Bo Black, longtime Summerfest director, was back in Milwaukee for a couple of weeks recently and wrote a long letter to the city which is featured in BizTimes magazine.
She is in poor health, so the Senate candidacy must be a joke, although she does live in Arizona, But her platform is one that's a little surprising:
My next venture is going to be throwing my hat in the ring of running for U.S. Senate in Arizona for Sen. Jon Kyl’s seat if Rep. Gabby Giffords isn’t well enough to run.
My platform would be for the veterans, because I know what it is like to be disabled. I want to help them find jobs. I want everyone to be employed, as that was my hope at Summerfest. I want the oil companies to pay their fair share, and I want the millionaires to follow in Warren Buffett’s and Chris Matthews’ footsteps and want to pay more taxes. It is absolutely no skin off any of their wallets. I know they want to do it. I beg them to want to, and I beg the Republicans to get their acts together. I am for gay marriage, and the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” but, I am especially for the “haves” to voluntarily help out just a couple of “have nots,” and they will feel a lot better for having done that.
Who knew? She's a progressive populist at heart.
Disclosure: As Mayor John Norquist's representative for five years on the Summerfest board, which was dominated by her friends, mostly chosen by her, my role was often that of turd in the punchbowl. We had some long, interesting battles over issues like public access to the lakefront, but it wasn't personal. Nice to find out she's a closet progressive.