Souls are being searched today!
Wasn’t even close, was it! Brad Schimel, hero of American youth, lost 55.0% to 45.0%, to a liberal Dane County judge, Susan Crawford! Ten percentage points is a landslide on any tote board. This pig has no lipstick. Ben Wikler and Rachel Maddow are popping corks.
Anyone still think more Musk would have helped? More Trump? Wisconsin may be less purple than once thought. The Werkes, this morning after, revisits its theory that Donald Trump won our beloved state twice because he was fortunate in his opponents — in 2016 over the unlikeable-enough Hildabeast and in 2024 over the wreckage of senile old Joe and his last-minute stand-in, Cacklin’ Kamala. Trump has a way of fouling his own nest.
Once again, Dane County poured on the coals on behalf of the progressive candidate. Crawford took an overwhelming 81.7% of a very heavy vote for a Spring election — 69.6% of all those eligible voted in Wisconsin’s second-most populous county. That beats all to hell its 62.3% turnout for (spell it with us) Protasiewicz over Dan Kelly two years ago. Schimel’s pitiful 18.3% of Dane County’s vote 04-01-25 is only a loose-change improvement over Kelly’s anemic 18.0% showing.
Crawford even won Brown County, with 51.6%, just five months after Trump won with 53.0%. (Don’t they listen to Brett Favre?) She won Kenosha County with 52.7% after Trump took 52.4%. In Dane County, Schimel did five points worse than Trump!
However you slice and dice, the WI Supreme Court is liberal 4 to 3 for the next three years, at least. The courts — all courts — have become more partisan. Rue if you want, it’s a fact of life: everything is partisan today. Johnny Carson and Walter Cronkite are no longer in the building.
When Tommy Thompson in 1998 first appointed Dave Prosser to the high court, 77 of the 132 state legislators — Democrat and Republican — supported the appointment, describing Prosser as, “learned, thoughtful, and fiercely defensive of our system of law.”
Let’s play the Blame Game!
Democrats conjured an identifiable villain — a multi-billionaire running with chain saws to cut grandma’s entitlements. Republicans needed a Willie Horton, a welfare mother, or a hairy guy on the girls’ swim team. (Speaking of Woke, Jill Underly defeated reformer Brittany Kinser by a somewhat closer 52.9% to 47.1%. Kinser got caught in the Crawford undertow.)
Blaska’s Bottom Line: We prefer to think of Tuesday, April 1, 2025 (a day that will live … in INFAMY!) as a wake-up call, not a death knell. Next time, maybe run a woman. (We cast our lonely eyes to you, Becky Kleefisch, for governor next year.) Hellz bellz, even a moderate. Paul Ryan, anyone?
We do not want to hear at Stately Blaska Manor that Brad Schimel was a bad candidate. Tim Michels in 2022 was a bad candidate. Just Call Me Brad bore an impressive resumé, gave a great stump speech, had the right issues, worked his tail off, generated enthusiasm. Each candidate had billionaire funding but none were more high-profile than Musk. (We said, “Pls. stay away …“)
The Republican party went all in; they (we) knew the stakes.
29 responses to “Trump/Musk’s chainsaw had no bite”
I was just thinking all this when this post came across my laptop. I agree–Trump can only win against terrible candidates. Otherwise, since 2016 his endorsed candidates in AZ, GA, PA, WI, etc have failed miserably. And Musk was an even heavier anchor this time. I predict he will not be around much longer as he drags the Trump and GOP brand further and further down…..
Props to Schimel for a gracious concession. As for Musk’s contribution, or, well, you know, couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy ;). And thanks god all the ads will cease!
How does xxx Maly explain the 5% drop? Wasn’t he just re elected to get better results? Are we now rewarding failure just like in our schools and businesses? Is this the new norm? Waiting for Maly to explain his “Success for Dane”.
David,
Like it or not – by lashing himself to both Musk and Trump – Schimel was a horrible candidate. Telling voters you will only follow the law is a tough sell when you’re also saying your mission is to help Trump. Judicial temperament indeed. Schimel makes Janet P. look even-handed.
You mentioned Schimel’s Brown County loss. Isn’t that where Musk wore a cheesehead and handed out million dollar checks to Republican operatives?
As a late-to-the-party anti-Trumpster, I suspect you know your party’s brand is absolutely tainted by Musk/Trump.
Where, Brian Shimming, were the ads explaing that Crawford is another Madison liberal?
Unfortunately, The chainsaw spilled over to local common council races where moderate candidates were voted out of office or defeated..
1) The Constitutional amendment to require ID to vote overwhelmingly passed.
2) The candidate opposed to voter ID was overwhelmingly elected (https://wisconsinwatch.org/2024/11/wisconsin-supreme-court-susan-crawford-voter-identification-law/).
3) Wisconsin is the drunkest state in the nation (https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/03/do-wisconsin-residents-report-excessively-drinking-more-alcohol-than-those-in-other-states/).
