POLLS DISMAL FOR STATE

No matter which results you look at, two polls conducted this week came up
with surprisingly similar findings. The results don't bode well for Gov.
Scott McCallum, who trailed two Democratic challengers looking to unseat
him in this fall's gubernatorial election.

Nor do they bode particularly well for the rest of us who live in Wisconsin.

McCallum came in behind both Attorney General Jim Doyle and U.S. Rep. Tom
Barrett, D-Milwaukee, according to the poll conducted by New York research
firm Harris Interactive for the conservative Wisconsin Policy Research
Institute. In the Badger Poll, 63 percent of the state's citizens rated
McCallum's job performance as either fair or poor. That poll was conducted
by the University of Wisconsin Survey Center and sponsored by The Capital
Times and Wisconsin Public Broadcasting. And 40 percent - in the Badger
Poll - said things in the state have gotten worse under McCallum's tenure.
More people - 47 percent - believe the state is "off on the wrong track,"
according to Harris, than think Wisconsin is moving in the right direction.

That leaves Wisconsin residents with a governor who'll be in charge at
least until next January and whom they don't have any faith in when it
comes to fixing the problems we face. That means we sit still and stew, or
look to others for solutions. The Legislature is one of the biggest parts
of the problem, so we're not likely to find much help there.

A spokesman for McCallum says his boss will "rebound" when the economy does
and when the Democratic primary "turns ugly."

We say, why wait for the primary - it's six months away. Let's get ugly now.

McCallum has put out his budget repair bill, and the Republican Assembly
has responded with theirs. Where is the Democratic plan? We haven't heard
from the Senate, and the Democratic candidates talk politely and put out
position papers.

One candidate - Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk - at least made a good
faith gesture and cut her own salary. Financially it's not a big deal but
at least she was willing to put her money where her mouth is.

But where is the serious debate? Where is the candidate - other than
Libertarian Ed Thompson - who is looking to decriminalize medical marijuana
and close some prisons? Where is the candidate willing to offer
cutting-edge ideas out loud in public?

Where is the candidate who is willing to face the ugly truth about the
state of the state and to offer Wisconsin residents a clear vision and a
ray of hope?

The polls pointed up the problems. We're still waiting for some solutions.