that law fairly in line with its intent. At least that is how it works in my little world.
The biggest problem I had was that Prosser had explained that the new campaign finance laws for court races would allow all four of his challengers to run as effective campaign as him. He indicated that all primary candidates have a level playing field and he implied that was a bad thing. A judge, a supreme court judge, had a problem with people being on a level playing field. He lost my vote right there.
Unlike the Supreme Court Race, the Marathon County Circuit Court race is between two candidates for judge who both have extensive experience and both would make very good judges. My vote went to Sandra Marcus.
The Small Claims branch of the Marathon County Circuit Court has been a second home to me as a landlord. And Sandy has been on that bench for a few years now. Of the four court commissioners I have experienced, she has done the best job there in my personal opinion (even though she handed me a loss that I am still not happy with). She runs a very efficient, high volume court. She makes decisions based on the facts presented and applicable law and doesn’t put her personal opinion into her decisions. Actually, I don’t know her personal opinions on most things because when she is on the bench, her personal opinion is the applicable law – and in my mind, that is what judges do. Judges who bend the law to their personal views, otherwise known as “legislating from the bench” are people who I have a big problem with.
Sandra has an uphill battle. Because of the partisan nature of the Supreme Court race and the likelihood that the Republican Anti-Union laws will come before that court, I expect the democratic base to have a good turnout. Mike was a big player in the local democratic party, so has a lot of name recognition with those loyal to the party. Also, Sandra has presided over a large number of cases, small claims, divorces, etc. As she says before a court case, both sides come in thinking they are right and are going to win and once the case is heard, half of you will be wrong. Even though she is a very fair judge, it is safe to assume half of the people who have had their cases heard before her are not going to be happy with her decision. Even though I am not happy with losing a case, I can respect that she made the right decision based on the exact verbiage of our contract. As a judge though, I believe Mr. Moran is also qualified. Assuming he can leave his “Democrat hat” off when he is on the bench and rule based on law, Marathon County will have a good judge no matter who wins.
I won’t cover my votes or reasons why in the Wausau School Board or Wausau Town Board, but the last vote I will explain was my vote for Wausau Town Chairman.
My vote went for long-time Town Chairman Reihle.
If you are doing a good job, I see no reason to jump ship. He is a very visible town chairman. He was very involved in the process where the City of Wausau wanted to set aside land to put 25th Street on the official City Map. Chairman Reihle attended these city meetings representing the interest of land owners within the Township. This area, located in the Town of Wausau, if put on the city map would impact how those land owners could use this designated land. In the end, with the help of Reihle, the City backed down and decided not to address this item at this time.
Chairman Reihle also helped to get a parcel of land that was annexed to the City of Wausau where the sale fell through detached back to the township.
This is an election where history shows that every vote will count. Before the re-count last election, the position of Wausau Town Chairman was decided by a deck of cards as the vote talley at first count was a dead tie.
I will be honest that I do not know much about his challenger, Prahl. But I feel if someone is doing a good job, they should be allowed to continue to do a good job.
Be an informed voter, and then exercise your right to vote.
drrent 