When it comes to his position on Scott Walker's union-busting agenda, Jeff Stone is a flip-flop-flip-flopper extraordinaire..
Stone, a Republican state rep running for Milwaukee County executive, was at Walker's side when the governor introduced his plan to kill off public employee unions. In the Assembly, he voted against every amendment to remove or improve that language, then voted for passage in the middle of the night as the GOP majority ramrodded it through.
But he later clumsily recanted somewhat, telling the Journal Sentinel he voted for the bill even though he would have preferred to leave the current collective bargaining rights intact. The, at a candidate forum, Stone said lawmakers often have to vote for budget bills even when they don't agree with a few provisions, like the collective bargaining language. He also had a liltle problem with a right-to-work question.
Truly transparent political posturing from Stone, who's on teh wrong side of the issue and has figured that out. His opponent, Chris Abele, supports collective bargaining, and with all of the attention the issue is getting in the media, it could be a major factor in the Apr. 4 county exec election.
But after that clumsy attempt to explain away his record, Stone couldn't leave it alone. On Monday, as a guest on the WTMJ-AM annual "Insight" show with Charlie Sykes, Stone let his true colors show again. After all, it was a right-wing audience, no place to stand up for union rights.
Sykes has long supported Stone, like he did Walker, and has given him lots of free airtime. So when Sykes asked him about the bill, Stone was clearly in the Walker-Sykes camp again, saying, "I support what's in the bill" and "that is where I stand."
I don't suppose we'll see it in an Abele commercial, but Jeff Stone, Walker Clone has a nice ring to it.
"Jeff Stone either lacks the courage of his convictions, or he is a typical politician who says one thing to one crowd and changes his tune in front of a different audience," Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said. "Even if he is now avoiding his public embrace, Jeff Stone looks more and more willing to play the cynical partisan politics of Scott Walker that have brought Milwaukee County to ruin in the first place."
If you'd like some verification on Stone's latest position -- well, that was 48 hours ago so it may not be the latest -- here's the video. Among the highights:
@ 5:40 - Stone says hes on board w exactly what Walker is proposing
@ 7:35 - Stone says he supports the governor
@ 7:50 - Stone says I support whats in the bill
@ 8:30 - Stone talks about how the Walker bill provides the 'tools' - Walkerspeak for stripping collective bargaining.
Actually, the real tool is Jeff Stone.