In 1992, liberal pundit James Carville put up a sign with the phrase, ""It's the economy, stupid!"" in a Clinton campaign office to emphasize the most important issues in nearly any election—jobs and money. The phrase is so simple that it's been used in nearly every election since.
In the 2010 election, that phrase is perhaps more topical than it was when Bill Clinton was running for president. The economy is worse than it was in 1992, especially in Wisconsin, which has a multi-billion-dollar deficit and nearly eight percent unemployment.
Just as voters were upset with Republican failures back in 2008, the Wisconsin State Journal endorsed Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker for governor, based on the failings of Democratic leadership in Madison. In 2008 Democrats rode the wave of anti-Republican sentiment to a super-majority in the Senate and Democratic control of the federal government. But in this election cycle, the wave has died down and has turned against the Democrats, evident by respectable Republican leads in congressional and gubernatorial polls. WSJ's endorsement of Walker is just more evidence that the 2010 election cycle belongs to Republicans.
The endorsement points out the many failures of the Democratic leadership in Wisconsin. They focus on the failure to prioritize private sector job creation, creating a tax structure that helps the middle-class and reforming the failing public school system. The current leadership has been failing the state, and it is time for leadership that will prioritize job creation, bring the debt under control and reform schools.
As the WSJ endorsement points out, Walker has a positive economic record. He's shown he's willing to make tough decisions in his county. Will he continue to make these kinds of necessary decisions as governor? If so, he can begin to ease the debt burden of the previous administration.
Walker's platform stresses the importance of bringing jobs back to Wisconsin. Measures like lowering taxes and cutting red tape will help Wisconsin attract and retain businesses, which will undoubtedly bring some much-needed jobs to Wisconsin.
On his website, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett says he will also cut red tape, but only specifying doing so for construction projects. When unemployment is high and the state is billions of dollars in debt, Wisconsin needs to cut red-tape for all industries. He also wants to create a ""rapid-response team"" and a state venture capital fund to help expanding companies. Private companies don't need more government bureaucracy to help them; they need the government to let them expand by getting out of the way.
Jobs are important, and to have workers, the education system needs to be improved. WSJ lamented over Democratic pandering to the teacher's union, doing nothing to improve the quality of education.
Walker's education platform has positive ideas for reforming the public school system. Again, he shows that he is willing to make tough choices to ensure students are getting the best education possible. If students aren't achieving and teachers aren't performing, his administration will be willing to step in to do anything from changing personnel, converting the school to a charter school or even closing the school completely—re-enrolling students elsewhere. Clearly, Walker is willing to step up and take responsibility for the Wisconsinites he serves.
By proposing a platform strong in job creation and school reform, Walker offers Wisconsin what it has been lacking in the past administration. He offers Wisconsin the chance to grow become competitive again.
This election, like so many in the past, is about the economy. The state needs policies that will foster job growth. For the last seven years, Democrat leadership has led Wisconsin away from jobs and to a mountain of debt, and people are looking for a change. In 2008, that change came from Democrats, who brought a sense of hope. This year, the change will come from Republicans like Walker. They will bring more than a sense of hope—they will bring jobs.
Matt Beaty is a sophomore majoring in mathematics and computer science. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
