Doyle, Kohl and Falk draw large, enthusiastic Rice Lake crowd

RICE LAKE October 21, 2006—Despite the damp chill, over 500 people turned out to greet Governor Jim Doyle, Senator Herb Kohl, Attorney General candidate Kathleen Falk, and many other candidates at the pig roast and rally put on by the Barron County Democrats at the county fairgrounds in Rice Lake on Saturday. Conceived only a few weeks ago, the event was intended to showcase the strong Democratic candidates, values and base of support in Barron County.

The crowd watches as Governor Jim Doyle makes his entrance

As Lenore Berg played her accordion, area residents ate free roast pork, beans and potato salad and took the opportunity to talk to state and local candidates. A color guard of local armed forces recruiters placed the American flag on the dais and saluted it just before Governor Doyle entered and spoke.

Jim Doyle shakes hands with some young constituents.

The theme that emerged was that the tide is turning in Wisconsin, and it will be among the first of the "blue states" to repudiate Republican rule and the fruits of their extremist ideology. A second theme was that there will be a lot of Republican damage to undo, from fortifying Wisconsin's signature stem cell research and clean water laws to restoring confidence in America's trajectory.

Sheriff Tom Richie, up for re-election, introduced Jim Doyle as responsive to all his constituents. As the 2004 deer hunting murder story unfolded, Richie said, he picked up the phone that Sunday night to hear, "This is Governor Doyle. How can I help you?" For his part, Jim Doyle called Richie "one of the best law enforcement officers in Wisconsin, firm and fair. We need to make sure he is re-elected." Doyle predicted that Senator Bob Jauch would return to a State Senate controlled once again by Democrats, and while Mary Hubler probably would not be serving in a Democratic majority in the Assembly this term, we would still make inroads on taking it back the next time.

Rep. Mary Hubler, Governor Jim Doyle, AG candidate Kathleen Falk, Senator Bob Jauch, Sheriff Tom Richie

Doyle aimed salvos at the Republicans. "The biggest fraud ever perpetrated upon the American people is that Republicans are the party of fiscal responsibility," he said, adding that Republicans had spent Wisconsin into a hole and lost over 80,000 manufacturing jobs by the time Doyle took over in 2002. For his part, Doyle has helped erase the 3.2 billion-dollar Republican deficit and add 170,000 new jobs to Wisconsin. "I know we have a long way to go," Doyle added, "but I'm not going to turn my back on manufacturing. Wisconsin is the only one of the top ten manufacturing states to add jobs in the last three years. Wisconsin can compete with anyone."

Doyle covered making health care more affordable and accessible, citing his popular SeniorCare program and Canadian drug purchase web site to bring prescription drugs within reach of everyday people. If Congress had been serious about prescription drugs, he said, they could have copied SeniorCare with its bargaining power instead of offering up the complex, expensive mess of Medicare Part D. His opponent, Congressman Mark Green, was the only member of Congress from Wisconsin who sided with the drug companies not to re import safe, inexpensive FDA-approved drugs back from Canada. "That's whose side he's on. And that is what's at stake on November 7th," Doyle said.

Doyle reaffirmed his commitment to education with his Wisconsin Covenant program that helps any committed, industrious secondary student afford a college education in Wisconsin. He also warned that Mark Green would cut 400 million from Wisconsin public schools, which would necessitate laying off 4,800 educators. "I have never, ever had a Wisconsin citizen come up to me and ask me to increase class size and lay off 4,800 teachers. But if you want to [lay them off, Mark Green's] your guy."

FAIR Wisconsin works to defeat the constitutional amendment curtailing marital rights for gay and straight couples

Speaking of labor, Doyle declared that "hard work deserves decent pay through unions and the power of collective bargaining. Mark Green is a right-to-work candidate. `Right to work for lousy wages' is what it is." And while Wisconsin is one of the few states that voted to raise the minimum wage two years in a row, in Congress, Mark Green has voted to deny minimum wage workers a raise for eight years in a row, while pocketing almost 30,000 dollars in raises, himself. "A minimum wage worker earns $11,000 a year. While denying this worker a raise, Mark Green has given himself a raise worth almost three times the annual minimum wage."

Doyle turned to Attorney General candidate Kathleen Falk. Calling her opponent, J. B. Van Hollen, a "wild, right-wing ideologue," Doyle, a former Wisconsin Attorney General, said that Falk is well equipped to protect the elderly, the workers, the environment, and to be tough on crime. Van Hollen has no experience with the statewide Attorney General's office, while Kathleen Falk, who once held the position of Public Intervener, worked every day with the office for 14 years.

Doyle closed by recounting how he'd toured on October 19th with baseball great Henry Aaron, a boyhood hero. "It was the thrill of a lifetime." And Doyle cautioned that Democrats must not stop working hard to get out the vote for November 7th. "I need your help," he said. The only way Republicans can win is by suppressing the vote.

25th District State Senator Bob Jauch said that "Wisconsin will stand up and say NO to this increasingly extreme right-wing Republican party in opposition to our right to decent-paying jobs, clean air and water, and health care. We stand, we fight, we push for these issues that we know all of Wisconsin wants." Jauch introduced Attorney General candidate Kathleen Falk by saying that, as Public Intervener, Kathleen Falk was so good at her job that then governor Tommy Thompson had to eliminate the position.

Barron Co. Registrar of Deeds Joyce Kaseno, District Attorney Angela Holmstrom, Rep. Mary Hubler, U.S. Senator Herb Kohl, State Senator Bob Jauch, Attorney General candidate Kathleen Falk

Attorney General candidate Kathleen Falk took the microphone to considerable applause in her opponent's home county. Falk characterized her opponent as inexperienced and unprepared for the job of fighting crime or turning young lives around. While she was winning her first case, Van Hollen was still in middle school. She also characterized Van Hollen as an "extreme ideologue." Falk cited her wish to fight the Bush administration's "relentless attack on our basic clean water laws. My opponent calls that a `liberal social agenda.' But there is nothing more mainstream than clean water." To cheers, Falk went on to say that while the Wisconsin Manufacturing Council has money and it has lies, "it doesn't have the people" behind it. She closed by urging everyone to work hard to get out the vote.

75th Assembly Representative Mary Hubler introduced Senator Herb Kohl as a legislator banking on a deep fund of constituent affection. He has established a scholarship fund with his own money, and is a supporter of the local Boy's and Girl's Clubs. He also appointed Rice Lake's own Jason Rae as a Senate page.

Kohl opened by one-upping Jim Doyle with his own Hank Aaron story, having hired Aaron, then a Milwaukee Brave, in 1952 for a promotional event at one of the area Kohl's stores. Customers mobbed the store. "He did it for the enormous sum of $25, but that was another time." On Democratic values, Kohl stated, "They talk about it, we do it. People know what a lousy job Republicans are doing. In six years of one-party rule, Republicans have gotten all they wanted, and it's spelled nothing but misery and unhappiness not only for Americans, but for people all over the world." Kohl vowed to continue working hard for Wisconsinites' best interests.

Closing the event, State Senator Bob Jauch addressed the young people in the audience and said, "This election is for you."

"This election is for you." —Senator Bob Jauch

—Lizbeth Ager