Never Too Early for Special Interest Cash

Shortly after Annette Ziegler was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court she closed her campaign committee and took her seat on the high court. Not so for the latest Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) empty suit Michael Gableman. He has started campaign fundraising some 10 years early. He is scheduled to have a fundraiser in Pewaukee this evening at a private residence. The going rate to meet WMC’€™s latest rubber stamp is between $100 and $500. It would be interesting to see what types of people show up and exactly what special interests they may represent. Perhaps my standards are too high, but there is something unseemly about a Justice-elect having a special interest pow-wow only weeks before he takes his seat on the high court.

The contact person for the Gableman fundraiser is Republican insider Mary Stitt. It is no surprise to find her name associated with a Gableman fundraiser. After all Gableman did his share of fundraising for Republican causes, some of it appears to include calls to her. Stitt’€™s phone number is listed as being one of the questionable calls that he made from a state phone when he was Ashland County District Attorney. The record actually shows that he called her at least 11 times. It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall at tonight’€™s event. Maybe we could actually catch them in one honest moment as they reminisce about the good old days of fundraising for Scott McCallum. Maybe we could finally get a straight answer about Gableman’€™s questionable calls to her and others. As nice as it would be, I have a funny feeling that the event will amount to little more than a special interest love fest. Apparently it is never too early to have one of those, even if you are preparing to take a seat on the state’€™s highest court.