Walker the Logical, Reasoned Candidate for Wisconsin Governor

By Neil Isono, age 20


On November 2nd, voters across Wisconsin will go to the polls to elect the next governor of our great state. Students right here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have the opportunity to play the deciding role in who leads our state for the next four years. I know that when I head to the polls, I’ll be voting to take Wisconsin in a fundamentally different direction. That’s why I’m voting for Scott Walker.

It is time to take Wisconsin down a better road. Over the last eight years, our state has experienced massive tax increases and record setting deficits. And as a result, we’ve lost over 160,000 jobs. As a student who plans to seek employment in Wisconsin after graduation, this is unacceptable to me. Tom Barrett’s record has shown he would take us down this same, dangerous path toward even larger deficits and higher unemployment.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett likes to spend a lot of time talking about how he has created jobs and will “put Madison on a diet.” But his record speaks for itself. A recent report shows that under his watch, the city of Milwaukee has one of the worst job creation records of any city in the country. The fact that he has raised taxes every year in office, even proposing a massive 24 percent increase has played a large part in this. And that’s not all. Milwaukee was just rated the fourth poorest city in the entire nation. We can’t let Tom Barrett do what he’s done to Milwaukee to our great state of Wisconsin.

Students have another choice this November. They can choose the bold leadership and proven record of Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker. Scott has a strong record of keeping taxes low and eliminating government waste. He introduced an incredible nine consecutive balanced budgets that didn’t increase taxes from the previous year. And by working across party lines in his heavily Democratic county, he’s been able to cut the county debt by 10 percent, while our state’s deficit has soared to record levels. But what makes me the most excited to vote for Scott is his plan to create 250,000 new jobs right here in Wisconsin by 2015.

As a student who will soon enter the workforce, I know that I will directly benefit from the 250,000 new jobs Scott will create during his first term in office. He’ll create them by following his common sense Brown Bag Guide to Government, which says: Don’t spend more than you have; Smaller government is better government; and people create jobs, not the government.

On November 2nd, I hope you’ll join me and thousands of other students on campus in voting for Scott Walker. We can’t continue with the same policies that got us into the mess we’re in today. Instead, we must bring Scott Walker’s bold leadership to Madison to get our state working again. Independents across the state realize this, and it’s why the Wisconsin State Journal and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have both endorsed Scott Walker. With your help, we’ll make this a Wisconsin we can believe in again.

Neil is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the chair of Students for Scott Walker. His editorial previously appeared in U-W Madison’s student newspaper, The Badger Herald.

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Vote for Progress

By Emily Baer, age 17

If I were able to vote in the coming midterm election, my vote would be for incumbent Senator Russ Feingold. Russ Feingold would be the best senator for Wisconsin because he has eighteen years of experience and he is not beholden to big money interests. His history of bipartisan efforts shows he has a willingness to govern reasonably, not just vote along party lines.

The most important reasons he should remain in the Senate are the solutions he offers to the nation's problems. He has run a solid campaign on answers to Wisconsin's needs. From education to healthcare reform, he has the right ideas for Wisconsin. In comparison to his opponent, Ron Johnson, the fact that he even has specific solutions makes him look really good.

Speaking of Ron Johnson, I can't believe that a guy like him even has a chance to be in the Senate, especially representing Wisconsin. Ron Johnson has run a campaign on fear, commercials funded by undisclosed donors, and empty words. His views on issues are vague, and his solutions nonexistent. How can people vote for a candidate who doesn't know, or won't say, what they stand for?

He says he will use his experience in the private sector to create jobs but never says how he will do this. He says he wants to repeal healthcare but doesn't propose his own ideas on fixing this industry. He says he's in this for the people of Wisconsin, yet the main people he wants to support are millionaires like him. Ron Johnson is not the right candidate for Wisconsin.

What voters need to realize during these midterm elections is that Barack Obama has only been president for two years. I understand the notion that President Obama and the Democratic majority “didn't get anything done” in the past two years, but this is just not true. In the past two years, the economy has been stabilized, the huge healthcare bill was passed, Wall Street reform was passed, along with countless other achievements. What I ask is for voters not to give up hope in the Democrats. Vote for Russ Feingold and the continued progress of our state and nation.

Emily is a junior at Monona Grove High School in Monona, Wisconsin.