Vrakas cocaine conviction -- a non-issue?

The apparent Waukesha County Executive-to-be, State Rep. Dan Vrakas, was busted for cocaine use 21 years ago, when he was 28.

Bruce Murphy at Milwaukee Magazine publicized it this week, but Vrakas and his conservative backers like Charlie Sykes and Jessica McBride were primed to defend him. The case had been covered previously, so it was not a surprise that it surfaced again. Today the Journal Sentinel picked up the story.

No big deal, the Vrakas backers say. Long time ago. Old news. I agree, but can't help but wonder: Do you think the same standard would apply to a Democrat -- Jim Doyle? Peg Lautenschlager? Kathleen Falk? Tom Barrett?

Most puzzling was this line from Sykes:

All of which leads to the conclusion, that the story will not hurt Vrakas and will likely backfire if the left tries to use it against Vrakas in the campaign.

The left? Vrakas' only opponent so far is Jim Dwyer, the Waukesha County Board chairman and fellow Republican. Maybe Sykes considers Dwyer the left because he has opposed a tax freeze and the so-called Taxpayer Bill of Rights in the past. But if the Dwyer campaign is the left, where does that put the rest of us?