H -°, L 23° | Tomorrow: 
H 23°, L 9°Earlier this week, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revealed that Governor Jim Doyle's campaign forgot to check their facts and proceeded to air a false advertisement against Mark Green claiming he votes with George Bush 92 percent of the time.
With large groups of people working around the clock on a political campaign, factual errors should just not occur. What's more, not only did the governor fall from this mistake, he took UW's College Democrats down with him, since they decided to trust the facts that their friends provided and proceeded to continue the false advertisement all over campus.
The claim that 92 percent of the time Mark Green supports George Bush was not accurately portrayed. In reality, the study by the non-partisan Congressional Observer Publications does not measure how often federal lawmakers supported the president but how often members of Congress voted with colleagues from their own party. This minor confusion misrepresented two completely different voting policies.
Fact errors are not acceptable at any level of writing. The punishment at many colleges for fact errors is failing an assignment, but the punishment as a politician is minimal. The embarrassment of being caught in a vicious mudslinging scandal is not bad enough.
Despite the ad airing for almost two months, College Democrats still obnoxiously colored the streets and classrooms of campus with 92 percent fliers. How could such a huge factual error make its way into such a huge advertising campaign? Because that is what the governor wants the public to think. So instead of finding actual numbers and finding out what bills his opponent voted for, he took the easy way out, hoping that he wouldn't get caught. Well, it's too late for that.
Two bi-partisan groups have conducted studies, so for those looking for the actual breakdown of numbers, here they are:
According to HillMonitor, in 2005 and part of 2006, Mark Green ranked 190th among 234 House Republicans in his level of presidential support. He voted with Bush 83.5 percent of the time compared to the average House Republican with 88.5 percent. Mr. Green's numbers are different for Bush's previous term with 91.1 percent for the 2003-04 session, and 93.2 percent of the time in 2001-02. He votes on the issues, not on the president's agenda.
The group that revealed the 92 percent earlier, Congressional Quarterly, also found that Mr. Green's score ranged from a low of 82 percent in 2002 to a high of 93 percent in 2003.
What's wrong with agreeing with the president anyway? Citizens voted him into office, and while expressing different opinions is one thing, not supporting him is another. In wartime it is understandable why presidential support is low, but most wars, including the one in Iraq, are lose-lose situations for the government. If the United States wins, great; if not, blame the president. The same situation can occur regarding involvement on the war at all, as the president would be accused of letting other countries bully us if he had not done anything. We are supposed to be united, but we are not.
Governor Doyle's campaign and the College Democrats are simply irresponsible for allowing inaccurate facts to enter into a mass advertising campaign. If Democrats want to play the numbers game, a number that UW-Madison students should be aware of is the 52 percent increase in our tuition since Doyle took office four years ago.
With elections just weeks away, numbers are the only accurate predictor of the truth — that is, when portrayed accurately. Maybe on Nov. 7 the public will trust the numbers and a governor that does not alter them.
Joelle Parks ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism and Spanish.
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“What's wrong with agreeing with the president anyway” well, that’d be the Dems argument… duh
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So what you’re saying is that in the most recent Congress, Rep. Green was less than 92%, but over the course of the time her served in Congress while President Bush has been seated, Green’s voting record was 92% in line with the President?
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Good Job at not writing your own column Joelle. Haven’t seen those EXACT facts in Republican talking points before. Also, it was nice hearing some Repubs brag about how this one didn’t suck because it was written by the CR’s. Classy job, classy job.
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All your column did was make no sense.
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Quit being whiny.
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Wow, are you trying to say that Mark Green doesn’t support the president? Is that supposed to impress us? If he voted for Bush 83% or the Republicans 92%, it still shows that Green’s capacity for free thought relies on his party’s leadership. This partisan bullshit might fly in Washington, but it’s not going to work for governor.
Please, stop writing articles about how politicians are corrupt. They’re not running for Pope, so stop treating them so.
If you want people to be pro-life, stop beating around the bush. The only reason you, a college-aged female, could possibly support the GOP is because your Mom or Pastor told you that democrats eat babies for breakfast. Do you seriously want us to believe that you care so passionately about tax cuts?
92% Republican Voting… sucks
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“The punishment at many colleges for fact errors is failing an assignment, but the punishment as a politician is minimal.”
Don’t kid yourself. Fact errors in college mean getting a B+ instead of an A. There is no true grading scale anymore, nor is there actual competition in education.
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I don’t care what the number is- he is still extreme and the number is way too high either way.
If you want to play numbers games remember 8% as well as 92%. 8% is the score the NEA gave Green on public education votes.
This doesnt even factor in his 3 votes in the legislature to raise tuition or the deciding vote on the largest cut to finanacial aid ever.
Once again, Republicans in the legislature craft the budget- Doyle can only line item veto parts. Thats how he was able to restore more than 34 million in Republican cuts last time. Imagine how much tuition might have gone up if Doyle hadn’t been around to stop Republican mismanagement.
Enough with the whining. Green is a rubberstamp and everyone knows it.
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83? 93? who cares, its still too much
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Green voted with the President more times than any other GOP congressman from WI, including Sensenbrenner.
