I AM THE FORCE

Today, I have a problem with both Scott Jensen and those who want to see him fry. They're both wrong about a few things, and the distinctions are important. Jensen is wrong to claim that campaigning with state resources was a legitimate part of his responsibilities, and his critics are wrong to argue that selective prosecution is the way to end the caucus scandal.

It was indeed accepted practice for the four legislative leaders to utilize their respective partisan caucus staff to manage all aspects of political campaigns. It was cheating by conspiracy, with the safeguard of mutually assured destruction to prevent anyone from getting in trouble. As Jessica McBride has demonstrated, the capitol press corps was also in on the conspiracy and was unconcerned about working with state employees to get their campaign scoops. But the entire structure was incredibly crooked, and arguing that the work was a legitimate use of taxpayer dollars is ludicrous.

There is a distinction between political campaigning and lawmaking. And Scott Jensen, David Prosser, Mark Belling, Tom Loftus, and Charlie Sykes are all wrong to argue against such a distinction. It's one big retroactive rationalization for cheating the taxpayers in order to hold on to power. When Republicans were in the minority, Scott Jensen and others believed they needed a stronger caucus to win back the majority. When the Democrats finally lost to the superior ARC machine, Wally Kunicki and others believed they needed to reinvigorate the ADC to win it back. Both sides figured out what they thought they needed to do, then good and bad people came up with rationalizations to justify the behavior.

Legislative offices are indeed designed to protect incumbency and promote a legislator's cult of personality. Newsletters, for example, are a thin dodge that basically allow legislators to send out self-promoting brochures under the cover of informing their constituents. The expansion of capitol staff has always had the primary goal of assuring the member's re-election. Every press release and constituent letter is meant to promote the political longevity and campaign success of its author. But these unpleasant realities do not excuse the creation of mammoth taxpayer funded campaign machines.

Control of the Legislature is serious business, with very real consequences for every man, woman and child in Wisconsin. In order to be in charge, legislative leaders compromised their integrity and built campaign machines to accomplish what they considered a greater good. And the rank and file members kicked out any leaders who couldn't or wouldn't win elections. Can anyone be surprised that the Legislature ended up being controlled by caucuses headed by the two most ruthless and professional campaigners? They used every resource at hand to get their team the majority.

While this was a natural approach for Democrats who consider the government and their righteousness pre-eminent, it was not so natural an approach for Republicans. It was always rather ironic to hear Republican legislators argue for fiscal responsibility at the same time they were milking the taxpayers to win campaigns. Why should I be forced to pay the salaries of people campaigning against my political interests? And why should you and Xoff have to pay the salary of someone hired exclusively to raise money for Assembly Republicans? Running a legislative office is distinct from the business of running campaigns, and today's bright line between the activities is appropriate and long-overdue. A world with no such line would not serve me or any legitimate conservative well. We'd simply be paying for things we shouldn't be paying for.

Republicans could have, and should have, held a press conference announcing the end of the caucuses and challenged the others to do the same. Political staff could have been funded by soft money and located at the Republican Party. As the majority party, it would have been easy for Prosser, or Brancel, or Jensen to raise the money, and it would have given them the moral and ideological high ground. Unfortunately, 'though the idea was discussed, the leadership found it all much easier to rely on taxpayer funding. It was lazy, foolish and perhaps criminal to follow that path. No sugarcoating or rationalizing can change that reality.

Let's all step back for a moment to the beginning days of the caucus scandal. A few reporters and staffers who had not yet been fully indoctrinated into the conspiracy helped expose the ugly reality to the light of day. Then a relativity-challenged prosecutor set out to punish some of the offenders. Finally, the Legislature reacted to exposure of their little secret by eliminating the caucuses and instituting work rules that expressly prohibited the aforementioned campaign activities. There was a settlement with the Elections and Ethics Boards, and the caucuses were a thing of the past.

So what should have happened then? Obviously, the Dane County district attorney's office decided to still pursue some of the most powerful offenders instead of declaring victory and calling it a day. And had Blanchard held each of the four caucuses equally accountable, I would not have such a huge problem with that decision. But he didn't do that. Instead, he decided to charge the heads of only two caucuses, although the charges against Chvala were handled by McCann and focused on pay-to-play corruption rather than just running the caucuses. Which left Jensen and his team the only caucus forced to answer for its campaign activities. Brian Blanchard knows that he could have also charged and convicted Krug and Panzer, but for whatever reason decided they should get away with it.

So, when I see former reporters like Scott Milfred or editorial boards sneering about Scott Jensen's defense, I remain much more outraged by their support for selective prosecution and memory. The behavior was wrong and unsustainable, but Scott Jensen should not be forced to bear this entire burden by himself. The context of how the capitol operated is extremely relevant in determining appropriate punishment, especially when the prosecutor himself is excusing and immunizing hundreds of violators. The media and judiciary are unjust and disingenuous in their demand for the head of Scott Jensen, but the blatant illegitimacy of the caucuses is what will allow them to get away with it.