A Miraculous Victory

Well, by now you, my great and wonderful readers know about
the results of the Wisconsin Supreme Court election; Judge Brian
Hagedorn won a thrillingly close race against Judge Lisa Neubauer.
The judges, both colleagues on Wisconsin's Court of Appeal,
District II, had a bruising battle of judicial philosophies, constitutional
views, and the question of whether someone with a particular set of
religious views is fit to be on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Conservative Judge Hagedorn, an evangelical Christian, had a
contentious moment in the debate with Judge Neubauer over the
aforementioned question. At this juncture she stated that "the voters
need to look at (Hagedorn's record of decisions) and say can they
trust this person to be fair, impartial, and independent or will (he)
have an agenda, an ideology, a thumb on the scale?" What Judge
Neubauer was referring to in a veiled manner was Judge Hagedorn's
religious faith and would it have undue influence on his decisions
on the state's high court. Quite reminiscent of John F. Kennedy's
candidacy for the office of President of the United States in 1960,
when some people from both major political parties questioned his
fitness to be the nation's chief executive since he was a Roman
Catholic. Some wondered aloud if JFK would be the Pope's
puppet, forcing catholic doctrine upon the American people as
law. one would have thought that, after nearly sixty years, the
country would have permanently put aside all such prejudices
toward people of certain religious faiths, especially concerning
candidates for public office. Apparently, some on the Left seem
to harbor these poisonous sentiments.

Judge Neubauer's campaign team also raised considerably more
money than did Judge Hagedorn, especially from outside of the
state; former Attorney General Eric Holder headed up a fundraising
group to assist Neubauer's candidacy. Planned Parenthood's
national headquarters contributed much to the pot. And various
left-of-center PACS chipped in as well. All while Neubauer criticized
out-of-state money having a roll in a statewide race (unless, apparently,
it's her own race). She thus outraised and outspent hagedorn by a
14-1 (!) margin. Judge Hagedorn meanwhile faced other challenges:
further bedeviling Judge Hagedorn's efforts were endorsements
rescinded and campaign contributions once promised then withheld
by some in-state sources with deep pockets when they were intimidated
by claims from the Neubauer side regarding Hagedorn's faith and
how it could or would affect his decisions on the high court, and
giving the impression that he is a religious fanatic more likely to
rule on cases biblically rather than constitutionally. They didn't want
to be thus associated with Hagedorn; well, now that he won the
election they certainly won't be associated with his stunning victory
and the Herculean effort to secure the victory in the face of daunting
odds or the man himself, nor do these cowards deserve to be.
The Wisconsin Realtors Association along with Wisconsin
Manufacturers and Commerce are the yellow-bellied organizations
who deserted Judge Hagedorn's candidacy because they were scared
off by the groundless rhetorical missiles fired from the enemy.

But it was largely a quickly stepped-up grassroots effort that saved
the day for Team Hagedorn. Although Judge Hagedorn received
some funds from the Koch Brothers, entrepreneurial and politically
involved siblings, through their group Americans for Prosperity,
the tide and the race turned with the work and the smaller but very
numerous monetary contributions from the grassroots activists.
Moreover, Team Neubauer shot themselves in the foot with their
nasty assaults on Hagedorn's faith and character, alienating many
Wisconsin voters who didn't want to elect someone so enveloped
in bigotry and nastiness. Perhaps they questioned her own fitness
for the state's highest court regarding her opinions about her
opponent and how they could or would influence her opinions
on the top court? Would she have an agenda, an ideology, a
thumb on the scale?

Finally, after such a hotly contested race concluding in a close
finish, Judge Neubauer and her cohorts are mulling over whether
to ask for a recount; that is certainly their right to so ask. They
must, of course, realize that the margin of votes between Judges
Neubauer and Hagedorn is just outside of the range in which the
state would not charge Neubauer's team for the cost of a recount.
What this means is that they would have to cough up the cash for
the cost themselves. Maybe they could appeal to their big-monied
out-of-state pals once more, this time to foot the bill for a recount
which, according to historic data, is not very likely to help them
to get enough votes to close a gap of over 5,900 votes and clinch
the win. Maybe the sun will begin rising in the west and setting in
the east. maybe pigs will fly --- piloting Boeing jets. Meanwhile,
the Hagedorn victory increases the conservative majority on the
Wisconsin Supreme Court to a 5-2 advantage, and the strong
likelihood of their majority sticking around for quite awhile.

Congratulations, Judge Brian Hagedorn. You'll be a fine Justice
on Wisconsin's highest court, and a strong part of a judicial buffer
against any political mischief making by Gov. Tony Evers and the
state's Democrats.


MEM