Chalk this up to sleep deprivation or morning-after dementia, if you will, but here's what may actually be an original idea: Tom Barrett for Milwaukee County executive.
That assumes he could also be mayor; if that's legally impossible, it would be a bad trade. But if he could do both, it might be just what's needed to straighten out this city-county mess once and for all.
Having the same person in both roles could consolidate city-county responsibilities and services, end duplication and increase cooperation. Barrett could actually be the one who helps Scott Walker eliminate Milwaukee County government, which Walker has proposed in the past and may pursue as governor.
And Barrett could actually get elected to the job. Despite all of the brave Republican talk about how well Walker would do in Milwaukee County, here where they know the two candidates best Barrett whipped him with 62% of the vote, Craig Gilbert reports.
On the morning after, mounting a campaign for another office is undoubtedly the last thing Barrett would like to consider. And Walker, having just run a bruising campaign against Barrett, is unlikely to endorse him for county excutive today.
But there's time for this to percolate. And if Walker really wants to get rid of a layer of government in Milwaukee County, he would be far more likely to get that done with Barrett at the helm than someone like Sheriff David Clarke, who would be an empire builder as county exec.
Maybe the lawyers will shoot it down and say you can't hold both jobs at once. But if they don't, after everyone's had a chance to recuperate from Tuesday's electoral cyclone, maybe it deserves a look.