August 9, 2016

It's primary day in Wisconsin.

I wish I had a PDF of the ballot they handed out here in Dane County — packed with fine print, and you were not only expected to understand that you could only vote within one of the 4 or so parties, but you had to figure out where each party began and ended within the various columns on the 2-sided sheet of cardboard. It was hard just to see, and not much light was provided at my polling place (the First Congregational Church (I vote in a church)). Worst ballot I ever got. [ADDED: You can see it in PDF here.]

But I only wanted to vote in one race, the one for Dane County District Attorney. The winner will be unopposed in the fall, so if you want to have a vote for that position, you have to choose to vote in the Democratic Party primary, which I therefore did. It's an open primary, and it would be absurd to keep non-Democrats out of voting, because the primary determines who wins that position.

I've watched the candidates debate, here. The incumbent faces a challenger who is currently working in the office as an assistant district attorney and who says things like: "I’m just astonished at the things he does and the things he doesn’t do. It’s as though he likes the title of district attorney but he doesn’t like the job of district attorney." The incumbent, who is African American, says his opponent, by calling him lazy, is engaging in racism. The opponent, who is white, says that's "offensive," and points out...
... that he and his wife were foster parents for 25 children, many of them African-American, and adopted one of those children. “But I think there’s a history there, that he characterizes every problem that’s confronting this office in those terms, and those are not the problems facing this office.”
The real problems, the challenger says, are that the office is "profoundly demoralized, profoundly dysfunctional and exceedingly disorganized."

UPDATE: The incumbent DA won. And Paul Ryan won his primary too.

53 comments:

Unknown said...

So what if the office is a disaster? The boss is black. And in Obama's America, being black is an automatic shield against expectations of competency, transparency, etc.

Unless the black person is a Republican, of course. Then there is no sin too big, no name calling too bad, for that person. See Cain, Herman and Thomas, Clarence.

--Vance

Etienne said...

"profoundly demoralized, profoundly dysfunctional and exceedingly disorganized."

Sounds like America...

Sounds like Delta Airlines...

No wait... Sounds like me watering the vegetable garden.

Shane said...

Please indulge me: Is the Dane County PA the corrupt animal who perpetuated the John Doe investigation? (I am from a neighboring State.)

Unknown said...

"profoundly demoralized, profoundly dysfunctional and exceedingly disorganized."

A friend's daughter is a prosecuter there and this sums up her working conditions perfectly.

Wilbur said...

It's happened in the office where I work (an Assistant State Attorney running against the incumbent), but I could never understand why the State Attorney or DA would not fire someone who ran against them. Anyone who runs under these circumstances should have the grace to resign first.

Someone tried to tell me it was illegal to fire them. That seems preposterous. You have to be able to trust or at least have confidence in your employees. How could you under these circumstances?

Shane said...

In the County where I was prosecutor, APAs were county union employees and therefore could only be fired for cause. Our commissioners removed them from the union, and a set (and generous benefit package was put in place, whereby previously litigation/arbitration was the alternative. It worked well, and helped stability and productivity (respect for taxpayer funds being well resourced.) Chief assistants were non-union, were political appointees and could be fired for example bc they consistently showed up 20-30 minutes late, w their underwear exposed as they tucked in their shirt and zipped up their pants every day; they displayed painfully mysogyny toward any female APA who made them feel threatened and they lost every case involving a child victim, molestation or sexual assault. Also, chief APAs were political hires by nature and disloyalty would have been sufficient grounds as termination was a risk of the position.

320Busdriver said...

Hell, it sounds like the Milwaukee county DA's office. Hopefully Johnny C gets his but kicked by that African American challenger. I wish I lived there so I could help vote him out. Really, could IO be any worse than chisholm?

320Busdriver said...

@Shane,

No, it was John Chisholm, Milwaukee county DA who in part prompted the JD investigation. Well it might have been his wife who started it all. He really needs to go. And for many other reasons.

buwaya said...

"Worst ballot I ever got. "

Very much like the ballots and ballot documents we get in California - hey, my wife and kids are American, and they vote.

Convoluted, far too many things to vote on, nobody anyone can expect to have heard of running for positions few understand, and no basis for making a personal choice other than parties, where there are parties (many positions are non-partisan, supposedly), and name recognition. The information cost, as some economists would put it, is very high. Foreign elections just aren't like this.

If anyone wanted to deal with lack of political participation honestly, this complication is where to start, not in the voter ID business. That they don't tells you what the deal is. Crooks, cheats and scoundrels in every direction.

