Department of Duh

AP:

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- There was nothing improper about by partisan operatives' contact with members of the state Elections Board before a key vote on donations to gubernatorial candidate Mark Green, the state Ethics Board declared Friday.

An attorney for Gov. Jim Doyle's re-election campaign, Michael Maistelman, and the executive director of the state Republican Party, Rick Wiley, both contacted board members before the Aug. 30 meeting in which the Elections Board ordered Green, a Republican, to get rid of nearly $468,000 in donations.

What a waste of time and money.

Prediction: Waukesha DA Paul Bucher, who says he's still investigating possible open meetings law violations, will find there were none. But he won't say that until after the election, so the Republicans can continue to say it's "under investigation."

Afterthought: Meant to say, but forgot, that in everyone's zeal to pass a reform bill and get rid of the Elections Board, we should remember that another big benefit is that the Ethics Board will go with it.