If I were to mention the word “Waukesha” while yakking with political friends, it wouldn’t take too long for somebody to mention “Kathy Nickolaus” – the Waukesha county clerk who rather infamously discovered about 7,500 votes following the Wisconsin Supreme Court election.
But after reading Scott Wittkopf’s article “Blame Waukesha” in the Madison weekly The Isthmus I’m wondering why nobody talks about Don Taylor?
As Scott Wittkopf makes apparent, Taylor is the Waukesha County Republican Party Chair and a key Wisconsin fund raiser for all GOP candidates who hope to win a statewide election. His ascent to power has brought a hard right political agenda with it. Writes Wittkopf: “In 1977, Taylor was considered so radical a conservative in Waukesha County he could not even receive delegate status to the state GOP Convention.” But by now a political conduit fund managed by Taylor is, “so successful that most significant state GOP campaigns maintain a staffed office in Waukesha County to be close to Don Taylor and the fund” according to Scott Jensen.
Yes, he even interviewed infamous Scooter Jensen, one of the key figures in the caucus scandal. Jensen is now a key figure in an effort I find just about as distasteful- the push to route public dollars to private charter schools. I’m not alone in my concern. The responses that a couple of other Waukesha figures Wittkopf speaks with make me wonder if Walker’s attack on public education isn’t the last straw for many Republicans.
Wittkopf’s article also delves into Waukesha County’s socioeconomics, its voting stats, the ultra-conservative lawmakers Taylor grooms for success, and more.
Read on at Blame Waukesha: The GOP’s answer to liberal Dane County swings elections to the right
Scott Wittkopf writes at Badger Democracy
blue cheddar 