So was Milwaukee County Exec Chris Abele trying to shake down county workers when he invited 30 or 40 of them to a fundraising event?
Of course not.
It may surprise people to learn that this Milwaukee County rule against soliciting contributions from employees is an exception to the way most governments operate. State employees routinely contribute to the governor (with Tommy Thompson it was almost demanded), city employees contribute to the mayor, etc.
Jeff Bentoff and his wife Julie Penman, who both worked for Mayor John Norquist, were regular Norquist donors. Why wouldn't they be? They worked for him, wanted him to stay in office, and supported his policies.
It's not like Abele's campaign sent invitations to every county employee or targeted them. If 30 or 40 ended up on a list of thousands who got invitations, that would not be unusual. Campaigns typically use lists of donors who have given to their own candidate or to others.
No evil intent here, no matter how hard the right-wing tries to make it seem that way. Just an honest mistake, which Abele quickly fixed. Nicely handled.