Political Heat

STATE SEN. VAN WANGGAARD , a Republican from southeastern Wisconsin who once lost his seat and only won it back because of extreme partisan gerrymandering , is apparently annoyed that athletes across a number of leagues opted to speak out and criticize the Wisconsin legislature. Players from the Bucks organization are calling on state leaders to pass laws that would hold police officers more accountable, and rein-in policies that are systemically racist. That's apparently too much for Wangaard to handle , who essentially said over the weekend that players should just shut up and play the game. "It gets a little irritating when I have people that should be playing basketball and football and sticking to their area of expertise," Wanggaard said. "Instead of jumping in and trying to push the envelope when they have no idea what's going on." Alex Lasry, who serves as a senior vice president with the Milwaukee Bucks, responded tongue-in-cheek to Wanggaard's w...

REPUBLICANS INSIDE-AND-OUTSIDE OF WISCONSIN are trying to suggest the decision for the Democratic National Convention not to happen in Milwaukee this past week (which was made because of concerns over coronavirus) was somehow a slight to the city and the state by Democrats and Joe Biden. Here are a few of their supposed complaints: Donald Trump suggested it on Twitter on Saturday. "Biden and the Democrats have greatly disrespected the Great State of Wisconsin by not even paying a small visit to Milwaukee, the designated site of the DNC," he wrote. Former Gov. Scott Walker also whined about Biden not coming to the state, tweeting that the Democratic nominee for president was "blowing off Wisconsin and the voters" here. Assembly Republican Majority Leader Jim Steineke quoted Trump's tweet , adding to it, "He's not wrong" (truth is, Trump/Steineke are wrong...more on that below).  In a separate tweet , Steineke also implied Biden, giving his nomina...

KANYE WEST'S ATTEMPT TO appear on Wisconsin's ballot for this year's presidential race was decidedly ended when the state's Elections Commission voted 5-1 on Thursday against accepting his nomination papers. West's documents to be on the ballot had arrived seconds after 5 p.m. on August 4, the deadline that they were due by. However, the information on the forms was not complete, and his representatives ended up having to finish them up , handing them in well after the deadline was passed. Even if West had managed to get his nomination papers in on time to the board's liking, it's likely they'd have faced some stiff challenges: many of the signatures collected have been questioned as being faked , in Wisconsin and elsewhere. The more significant worry, however, would have been how the integrity of the election could have been compromised . There are allegations — and frankly, some pretty big signs of them being true — that West's candidacy is solel...

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP IS accusing Democrats of "playing games" due to the fact that his administration is actively destroying how the Post Office is run. Let's recap: Trump's own Postmaster General Louis DeJoy created these problems . He's slowed down service by reducing working hours, changing how mail is delivered, and removing hundreds of high-speed mail sorter machines. In spite of these changes that Trump's own administration is implementing , Trump tweeted out "SAVE THE POST OFFICE" on Monday afternoon. The irony is that the president himself could save the post office by ordering his postmaster general to knock it off. Trump also tweeted a complaint about Congress returning to Washington in order to address these problems which, again, Trump refuses to fix on his own .  Here's what Trump had to say about Democrats: Why is Congress scheduled to meet (on Post Office) next Monday, during the Republican Convention, rather than now, while t...

  The latest Marquette Law School poll is out, and it shows a lot of Wisconsinites are happy with how Gov. Tony Evers is handling the coronavirus pandemic , and upset with President Donald Trump for how he's managed to flub it up across the country. Here are some highlights: We're months away from the presidential election, and Trump (Republican) trails former Vice President Joe Biden (Democrat) by a margin of 42 percent to 48 percent . Trump's approval ratings are underwater, but not in a huge way. Just 44 percent in the state approve of his job as president, while 54 percent disapprove. Gov. Evers has much better numbers, with 57 percent approving his work as governor and 37 percent disapproving. On how they're handling coronavirus, the approval-disapproval gaps expand, with 40 percent approving Trump's handling of the pandemic while 61 percent approve of the way Evers is handling things .  This is the first post-mask mandate Marquette Law School poll , demonstra...