Mark said...

They included the Green, Libertarian, and another party on mine despite having zero candidates running for office.

Did the lack of the GAB that caused this crappy ballot? The new elections people really screwed the pooch here, maybe not WEDC bad but give them time.

Oh, and our suburb had polling places moved yet again. Can't leave well enough alone or meant to decrease turnout?

320Busdriver said...

I'm comfortable blaming Kevin Kennedy and the GAB for any problems with an election, including ballot issues. Those losers are looking for jobs, right?

The Bergall said...

Can you write in "Adult"? And leave it at that?

madAsHell said...

The city of Seattle slipped an increase in property tax into an August primary.

Who stays in Seattle during August? People that don't have jobs!! WIN-WIN!!

dwick said...

Confusing ballots only become a problem when the Democratic party candidate(s) don't win...

traditionalguy said...

Dilemma of dilemmas. Do we want an efficient and hard working prosecutor's office or do we want a lazy and disorganized one? Hmm. Same question asked about the IRS gets a big NO.

James Pawlak said...

I am so happy that I do not live in Dane County which is, especially in the city, a communal insane ward surrounded by reality.

I do not know if Dane County's current Persecutor is lazy; But, as are so many in his Party, an enemy of THE BILL OF RIGHTS.

Mark said...

"I'm comfortable blaming Kevin Kennedy and the GAB for any problems with an election, including ballot issues. "

You do realize they were disbanded in June, right? Replaced by a newly created board, for whom this is their first election.

I suppose this is like blaming all the transportation funding issues on Doyle, like they are STILL doing.



320Busdriver said...

@Mark

Yes I do. Good Riddance.

Fernandinande said...

Wisconsin sample ballots: http://www.gab.wi.gov/forms/ballots

The incumbent, who is African American, says his opponent, by calling him lazy, is engaging in racism.

Aww, that's so cute. Like a little puppy yapping and running in circles.

Ozanne is the racist who let a black clearly anti-white racist spray-paint vandal (i.e. an artist) off the hook but persecuted a white one who had maybe-racist-if-you-use-your-imagination spray paintings.

Worst ballot I ever got.

Difficult voting procedures suppress black votes. And white votes, too, if one were to compare with Asians, which nobody does because they don't count.

wildswan said...


Chisolm is the John Doe investigation guy and Sheriff David Clark is promoting his opponent. Be interesting to see how that works out.

eric said...

I believe the polls have Ryan winning by something like 60%, give or take. Hugh Hewitt is predicting a 30% victory.

Are there any exit polls?

Fernandinande said...

The hospital admissions computer GUI in "Idiocracy" could serve as a model for for ballots of the future.

Shane said...

Thank you, 320B!

JAORE said...

Here in Alabamastan the ballots are easy to read and understand for voting on candidates. However we usually have several referendum or other issues up to constitutional amendments to vote on. The wording on THESE is not to be believed. Often the basic question boils down to "Yes" or "No". But you are never quite sure which way you have voted.

I usually rely on the local paper, reliably lefty, to decipher the language. They don't always provide a good interpretation, but I can figure it out based on their support.

Quaestor said...

The incumbent, who is African American, says his opponent, by calling him lazy, is engaging in racism.

Racism, the all-purpose argument. That Ismael Ozanne resorts to it so reflexively lends credence to the lazy charge, does it not?

Rick said...

But I only wanted to vote in one race, the one for Dane County District Attorney.

"who says things like: "I’m just astonished at the things he does and the things he doesn’t do. It’s as though he likes the title of district attorney but he doesn’t like the job of district attorney."

You present this using a traditionally negative format. Is this a conscious effort to lead the audience or force them to notice the discrepancy between the format and the content? Or do you conclude there's something wrong with this comment?

Do you know someone in or dealing with the office? The facts in the linked article were sparse, and so a conclusion was tough to reach. 20 of 28 lawyers left in two years seems damning, but maybe these are positions with high turnover?

The only comments at Madison take issue with running against his boss. While that may matter to the two of them why is that a public concern? Don't we want the person who can best direct the office to accomplish its mission? It seems like they're grasping for a justification for their support, which implies they don't want to be honest about their true motivation.

Jim Sweeney said...

Is everybody afraid to say it? "Blacks are lazy." We all know that. It's one reason so many are still beggars on the democrat party plantation. And we all know that too.

Shame them to work like the NBA/NFL blacks do and our country will be great again.

David said...

Hmmm. Where are the Navajo Code Talkers when we need them?

eric said...

