Mark Green's new rules

Rep. Mark Green, Republican candidate for governor, has issued a pledge for the governor's race that he thinks both he and Governor Doyle should sign and accept as rules of the race. The first bullet of the pledge struck me as odd.

We will not run television or radio commercials, send mailings or distribute literature that mentions our opponent by name.

Challengers cannot win elections without talking about how they differ from their opponent, the incumbent. Oh lots of candidates like to think they can win simply because people will like them better so they don't have to bring up the incumbent's record. It doesn't work like that.

You have to give the people a reason to fire the incumbent.

So I wonder, just how does Rep. Green think he can win without even mentioning Governor Doyle? I suppose the easy answer is that Rep. Green put this out there because he knows it's not a workable plan so he gets credits from the press for offering it but won't have to live by it. But I also wonder, just who has Rep. Green talked into doing the 'negative' ads for him that he needs to win?