Republicans recycle garbage

In case you wonder whether Wisconsin Republicans think they are being damaged by Scott Jensen's caucus scandal trial, with its daily focus on illegal GOP activity, consider this desperate release.

The GOP is re-issuing the same phony charges that they made during the 2002 campaign against Jim Doyle, claiming that Doyle staffers did campaign work on state time, too.

They're handing out the same information from Doyle's schedules that they peddled to the media in 2002. That all got a thorough airing four years ago, and it turned out to be a lot more smoke than fire.

Several newspapers, pressed by the GOP to investigate, went through the claims in painstaking detail and came up with almost nothing. They found that in almost every case, Doyle staffers had taken leave to attend a political event, and that Doyle even used his own vehicle, not a state car.

Now, the GOP is recycling the same old garbage, hoping to distract attention from the Republicans who are being named every day in court, including their candidates for governor, Mark Green and Scott Walker. There's been testimony that key aides to both Walker and Green ordered, supervised, or engaged in campaign work on state time. Mark Green has been especially hard-hit by the trial coverage. Thus the attempt to muddy things up with some tired, worn-out claims about Doyle staffers.

The only thing new in the latest GOP releases are the names of the party staff. Instead of Chris Lato, there's a new flack, Bob Delaporte. But it's the same stream of garbage spewing out of party headquarters. The charges didn't hold water in 2002, and they won't in 2006.

Delaporte's best hope is that there are some new reporters on the beat, who weren't around in 2002, and who may think he's told them something new. Not likely, but worth a shot, I guess, if you are being pounded in the media every day and are looking at two more weeks of trial.