Guest editorial: GOP 'sets record straight' on County Board debate
Fond du Lac Reporter Posted October 8, 2006

Ask anyone I know. I don't advocate mud-slinging, name-calling, or leveling accusations.

The political ads on TV drive me just as crazy as they do everyone else. I like to examine both sides of an issue before making an informed decision.

For these reasons, I am distressed by the unfounded barrage of attacks on "my" Fond du Lac County Republican Party. Somehow, we have found ourselves in the middle of the debate that is raging around the County Board referendum.

We have heard the accusations, and felt they were so absurd that we largely ignored them — until Thursday. That morning, The Reporter felt the need to state as fact, on the front page of its paper: "the Fond du Lac County Republican Party helped circulate petitions for the Nov. 7 referendum … "

In "researching" this story, The Reporter did not even bother to call any of our party leadership or stop by our office to see if this was really the case. Instead, The Reporter took the word of two people that never spoke to any of the leadership in our party, either.

Let's set the record straight: In late spring, Supervisor Sam Meyer e-mailed to ask if he could give a legislative report and also discuss the County Board reduction debate. Since we have an open invitation to all legislators to speak at our membership meetings, I welcomed him to speak. However, I cautioned that not all of our members are in favor of reduction and that we, as a party, had decided not to endorse one way or the other.

He came to the meeting, spoke for a few minutes, and a member of our group suggested that anyone wanting to help with the petition drive take a few petitions home to work on. Less than 10 people out of our total membership of 200-plus took petitions to circulate. This hardly constitutes a "Republican machine" or "Republican party sophistry."

What we have been doing as a party is focusing our efforts on electing a new governor and attorney general for Wisconsin. Every ounce of our enthusiasm, energy, and even our pocket change has been saved just for this purpose. We feel so strongly that our candidates for statewide office are what Wisconsin needs, we have very little time to spend on anything else.

Mark Green, candidate for governor, will lower our tax burden, reform the UW system, fund adult stem cell research, sign voter I.D. legislation, prevent big government from driving up health-care costs and return dignity to the governor's office.

J.B. Van Hollen, candidate for attorney general, will actively fight the "meth" problem, prosecute those involved in voter fraud, protect our children from pedophiles and cyber-criminals, work with local law enforcement agencies, and support the efforts of small businesses and farmers.

Even the leader of the local Democrat party shares our sentiments in regard to the gubernatorial race. He stated in his commentary in last Tuesday's Reporter: "I'm finding it tough to warm up to Mr. Doyle." He also acknowledged that he supports Doyle because he is the Democrat chairperson "and therefore must support Democratic candidates."

American elections are all about the voter, not the political parties. Each individual voter has a responsibility to find out the facts surrounding the issues on the ballot and measure them against his or her own values.

Please use these last 30 days to look beyond "the facts" in the paper, and gear up to vote on Nov. 7.

Holly Schwefel is chairperson of the Fond du Lac County Republican Party.

Eat your words Todd Schmitz!