Now that primary election day is getting closer,and we’ve seen how the primary in the sixth congressional district has gone, I’d like everyone to just take a step back, look at the Big Picture, and realize what a colossal waste of time, money and energy this whole race has been. We may even lose the state senate seat held by Sen Joe Leibham just because Glenn Grothman was impatient for Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner’s retirement or death.
Can anyone, seriously, name one tactical or strategic goal of conservatives that was advanced by pushing Congressman Tom Petri out two years earlier than planned. Besides less federal funding for bike paths. Just one. Anyone? Bueller?
Instead, conservatives could actually lose ground as a result of this debacle.
And why? So the guy from West Bend could run for a seat he needs a map to find? So Rep Duey Stroebel can dump $600,000 into a congressional race when there is not a dime’s worth of difference between him and Leibham? Stroebel will probably spend more on this race than Mary Burke will spend of her personal money running for governor. Are we having this primary just so some conservative groups could flex their “tea party” muscles pointlessly? Or worse, damage their own reputations in the process?
Whatever geniuses thought this plan up have the political acumen of Wile E Coyote.
I saw on Twitter Friday and I’ve seen the comment from Grothman supporters before that if Leibham was really a conservative he wouldn’t have waited to take on Petri in a primary until after Grothman jumped in the race. That’s just stupid. Why should Leibham jump into a race he didn’t have to when all he had to do was wait two years to take a free shot at replacing a retiring Petri? And are conservatives so ideological now that Leibham is not supposed to take into account his personal situation before deciding to run? Really? Is it the party above the personal? Glad to know we’ve embraced Bolshevism.
I like primaries and I don’t mind the rough-and-tumble of a good political fight. What’s more, I honestly don’t care who wins the primary in the sixth congressional district. But if conservatives are going to win in the long term, a little more strategic thinking and a little less ego indulging is what is needed.
