EDITORIAL: BUCHER BLOWS UP

No one is ever going to try to suggest that Waukesha County District
Attorney Paul Bucher is the ablest prosecutor in the state - memories of
the Mark Chmura trial will forever foreclose that prospect.

But, as he campaigns for the Republican nomination for state attorney
general, Bucher has taken steps that raise serious questions about whether
he is capable of separating his political ambitions from his prosecutorial
duties.

Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager recently sent Bucher a routine offer of
assistance in a case involving alleged illegal campaigning in Waukesha
County by an aide to state Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, whose
district includes part of Waukesha County. In response, Bucher freaked out.

Never mind that a case involving charges of illegal campaigning on the part
of a state legislative aide merits investigation by the state Department of
Justice's Public Integrity Unit, rather than by the office of a district
attorney who frequently complains about lacking adequate resources to
pursue such matters.

Never mind that, after press reports detailed concerns regarding the
prospect that the Republican legislative aide was campaigning while working
at his state job, the Republican prosecutor seemed to suggest that he was
disinclined to conduct a serious review of the allegations.

Never mind that prosecutors usually respect offers of assistance from the
state's top law enforcement officer.

Bucher responded to Lautenchlager's entirely professional letter suggesting
that the Public Integrity Unit was "prepared to commit investigative
resources upon a proper referral" with a bitter, rambling screed that
featured a ham-handed suggestion that Lautenschlager was unconcerned about
"violence and murders."

What made Bucher's letter so bizarre was that it was sent to Lautenschlager
- - and, of course, the media - just days after the attorney general had
completed the successful prosecution of the highest-profile murder case in
the state's recent history.

Then again, Bucher also tried to intimate that Lautenschlager was
neglecting "the methamphetamine epidemic in western Wisconsin" and
instances of election fraud. No one who has been paying attention to public
affairs in Wisconsin can possibly have missed the attorney general's
repeated efforts to focus attention on the fight to stop the production and
sale of methamphetamines, nor could anyone suggest that Lautenschlager -
who has tangled with powerful figures in both her own Democratic Party and
the Republican Party - is unwilling to tackle political wrongdoing.

An honest read of the letter from Lautenschlager and the response from
Bucher reveals everything that Wisconsinites need to know about the
incumbent attorney general and the man who seeks to replace her.

While Lautenschlager is professional, collegial and concerned about
prosecuting instances of political wrongdoing, Bucher comes off as bitter,
uncooperative and determined to try to score partisan points even in
instances where it is clearly necessary to rise above politics.