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“The last straw was the personal attacks I received in (the Assembly Republican) caucus on the compassionate care bill. Before then, I was thinking maybe giving it one more term, but not after that,” Musser said from his Capitol office.
The bill that requires hospitals to provide the morning after pill to rape victims had been bottled up in the Assembly without a public hearing until Musser co-sponsored it. That pushed the bill toward a public hearing and eventual passage by both houses. When Gov. Jim Doyle signed the bill into law earlier this year, he singled Musser out for praise to which Musser quipped, “Don’t remind my caucus.”
The senior ranking Republican in the Assembly said he has had enough of the political battleground where adherence to ideology makes collegiality nearly impossible. Instead, he will retire to his Jackson County farm where his cows give him fewer problems, he said.
“I think the people of Wisconsin appreciate bipartisanship. That’s what was needed in the last two budget bills, but too many people in this puzzle palace think that’s a sign of weakness. I’ve never understood that, so it’s time to go back to my cows, who are much more reasonable,” he said.
As retired members of the Legislature have said, Musser remembers when legislators could debate a bill on the Assembly floor and then go out have a drink with them. But now that friendship doesn’t even carry over from his own Republican caucus when he is on the other side of a debate.
“I was shocked at the venom in our closed caucuses … I knew it would be rough, but the personal attacks in the caucuses just blows my mind,” he said.
Musser keeps a Gandhi quote on his desk, which reads, “First they ignore you, they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
“In some of the contentious bills that’s exactly what happens. The Legislature has become very partisan, and even within the caucus there’s big divisions. But the people of the state are independents or moderate, and they want us to do our jobs. Vote on bills, that’s why they pay us the big bucks,” he said.
The lack of bipartisanship coincides with the lack of significant legislation passed, said Musser, as the Legislature runs on the ability of people to form a majority on issues that would otherwise divide them.
“For years I’ve tried working across the aisle, but it seems like there are too many now that only talk about it but don’t do it. Now, it’s my way or the highway,” he said.
Assembly Majority Leader Mike Huebsch said he was “surprised,” by Musser’s comments and wasn’t aware of any personal attacks on Musser by caucus members.
“We’ve always had strong disagreements in caucus because we’re a diverse group ... but not personal attacks. We always want to set disagreements aside and set a standard that if we disagree we will not be disagreeable,” Huebsch said.
Musser has chaired the Assembly Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs and wants to be remembered for the long list of legislation he has championed for veterans over the years. He is most proud of getting full funding for a college tuition assistance program for National Guard members.
“We started out with 25 percent tuition, then it grew to 50 percent and now it’s finally 100 percent, but that took 15 years,” he said.
Veterans have had a “good friend” in Legislature in Musser, and the AmVets Association will miss him, said Tim Sears, AmVets’ Legislative chairman.
The disclosure last year that Musser inaccurately claimed for 20 years to be a former Green Beret also factored into his decision to quit the Legislature.
“I handled that very poorly. My bio said I was Green Beret Special Forces. I wore a Green Beret when I was in Special Forces ... but when you’re in the Army you wear what you’re told and our uniform was the Green Beret,” he said.
Musser said he was not Special Forces-qualified but did not make that distinction clear on his legislative website biography and in other literature.
Musser did not register as a candidate with the State Election Division for 2008. His retirement announcement leaves Republican Dan Hellman and Democrat Mark Radcliffe as the only announced candidates in the 92nd Assembly District election this fall.
