The Wisconsin Congressional Delegation’s Unwritten Rule: Protect the Fiefdom
During the 2010 election cycle, Wisconsinites received a revelation: The members of our state’s congressional delegation, we learned, had an “Unwritten Rule.” According to Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R, 5th CD), members of said congressional delegation, Republicans and Democrats together, turned out to be colluding by not endorsing candidates of their own party who were running in the districts of opposition incumbents.
Let that information sink in for a moment…
Wisconsin Republicans, such as Paul Ryan (1st CD) and Jim Sensenbrenner, were refusing to endorse Republican candidates running in districts held by Gwen Moore (4th CD), Tammy Baldwin (2nd CD), and other über-lefties—that is, in territory where Republican candidates needed more help, not less, to get elected. Instead, Republican incumbents said, “Sorry. You’re on your own.”
Why…?
Because if Ryan and Sensenbrenner, for example, endorsed Republican candidates in Moore’s and Baldwin’s districts, Moore and Baldwin would endorse Democratic candidates in theirs. Well, now, that would get downright un-neighborly, wouldn’t it…?
So, Wisconsin’s Republican and Democratic legislators work hand in hand to ensure that none of them has to face any stiff or unpleasant competition. Evidently, for Ryan and Sensenbrenner, protecting their own seats in Washington comes first, while standing on principle faithfully to advance a true conservative platform in an election cycle comes a very distant last.
Harold
ACGR's "News with Attitude" 