Chicken sandwich with the gov doesn'tcompare to Walker's $19,000 in freebies

The Sykes-McBride Mutual Admiration Society has collaborated to raise questions about a cookout Gov. Jim Doyle held for the Capitol press corps last week. They ask: If some of the reporters got a free sandwich, isn't that the same as Milwaukee County Exec Scott Walker giving out free tickets to Milwaukee attractions?

Excellent.

I was afraid the Walker story was over, but Sykes, McBride, and their bosom buddy Rick Graber, the GOP chair, have revived the whole issue. So let's just refresh our collective memory.

Doyle is charged with giving a free meal at the executive residence to reporters who were too cheap to pay for it. Many of them did cough up a few bucks to cover it, but some ate for free, we're told.

(Some news organizations are squeaky clean and make sure their reporters always pay their own way. Others are a little looser. The ones who got a free meal promised the Doyle press office a favorable story this week about the topic of Doyle's choice. Kidding.) This is roughly equivalent to reporters visiting candidate hospitality rooms at state political conventions, where there might be a free piece of cheese, ice cream cone, sloppy joe or even a beer to be had.

Walker, on the other hand, gave away $19,000 worth of free tickets to Milwaukee County attractions. He did it in connection with a statewide Harley ride that stopped in every television market that covers Wisconsin, ostensibly as a way to promote tourism but also as a way to get his mug on television and increase his name recognition as he cranked up his campaign for governor.

Does anyone but me see a difference between a $7 or $10 meal and $19,000 worth of freebies, or am I just being partisan?

There's another, even bigger difference, however, between what Walker's statewide extravaganza and Doyle's little picnic.

Walker didn't limit his largesse to the media. He also gave freebies to others along the route.

I wrote about that in a post in July:

Let's talk for a minute about the freebies that Walker, a candidate for governor, gave to people who were not in the news media, during his now-famous Harley tour of Wisconsin media markets last month.

Walker's main defense has been that the whole trip was to promote Milwaukee tourism, not his campaign for governor, and that he was giving free tickets to the news media to help bring tourists to Milwaukee County. He also pointed out more than once that the county and state ethics boards and state election board had told him it was OK.

The ethics and elections boards signed off on the premise that the tickets were going to the media. But what about the non-media tickets? Who got them? Was that OK, too?

Let's start with who got free tickets, from documents released in an open records request:

Kutter Harley-Davidson, Janesville -- 8 NASCAR, 4 Summerfest, 6 State Fair, 2 US Bank golf championship.

Kegel's Harley-Davidson, Rockford -- 6 Art Museum, 4 Mexican Fiesta, 12 NASCAR, 5 Children's museum, 6 State Fair, 2 Irish Fest, 10 Indian Summer, 2 Pettit Ice Center.

Kathy Kopp, executive director, Platteville Chamber of Commerce -- 10 Indian Summer, 4 Pettit Ice Center, 4 Art Museum, 4 Zoo, 5 Children's Museum.

George Krueger, Platteville Area Industrial Development Corp. -- 4 NASCAR, 2 State Fair.

St. Paul Harley-Davidson -- 10 Indian Summer, 2 US Bank golf, 8 Parks, 5 Children's Museum, 4 NASCAR, 2 Mexican Fiesta.

GM Tomahawk Plant -- 4 NASCAR, 2 Summerfest, 2 US Bank golf, 2 Indian Summer.

OK, those are not media outlets, agreed? Some are listed as businesses. But people -- owners or employees, probably -- not businesses, ended up with the tickets.

Did any agency ever tell Walker it was OK to give freebies to people (if they live in Wisconsin, the term would be voters)?

Well, no, because he didn't ask them that question.

It's probably because he doesn't want to know the answer. The thing is, it is illegal as well as unethical for a candidate for office in Wisconsin to give anything of value (beyond an emery board or a football schedule) to a voter.

McBride makes another real stretch in comparing Doyle's party for the press with a reception the Tavern League held for legislators -- a $5 "all you can eat and drink until you puke, pass out or get arrested for drunken driving" affair that got the Tavern League in some hot water. A lobbying organization plying legislators with food and drink is a whole different ball game.