Tale of two David Clarkes -- 'Independent Dem' is lying Republican

First of all, thanks to Bob Dohnal of the Wisconsin Conservative Digest for lining up the sitting ducks for me in his article. I'll try to shoot better than Dick Cheney.

Dohnal's piece, entitled, "Bobot and Clarke; "A Tale of Two Cities," is wrong from the first sentence:

The upcoming Democrat primary race between former Municipal Judge Vince Bobot and present sheriff David Clarke will get as much ink in this area as the primaries for governor and AG.

Actually, it will be drowned out in coverage of the other two races and will get little media attention.

Dohnal is correct when he says mainstream Democrats want Clarke gone. There's a reason for that. Clarke "calls himself an independent Democrat," but he is really a right-wing Republican extremist.

Clarke writes about what makes a Republican, is feted at the White House, joins Republicans in supporting Bush's nominees, is listed as a member of a national Republican group, and raises his money from Republicans.

As evidence that Clarke is opposed by the "good old boy" network, Dohnal cites my opposition to Clarke:

Bill Christofferson, a former aide to John Norquist and campaign manager for many Democrats has been after Clarke for several years. Clarke still considers himself a Democrat but the liberal establishment doesn't approve of his stands on many issues.

Dohnal apparently isn't a regular Xoff Files reader, so a little review of my history with Clarke seems in order.

I was the campaign strategist and media consultant when Clarke was first elected sheriff in 2002. If I am "after Clarke" now, it is because he looked me in the eye and lied to me when he asked me to do that campaign.

I helped Clarke because I thought it was time to end the good-ol-boy operation in the sheriff's department. Clarke promised to be a breath of fresh air in a department that needed shaking up.

I introduced him to labor leaders and listened to him tell them about his vision and management style -- how he wanted to end the top-down, quasi-military approach and "empower" deputies to make decisions.

Who would have guessed that he would turn out to be an egomaniac who would run the department like Captain Queeg of the USS Caine, lashing out and punishing anyone who dares to disagree with him -- even retaliating against one deputy by assigning him to a one-man foot patrol in a dangerous inner city neighborhood.

Dohnal pulls out all the stops, saying Clarke opponents also oppose school choice. That's not entirely true, either. For example, I oppose Clarke, but I was one of the early supporters of school choice who helped elect a reform-minded Milwaukee school board in 1999 (something some Democrats still haven't forgiven me for.) The sheriff's race is not about school choice.

It is about electing a sheriff who's not afraid to tell the truth about his party affiliation, and one who can restore some workplace harmony and end Clarke's reign of terror. (No surprise that the deputies' union endorsed Bobot last weekend.)

Clarke's Democratic primary opponent is Vince Bobot, who's been a cop, a municipal judge, and an assistant city attorney. He's a real Democrat, and that could be a real problem for Clarke, who was helped in the 2002 primary by Republican crossovers.

This time, Republicans will vote in their own primary, for governor and attorney general, so Democrats will be choosing their own nominee for sheriff. That's why Clarke backers like Dohnal are nervous, and have started the disinformation campaign so early.

Clarke is running as a Dem because he knows he couldn't win in November's general election as a Republican. The real challenge for him is persuading Democrats they should vote for him when he opposes what they stand for and does everything he can to help elect Republicans. That could be a hard sell, if Bobot is able to introduce voters to the real David Clarke.

UPDATE: It must be serendipity. Today's mail brought an invitation to a Bobot for Sheriff event, with the outside of the invitation carrying a sketch of George Washington, several donkey logos, and the statement: "I cannot tell a lie, I am a DEMOCRAT!"