Never ascribe to cognitive dissonance that which can be explained by a few boilermakers and old fashioneds (brandy, or course) before lunch.
the Dem’s didn’t conjure up anyone. he walked right in and Brad took the bait. As soon as Brad said he was all in with the Dementia Don/Muskcovite agenda and would push it in our state he was doomed. Prancing on a stage tossing out money just pissed people off. An unelected man-baby with too much money thinks he can come in here and tell us how to run our state? And the Gopcame out in droves to kiss his ass. How did that work out for you.
As far as I’m concerned, Schimel was a great candidate and would have been an outstanding Supreme Court Justice. With relatively few statements to the contrary, Brad Schimel spoke like a real professional and a Supreme Court Justice throughout his campaign. Schimel set politics aside and stuck to his record, integrity, facts, and logic. On the other hand, Susan Crawford for the most part spoke like a political activist and went political and full emotional attack dog with cherry picked leftist propaganda narratives. There really was a clear difference between the two candidates.
Then something purely political happened in Schimel’s campaign. Low hanging political fruit stuck its nose in the campaign, Musk. With Musk’s millions in the mix, the anti-Crawford political attack ads began to hit the airways in force and the differences between the candidates began to vanish. This shift gave the Crawford campaign, and the millions behind her, exactly what they needed, popular wedge targets to use as political sledge hammers demonizing Schimel’s campaign into a pile of rubble and set fire to her campaign.
With Schimel’s previous non-political message about his record, integrity, facts, and logic being shoved aside in favor of attack ads, Schimel’s message was suppressed and the difference between the candidates became unrecognizable.
Schimel’s non-political message was lost in the mud slinging.
P.S. This is your blog and your rules, but I’m really, really beginning to hate this “Letter to the Editor” styled 250 word limit restriction.
I think Steve has it right that the kind of “support” Trump and Musk provided for Schimel doomed him from Ad 1. (Who hired those hacks?)
It’s hard to believe any ad agency with any real familiarity with the true, fair, and independent nature of Wisconsin (yes, smart cheesehead) voters
could ever expect them to support what appeared to be a heavy-handed, gazillionaire “buy the vote” move by Chainsaw-Musk, or the playground, mean-girl bullying
remarks of Trump that tore into Crawford (“idiot” ?) in the conclusion of his otherwise decent endorsement of Schimel.
I think Steve’s analysis that Trump’s previous wins came as the result of predictable popular repulsion to a candidate who “washed” and sledgehammered her hard-drive
and a party claiming to live for democracy that staged an insider back-room zoom-call coup (worthy of a Netflix series) of the Big Senile Guy
and then promoted an obviously ill-prepared (after four years in the Blair House) semi-responsive VIP – were winning margin unforced-error gifts to Trump
that were misread as some kind of bankable support for on-going insults and misjudged rudeness to the “be nice to everybody, eh?”
normal Wisconsin Manitowoc Minute good neighbor psyche.
Gotta wonder who is running that loser mobile?
(And yes…we do agree – Go Pack Go….and after further review
The Bears Still do Suck.)
One thing we can ALL be very thankful for today is the fact that Finally The Attack Ads Will Be Gone… For A While.
Squire, you yourself are playing the blame game when you say, “Democrats conjured an identifiable villain – a multi-billionaire running with chainsaws to cut grandma’s entitlements.”
Democrats did not conjure up Elon Musk. This is the way he is, a real flesh and blood oligarch, brandishing an actual chainsaw, who wants to slash earned Social Security benefits, who has destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of federal employees, who seeks to eliminate Medicare and Medicaid, and whose DOGE thugs have criminally dismantled the non-governmental Institute for Peace in D.C.
Your brand is indeed tainted with the smell of Musk.
I am on record — and referenced in this blog — that Elon Musk should have stayed the hell away.
Alright, Mr. B. Your on the record remarks are duly noted. 😃
One particularly good insight into Wisconsin Republicans ability to lose is the mention of Paul Ryan (R) Koch Brothers.
Anonymous, please provide documentation to support your ridiculous claim that Musk will “slash social security” and “eliminate medicare/caid”.
Don’t hold your breath.
He lost because wi gop in leglislature has failed since roe vs wade reversal to pass a reasonable fetus murdering act. Whether Evers would sign or veto atleast it would give them something to run on or help remove that some of the anger from people who desire the right to murder fetusses. Act 10, redistricting the state is a less known argument. Again wi gop is run by absolute idiots.
2008 8 trillion in debt, 16.25 years later now will pass 37 trillion soon enough. 12 of the 16 years dems, (so cannot blame all on taxcuts for the rich) have run federal government and we hace not see any r.o.i. for this spending. Tax receipts have gone up, so atrocious spending to enrich insiders along the distribution chain. Chainsaw away folks before it is too late.
Perhaps a disappointed writer is conflating the endorsers with the endorsee in both cases.
Just waiting for Democrats to introduce a bill stating that any candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court MUST be–sorry, must identify as–a woman. Before long the Court will be stacked (ahem!) with pin-up girls for Dane County liberals.
So what if it’s “stacked” with women? Until recently, most courts were 100% men. Good grief; what a silly comment.