Assembly Democrat Leadership Woes Forcast a Tough Fall for Vulnerables Like Garthwaite

This tersely worded story from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Patrick Marley spells trouble for Assembly Democrats. According to this and other stories, rumors spread around the Capitol Friday that Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan was in jeopardy of losing his leadership post over an alleged, inappropriate relationship the married speaker had carried on with a lobbyist.

Sheridan, Rep. Garthwaite's boss in the Assembly, denied these allegations Friday, stating that the lobbyist was just a friend and that they had gone on just one date. He has since amended his story stating, "I have dated a gal who is a lobbyist. It's not been a conflict, and I have no problem saying that..." The Speaker also told the Journal Sentinel that, "We (He and the lobbyist) went to a Christmas party. I think we went out with like a group of people a couple different times and that type of thing." "Like a group of people." "That type of thing." Why does the Speaker of the State Assembly sound like a kid who broke curfew and doesn't want to fess up to his parents about what he was out doing?

The Assembly Democrats already faced a tough election fight. The mood of the country and state is swinging back against their big taxing, big spending policies. Their total lack of focus on jobs and the economy over the last year doesn't help their cause much either. This potential scandal, however, adds a whole new dimension to the challenges that vulnerable Representatives like Garthwaite will have next fall.

For starters, this issue will further divide an Assembly Democrat Caucus that is already split over the proposed mayoral take over of the Milwaukee Public Schools. Coupled with their failure to put the Jeff Wood incidents behind them, the Assembly Democrats will be distracted this spring and will likely leave this session without having accomplished anything of substance on jobs, the economy, or anything else. What will they have to run on in the fall? A failed stimulus bill and honey regulation?

Secondly, an embattled and divided Assembly Democrat leadership will not be able to properly organize and fund raise for members facing tough challenges. Democrat Majority Leader Tom Nelson was already set to be in the fight of his life over budget pork that cost his district and comments he made in regards to the Democrat auto insurance premium hike of 2009
Sheridan too will now be preoccupied with his own survival.

Traditionally, Assembly Democrats have counted on large third party expenditures from public employee unions, trial attorneys, and tribal gaming interests to bail them out of situations like this. This year, however, those groups will be focused on getting a Democrat into the vacant Governor's mansion first, maintaining a precarious majority in the State Senate second, and keeping vulnerable Assemblymen like Garthwaite in office a distant third. This all spells trouble for the Democrat from Grant County next fall.

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Weighs in on Rep. Garthwaite's "Sugar Daddies"

The left-leaning Wisconsin Democracy Campaign (WDC) issued an interesting report today, just as the public employee unions, trial attorneys, tribes and other leftist groups continue to lavish thousands of dollars worth of misleading radio ads on Rep. Garthwaite through their front group The Greater Wisconsin Committee. The WDC report lays out some interesting findings on the November 2008 election. For instance, the state's teachers union, WEAC spent more than $550,000 to defeat just one Republican candidate in just one seat. Garthwaite benefited from similar spending from The Greater Wisconsin Committee and other far-left groups.

As interesting as the findings in the WDC's report is the colorful language it uses. According to the WDC, the Greater Wisconsin Committee is Rep. Garthwaite's "Sugar Daddy."

Shady Political Attack Group Back and Supporting Garthwaite

The Greater Wisconsin Committee, a group the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign refers to as a Milwaukee based Phony issue ad group is running a phony issue ad on Grant County radio stations. The group's phony ad urges voters to thank Rep. Garthwaite for voting for a budget that protects the middle class. Now anyone who has read anything about this budget knows that it raises dozens of taxes and fees on the middle class and that the Greater Wisconsin Committee ad is well...phony. More interesting than the content of the issue ad, however, is the funding source for the ad and the possible reasons this group is running it in favor of Rep. Garthwaite.

The Greater Wisconsin Committee is funded in large part by the trial lawyers lobby. Now why would the trial lawyers want thousands of dollars to be spent helping Rep. Garthwaite? Could it be because he was a deciding vote to save their auto-insurance mandate in the budget, the mandate that will cost you an extra $300 in premiums and will make them millions in lawsuit payouts?

Shady Third Party Comes to Phil's Rescue

I got a call from a friend today telling me to turn on the radio. When I turned it on, guess what I heard? I heard a shadowy third party group telling me to call Rep. Gathwaite and urge him to vote for the state budget. The group was none other than the most despicable of all the groups that have been hijacking our Democratic process – the Greater Wisconsin Committee.

According to the left-leaning Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, the Greater Wisconsin Committee is:

A Milwaukee-based phony issue ad group that was organized in 2004 to support Democratic candidates for statewide office and the legislature. Like other phony issue ad groups, it has consistently refused to disclose how much it raises and spends to sponsor mostly negative mailings and broadcast advertising during an election. Much of its cash has come from labor unions and Democratic-leaning ideological groups that get most of their money from large corporations.

Madison insiders have reported in the past that the Greater Wisconsin Committee also gets much of its funding from two other sources: tribal casino interests, which seek political clout to protect their state sponsored casino monopoly and trial lawyers who seek laws that make it easier to sue you and I for big paydays.

Now why would a shady political attack unit that works for public employee unions, trial lawyers, and Indian tribes be spending cash to support Rep. Gathwaite and the Democrat budget? Nobody can be sure but here are a few guesses:

- $3 billion in state tax increases.
- $1.3 billion property tax hike.
- Payback for the trial lawyers that will make Wisconsin the worst state for lawsuits in the country.
- Far left policy such as $15 million worth of free state health care and benefits for the boyfriends and girlfriends of state employees.
- Far left policy such as a new drivers license program and instate tuition for illegal immigrants.

The fact is that the groups who fund and run the Greater Wisconsin Committee have just as much to gain from this budget passing as we citizens have to lose. The question is, when the budget comes up for a vote Wednesday, will Rep. Garthwaite stand with his constituents or with the shady group that runs his shadow campaign and is now running radio ads for him?