The view from never-never land

The Cap Times' John Nichols lives in another dimension, his own little world, when it comes to politics.

In his latest column, he argues that Tom Barrett or Kathleen Falk could have been elected governnor in 2002 if they had only been willing to talk about raising taxes. In reality, anyone who did that in the 2002 climate would have been commiting political suicide. But not in Nichols World, of course. And he would rather be a pure progressive, whatever that is, than win an election.

Nichols' main premise is that Dems don't really like Doyle, and there is some truth to that. But Democrats like Doyle a lot more than Nichols and the Cap Times do. What they've done -- encouraging a primary challenge to Doyle by Spencer Black or others, bad-mouthing Doyle at every opportunity -- is destructive.

This is destructive, too, speculating about what would happen if Doyle were indicted (what are the odds, a million to one?):

... Democratic insiders have been quietly discussing the names of last-minute replacement candidates, with U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, as always, topping the list, but with everyone from U.S. Rep. Ron Kind to Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, Lt. Gov. Lawton, current Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley and former Justice William Bablitch gaining mention.

That would be way inside, as in Ed Garvey, Barbara Lawton, and John Nichols doing some blue-skying. There is no such serious discussion going on anywhere, even quietly, among any "Democratic insiders." The idea -- like most of the names Nichols floats -- are ridiculous on their face.

Nichols should get out of his corner of the Capitol Square coffee shop and talk to some real voters. They may not love Jim Doyle, but they understand -- as Nichols surely does if he is honest -- that re-electing Doyle and keeping his veto power is their only hope in November.