Now I remember why they call it the Daily Disappointment.
The headline on today's Journal Sentinel story was promising: Wisconsin candidates' cost-cutting plans don't add up
Finally,it seemed, someone was going to ask the hard questions of the candidates for governor, like a number of people and organizations have been asking for some time.
Like asking the Republicans: "When there is already a $2.5-billion state budget deficit projected, how do you plan to fix that and the $2-billion to $3-billion more you've proposed in tax cuts, mostly for the super rich and corporations? What will you cut?"
That question will have to wait for another day. The JS's Jason Stein either didn't ask or asked the wrong person.
The one who took the brunt of the criticism in the article was the only one who has even tried to offer a detailed, comprehensive plan to balance the budget -- Tom Barrett.
Mark Neumann, who's offered no specifics but says he'll keep state spending under the rate of inflation (magically, apparently) skates by, and the only analysis is by someone from the right-wing think tank, Wisconsin Policy Research Institute.
Scott Walker, who's offered almost nothing in the way of real proposals and has not explained what he'd cut -- except for not filling 4,000 jobs that are already vacant, thereby saving nothing -- barely gets a mention.
If there's a lesson here for candidates, it would seem to be that the less you offer in the way of actual policy proposals, the less criticism you'll get. It pays to keep your mouth shut. (That should serve Senate candidate Ron Johnson well, too, if he can keep his lip zipped.)
If the candidates take that to heart, look forward to another few months of empty rhetoric. If the news media won't ask the tough questions and demand some real answers -- and there is no evidence they will -- the voters will be left with the impressions they get from those 30-second TV spots the media will editorialize against.
And so it goes.