It’s shameful that the BH editorial board allows this type of regurgitation of campaign literature. How about some actual analysis and original thought??? Seriously, if you want someone to respect your opinion then you need to show ALL the facts rather than spinning only the ones that are convenient for you while ignoring the rest.
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Dear Joelle,
PLEASE stop writing on political issues. Just like your piece on the AG’s race, you chose to jump on some campaign talking point and create a story where there is none. Seriously, every time I check in on one of your political oriented pieces, I am amazed at the naivete. What was your point by this article? Shocker, a political candidate uses statistics to skew the picture! Is your guy guilty of this tactic as well? You bet (i.e., tearful ad our WI sons and daughters having to look to other states in order to find good jobs …damn WI taxes!). That’s politics. The bigger picture is the question of Green’s support with the president for the overwhelming majority of the administration’s big ticket policies. You say, “what’s wrong with agreeing with the president anyway?” Hmmmm, are you serious? While the citizens voted him in (barely), the citizens are no longer happy with the way his administration and republicans have been handiling things. Look at the poll numbers, the citizens (dems and repubs) do not approve of the way things have been going in Washington. So don’t act like the dems here in WI are way out of line by making connections to this negative sentiment. You are splitting hairs by arguing over percentage points. Please ask yourself whether this was the best topic you could have discussed for the week. Why don’t you sit down, do some homework, and write a persuasion piece about one of your candidates’ platform centerpieces? While your little extracurricular activity may serve your efforts in fluffing your resume, they waste readers’ time.
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I dont know whats worse- voting with Bush whatever high percent of the time or voting with the Republican Congress (Delay, Hastart, Foley, Cunningham, Ney etc.) more than 90% of the time.
What a loser!
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Joelle, does this Journal Sentinel article really support your position? http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=519278 You are the one doing the misleading. Just stop writing crap about subjects of which you are a lightweight.
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“Mr. Green's numbers are different for Bush's previous term with 91.1 percent for the 2003-04 session, and 93.2 percent of the time in 2001-02. He votes on the issues, not on the president's agenda.”
Seems closer to 92.1% to me. Anybody else agree? Darn Democrats, rounding down!
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The editors must cringe everytime they are forced to print your article simply because they have to fill space. I’m all for debate, but lets print well written, logical editorials. This is simply garbage.
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I’m Mark Green, and I approve this ad… I mean “editorial” (wink, wink).
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A lie is a lie is a lie is a lie…so tell the truth about what caused the 52% raise in tuition. You are ridiculous.
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Well said- Green is a tool
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At what percentage does one become a rubber stamp? The thing that really bothers me is that Green goes to work every day and votes the exact same way as the guy next to him; in school, we call that cheating.
I certainly wish I got paid $165,200/ year to ignore my constituents and place party-line votes without thinking first.
How is it that Feingold and Green represent the same state? At least I can tell Feingold thinks for himself, even if it’s occasionally unpopular to his own party.
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OK, so i just read the Mil JS article and want to personally complain to the BH ed board for letting her write this trash. The article never said half the things attributed by Joelle.
Someone should sue her for libel.
At the very least, the ed board should suspend her for falsifying information.
I plan to contact the hournal sentinel about this and hope that they will take action.
This article is nothing but a slippery sloped lie.
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To the person above, Green represents a portion of the state (in the House), Fiengold represents himself (er, I should say the whole state, but he only serves his constituents if it gets him in the paper… personal experience. Herb Kohl on the other hand really does care about the people he serves, I normally don't agree with him, but he is an honest man who appears to vote for what he thinks is right rather than what he is told is right). If you don't understand the difference between the constituents in a House District and those to a Senator, you should be banned from voting!
Anyhow, what does it really matter how someone votes, if it is the right thing, then it should not matter whether a vote was with the Dems or Reps. Rather than arguing about the percentages, tell us what he voted for and what he voted against (and don't spin it, I hate spin… the unfortunate thing is the Reps are not near as good at it as the Dems).
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I was saying that Feingold and Green represent, to some extent, the same basic people. I was also trying to suggest that they have radically different points of view, but still find a vote-plentiful niche to win office.
And, just because you brought it up, I have no idea what a “senate” or a “house of representatives” is. I should probably have attended the same middle school as you so that I could one day assume that everyone but myself is an idiot. Get bent, prick.
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Dump Doyle.
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President Bush has one of the lowest approval ratings ever, of any President. How can Mark Green voting with him anywhere near 92% of the time make him popular? The College Democrats are using this number to make a point, that Mark Green is not in line with average Wisconsin, or for that matter, American citizens. To pick the number apart is a petty rebuttle to a smart campaign run by the College Democrats. They have let me, and the thousands of politically apathetic students on this campus, know about Green’s record through a concise, well coordinated campaign. As a marketing major, I can appreciate a well run ad campaign, and this is one.
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Green is a Goat
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Joelle, did you even read the JS article? Because if you did, your reading comprehension level is unworthy of a kindergartner, let alone a college student. If you can’t understand what you read, you shouldn’t be writing for the BH.
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Quit whining or else you might as well go to a university with a primarily conservative student body.