Looks like it's going to be a real squeaker in the Ryan race. He's only got 90% of the vote so far.

Unknown said...

Sarah Palin will be devastated.

Jupiter said...

"Jambois also blames Ozanne for the turnover of 20 of the office’s 28 lawyers over the past two years."

Probably weren't black enough. Actually, Ozanne doesn't look all that black himself. Probably an honorary Negro, like Rachel Dolezal.

John henry said...

Eric,

I tried to help, I sent $130 to Nehlen.

Not much I can do if the voters won't do their part.

John Henry

gadfly said...

With 23% of the votes counted, Ismael Ozanne has 66% of the vote. A very nice man and a true gentleman, Governor Lee Dreyfus was proven right once again - "Madison, Wisconsin is 30 miles surrounded by reality."

BN said...

OMG, did Jim S at 7:44 actually say that?

Run and hide.

Now!

Or just ban the mofo.

mockturtle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
CachorroQuente said...

Good to see Palin strike out.

Suggested headlines

Breitbart: "Ryan rides Trump endorsement to narrow victory."

Fox News: "Late returns put Ryan over the top as Nehlen surge massively exceeds expectations."

WND: "In wake of corrupt court decision on voter ID, Ryan squeeks by Nehlen. Suspected voter fraud proves decisive."

Trump twit: "Congrats to our friend Ryan on his bigly victory. Huge!"

n.n said...

The [class] diversity mongers defend their corruption with projection of class diversity mongering.

Original Mike said...

I want to thank all of you who contributed money to Nehlen's 10% tally. Every dollar sent to Wisconsin helps our economy. Thanks guys!

Chuck said...

Ryan's winning with almost 85% of the vote. And it was an open primary!

Somebody needs to check on Matt Drudge and make sure he's okay...

HT said...

Why weren't these elections held during the presidential primaries?

tim in vermont said...

It would have been nice if a crossover vote could have knocked out "Americans make too much money and we need to keep wages down" Ryan. Instead, he is somehow Speaker of the House.

Brando said...

"Why weren't these elections held during the presidential primaries?"

Usually the later primaries are meant to protect political incumbents. If the challenging party has to wait until only a few months before the general election to pick their nominee, they have a disadvantage against an incumbent who is usually not really contested in their party's primary.

Though now that these days most of the real drama is in the primaries themselves, this might backfire on incumbents.

Brando said...

I guess Palin isn't the magic touch! Who would have imagined she's a washed up has been whose fifteen minutes passed a long time ago.

Original Mike said...

"It would have been nice if a crossover vote could have knocked out "Americans make too much money and we need to keep wages down" Ryan."

I'd like to know more about this. When did he say it? Can you provide a link?

Clyde said...

Apparently that race card wasn't maxed out after all. Who knew?

MadisonMan said...

People I vote against so often win.

(Sigh)

MadisonMan said...

Oh -- and I meant to add: I cannot believe that Fossilized Dinosaur Risser has no opponent.

It must make it easy for him to campaign from his La-Z-Boy recliner. Wouldn't want to work too hard and keel over dead on the campaign trail.

the gold digger said...

(the First Congregational Church (I vote in a church))

Let me fix that for you:

I vote in private property paid for by the members of the congregation. They are generous enough to donate their private space for the convenience of the public.

the gold digger said...

PS I had no problems at all understanding my ballot. It looked a lot like yours. I'm not seeing the problem.

JAORE said...

"People I vote against so often win.

(Sigh)"

I always vote for the right person. They do not always win.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Fernandinande said...

"Ozanne is the racist who let a black clearly anti-white racist spray-paint vandal (i.e. an artist) off the hook but persecuted a white one who had maybe-racist-if-you-use-your-imagination spray paintings."

Spot on. Racism is the only sin lefties recognize, and they get to define it. They know it when they see it, and they see it where they want to see it.

One reason Ozanne gave for not prosecuting "God" for his anti-white graffiti was his tender age -- 21 years, the same as the white vandals he saw fit to prosecute.

Oh well, Madison Democrats just re-elected him in a massive show of virtue signaling, because if Tony Robinson had an older brother, he'd look like Ozanne..

Hagar said...

WTF???

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/light-turnout-eases-fix-for-madison-absentee-ballots-voter-id/article_3bb58933-30ec-576e-9b54-d81820582aea.html

They "fixed" the ballots?

HT said...

Ok thank you Brando. I have never really heard of this kind of set up, not that I am paying as much attention as I used to/should be.


I vote in a church. My family votes in a church. I used to vote at the police station. What's the big deal?