Since it has hardly ever happened,the conventional wisdom is that a Milwaukee politician cannot beelected governor of Wisconsin. So is there a serious possibility thatboth political parties could nominate candidates from Milwaukee forgovernor in 2010? Probably not.
Butthat hasn’t stopped the hometown media from speculating about MilwaukeeMayor Tom Barrett as the Democratic candidate facing off againstMilwaukee County Executive Scott Walker as the Republican candidate.
Thelast Milwaukeean to serve as governor, Marty Schreiber, wasn’t elected.Schreiber was promoted from lieutenant governor after President JimmyCarter appointed Democratic Gov. Pat Lucey ambassador to Mexico in1977. Schreiber was defeated for election statewide the following yearby Republican Lee Dreyfus.
Beforethat, the last governor from Milwaukee was Republican industrialistJulius Heil, who served two two-year terms beginning in 1939. Accordingto The New York Times, Heil was known primarily “for clowning and silly antics.”
Thenyou have to go back to 1856, when Democrat Arthur MacArthur, thegrandfather of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, served as governor for four daysbefore being run out of office by threat of force after revelations ofvote fraud.
Withthat meager history, why would anyone believe that a Milwaukeepolitician today could overcome the historic resentment of votersthroughout the state toward big, bad Milwaukee?
Bothof the possible candidates have to be aware of the odds against them.Both sought their party’s nomination for governor before Barrett in2002 against Jim Doyle and Walker in 2006 against Green Bay CongressmanMark Greenand both failed.
Expecting the unexpected was fueled by the surprise announcement that Democratic Gov. Doyle would not seek re-election.
Thatmade Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, who quickly announced her candidacy, themost natural successor to the Democratic nomination. Despite thesuccess of female governors across the country, the Wisconsin old boys’club seems to regard Lawton’s candidacy as somehow unnatural.
Democraticpowerbrokers first put their hopes on La Crosse Congressman Ron Kind,even though the gubernatorial races of Barrett and Green showed thatcongressmen with political strength in a single congressional districthave difficulty running statewide.
Whenpolling indicated that most state voters didn’t have a clue who he was,Kind announced he would seek re-election to Congress.
Nowsome Democrats are increasing pressure on Barrett to run for governor.It comes at both a fortuitous time and an awkward time for Barrett.
Barrett’spublic image statewide and nationally has never been higher as a resultof a courageous personal act in which he stepped into the middle of adomestic dispute to protect a grandmother and an infant. He ended up being brutally beaten with a tire iron.
Thepersonal good will flowing from that shocking incident combined withhis likable campaign style actually could give Barrett the best shot ofany Milwaukee mayor in history of being elected governor.
Andwouldn’t that be something? To actually have a Wisconsin governor whounderstood the needs of poor and working-class whites, blacks andLatinos living in urban areas.
Anysuch governor would still face major challenges getting Madisonlegislators to overcome anti-Milwaukee prejudices and provide adequateresources to attack long-neglected problems. At the very least, therewould be much more awareness of needs at the top.
The tough part is Barrett continues to suffer from the serious injuries from the beating.
He’sstill in pain. It may be months before he knows whether he facesanother major surgery as a result of a crushed knuckle on his hand.
Familyconsiderations also are very important to Barrett. Three of thosechildren Barrett used to carry around at campaign events are nowteenagers.
Besides,it’s politically awkward for Barrett to run for higher office whilecampaigning as mayor of Milwaukee to take over the city’s publicschools. Is he going to stay around and run the schools or not? Wouldthe next mayor even want to?
Protecting Wisconsin
Despitethose obstacles, there’s one more very important reason why Barrettmight decide to run for governor. If Walker has a serious shot atwinning the Republican nomination, Barrett might feel compelled to runto protect Milwaukee and the rest of the state from financial chaos.
Sincebecoming county executive in 2002, Walker has perfected an extremelyclever political trick. Every year, he submits a budget without a taxincrease.
That’snot difficult to do if you neglect to provide enough money to run yourcounty. Walker leaves it up to the County Board to increase taxesenough to keep important county services functioning.
Asimilar approach by Walker as governor could leave the entire stategovernment and every city, county and school district in Wisconsinwithout enough state revenue to operate.
Barrettrunning for governor to prevent the Milwaukee vote from going to Walkermight even be seen as another act of heroism on the mayor’s part.
