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Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson will be up for re-election and, if the past two years are any indication, she likely will face opposition from big-money groups running
so-called “issue ads” that
actually are de-facto campaign ads. And, again based on past history, the ads will likely play on negative, nasty themes.
Sadly, that’s the way it’s been working recently with statewide campaigns. Conservative groups — such as Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce — and liberal groups — such as the Wisconsin Education Association Council — spend millions to spread negative ideas about candidates perceived as their opponents.
WMC-backed Supreme Court candidates in the past two years were former Washington County Judge Annette Ziegler, who defeated Madison lawyer Linda Clifford in 2007, and former Burnett County Judge Michael Gableman, who beat incumbent Justice Louis Butler in 2008.
Both of the WMC candidates won after the business lobby group spent millions to run negative ads. They did this to convince voters that Clifford and Butler would be soft on crime and would be “liberal activists” who would overstep the bounds of what courts are supposed to do.
WMC was joined by two other conservative groups: the Club for Growth Wisconsin and the Coalition for America’s Families.
Liberal groups’ ads were just as negative and misleading as the conservative ones.
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a private group that tracks campaign spending and advocates for campaign reform, put out a report Wednesday that gave thumbnail sketches of the three conservative groups and two liberal groups. You might want to clip this editorial and keep it around as a guide to the major players. Here they are:
“WMC outspent all of the other outside electioneering groups combined,” the Democracy Campaign said. After noting that the WMC ads were heavy on crime-related issues, the Democracy Campaign said: “WMC’s real interest in judicial races is to protect business from judges it perceives would rule against them in fraud, product negligence and other business liability cases.”
The Democracy Campaign said: “WEAC’s real interest in a Butler win was expressed in a March 2008 newsletter urging its members to vote for him. It talked about Gableman giving conservatives a majority on the seven-member court.”
Of the committee’s intent, the Democracy Campaign said, “Their electioneering is peppered with negative references to the candidates handling of sex offender, murder and other hot-button cases unrelated to judicial ethics and reform. And like the other groups, Greater Wisconsin’s interest in improving the judicial system is a bout of spring fever that only occurs at election time.”
Remember these lobbying groups. And when the relentlessly negative ads start running next fall, look carefully at the fine print that says which group is supporting the ad.
At the very least, be aware of the ideology of the group, and be very wary of the message. Pay more attention to what the candidates say, and then make up your own mind and vote.
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