Monday, March 31, 2008
2:28 PM
GOP officials do robocalls supporting Gableman
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, and Republican Party of Wisconsin chairman Reince Priebus lent their voices to robocalls supporting Burnett County Judge Michael Gableman in his bid to unseat Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler.
RPW spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said the party got involved after seeing Gov. Jim Doyle working the campaign trail for Butler, and the state's largest teacher's union, WEAC, launching a statewide TV ad.
"We felt we needed to not sit on the sidelines while they're pouring in money and support," she said of the Priebus call.
The Priebus call was sent out to 100,000 phones statewide, but mostly focused on southeast Wisconsin, Kukowski said.
A spokeswoman for Ryan's campaign did not have details about the scope of the Ryan call.
Here's the Priebus transcript:
Hi, this is Reince Priebus, Chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin.
Republicans have a clear choice for Supreme Court. Mike Gableman.
Judge Gableman was a Republican D.A. before he was appointed to the circuit court.
Gableman is a judicial conservative who will put victims ahead of criminals and not create new laws that hurt victims and jeopardize jobs in Wisconsin.
On the other hand, Louie Butler was appointed by Jim Doyle and is a former criminal defense attorney.
This Tuesday, please join me in voting for Mike Gableman for Supreme Court.
Here's the Ryan transcript:
Hi, this is Congressman Paul Ryan. I'm calling to ask you to join me in voting for Judge Michael Gableman for Supreme Court this Tuesday.
A former Republican district attorney, Judge Gableman's experience as a prosecutor has earned him the endorsements of a bipartisan majority of Wisconsin's sheriffs and district attorneys.
Like me, law enforcement supports Judge Gableman because they know he is the only candidate for the court we can trust to not legislate from the bench. We can trust Judge Gableman to put the rights of victims ahead of criminals.
That's why I hope you'll join me, Congressman Paul Ryan, in voting for Judge Gableman this Tuesday.
Paid for by Gableman for Supreme Court, James A. Zeiler, Treasurer.
UPDATE:
Other robocalls are circulating from a pro-Butler union and a pro-Gableman union.
From Bryan Kennedy, president of AFT-Wisconsin: "Our union has endorsed Louis Butler because he is impartial and has a strong record on behalf of working families. As a former union member, Justice Butler understands our values."
And from R.J. Lurquin, president of the Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association, on behalf of the Gableman campaign and "law enforcement's choice for the Supreme Court."
"Judge Gableman is a former prosecutor who worked hard to keep our communities safe, he says. "On the other hand, his opponent's decisions have made law enforcement's job more difficult.''
Arlington, Va.-based Democratic Judicial Campaign Committee is doing robocalls in the state in support of Butler.
DJCC spokesman David Browne declined to release a transcript of the calls, but said the gist of the message is that the corporate interests are pouring millions of dollars into the race, and encouraging voters to turn out to counter their influence.
Browne said there are five or six different variations of the calls, and about 200,000 are going out.
He declined to provide a transcript or a copy of the calls to WisPolitics.
Labels: 2008 spring election
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