The Party of No-Show

The first candidate forum in West Central Wisconsin happened tonight. 

So, what do you do when only half the candidates show up? 

Ask the questions anyway and let the silence stand for your answer, I guess.

This forum was for the candidates in the 68th and 93rd AD and 23rd & 31st SD - basically Eau Claire and Chippewa Counties. All the Democratic candidates showed up.  None of the Republicans could be bothered it seems.

Pat Kreitlow, Kathleen Vinehout, Kristen Dexter and Jeff Smith answered questions for a little over an hour to a crowd of 50 voters.  The event was recorded and should be airing on the local Public Access channel within the next day or so.

So why no Republicans? 

We'll give Ed Thompson a pass with his recent announcement of pancreatic cancer.  Our prayers are with him for his recovery.

After being told of this event in August, Gladys Kravitz Kathy Bernier passed due to a previous engagement.

It seems Terry Moulton & Warren Petryk were non-committal, then backed out last week because too many of the sponsors were "left leaning."

Left leaning?  Ok, if abolishing all government is your goal, I can see you having issues with a commie front group like the Alliance for Strong Communities. But the Wisconsin Realtors Association and the EC Chamber of Commerce? 

It begs the question though - if you can't be bothered to answer the questions in public of a group whose sole purpose of existence is to promote better cooperation between Federal, State and Local government to the benefit of society at large, what business do you have even running for the office?