Stem cell issue makes it to page one

It's always risky to suggest cause and effect with the news media, but it's hard not to wonder whether Bruce Murphy's column suggesting that the Journal Sentinel's news operation, leaning heavily toward Mark Green in the governor's race, would under-cover the stem cell issue, where Green is clearly on the wrong side, had anything to do with the lengthy front page treatment the issue got today.

Maybe the newspaper doesn't only respond to Republican talk radio.

Or maybe the Doyle campaign has successfully focused so much attention on stem cells -- a wedge issue likely to pull some independents and moderate Republicans away from Green -- that the paper couldn't ignore it.

In any case, it's going to be a major issue, much to Green's dismay. The JS has even started to tell people which side he's on. That in itself is a breakthrough.

In a related matter, Brew City Brawler reminds us of the Journal Sentinel's long infatuation with Mark Green.

UPDATE: After reading the JS editorial on stem cells today, an e-mailer asks: "Will stem cells cure schizophrenia?"