Justice David Prosser, apparently in the closest race of his political career, has emptied his bench and sent his ethically challenged colleague and soulmate, Justice Michael Gableman, out to campaign for him -- at Republican events.
Gableman, pictured in unhappier times, escaped condemnation and punishment for his dirty, dishonest smear campaign against Louis Butler on a 3-3 split of the State Supreme Court. Now he is stumping for Prosser, whose vote was the key to letting Gableman off the hook.
At a minimum, Gableman has campaigned for Prosser with Republican Party members in Racine, Washington, and Sheboygan Counties. There are almost certainly others which haven't gotten public notice.
While Prosser himself and his protege Gableman work the Republican base and appear at GOP events, Prosser continues to insist that this is a non-partisan race and he is an independent running against a liberal idealogue.
One was captured on video when he spoke to the Racine County Lincoln Day dinner. It's 20 minutes long, and take my word for it, it is all about Prosser, but unless you're having trouble sleeping, don't go there. My personal favorite is when the guy whose own campaign -- not some independent group, but the Gableman campaign itself -- ran the worst, racially-tinged, lying commercial in the history of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, condemns an anti-Prosser ad running now as "shameful."
As Pee Wee Herman says, we know you are, but what are we?
What am I bid for a Prosser yard sign autographed by Gableman? One breathless Repub reported on Prosser's Facebook page:
Justice Gableman attended the Sheboygan County Lincoln Day Lunch this past Sunday and spoke on behalf of Justice Prosser, encouring all the attendees to take a yard sign home - AALLL of them were taken(40+ signs) !! I barely got the last one and Justice Gableman signed it for me :-)
Finally, last Thursday, the Washington County Republican Party reported on Facebook:
Today Justice Mike Gableman called our office during our Prosser phone bank. He asked Kathy to put him on her speaker phone and he personally thanked all our callers who were present! Way cool........
Way cool, indeed, that Justice Gableman could find time during a workday to call and rouse the GOP phoners. Although his Lincoln Day speech makes you wonder how rousing or inspirational he can be.
So, to return to our opening metaphor, Prosser is putting on a full-court press, even pulling Gableman off the ethically disabled list to play some minutes.
In case anyone's forgotten the Gableman-Butler race and what the uproar over Gableman's commercial was all about, I would refer you to this summary by Joel McNally, perhaps not the most scholarly or objective review, but certainly the most fun. And it's right on the mark.