The stem cell battle heats up

Stem cell research took the stage front and center this weekend with the Democrat convention in La Crosse. Governor Doyle made stem cell research the centerpiece of his speech to the convention. It is an issue voters care deeply about and this press release from Rep. Mark Green confirms that he must have polling in hand to show he is in trouble on the issue.

The press release is a list of thing Green says he has done for cancer research. He has written a lot of letters. He doesn't say if those letters he has written to different subcommittees in Congress requesting funding have produced results or not though. I'm guessing the letters didn't get what they were asking for or he would have claimed credit for that instead.

Even if Green's letters did produce the results they were written for, it's not Green's work in the past that has so many people in our state concerned. It is what he will refuse to do in the future that is cause for concern.

It's harder as one congressperson to direct large amounts of support and funding for a particular area, but as governor, he would have the opportunity to direct massive amounts of funding and other state support to keep Wisconsin the leader in stem cell research. Green's record indicates he will not bring the kind of support necessary to the industry that is needed in the future.

Governor Doyle will and is getting a lot of positive coverage on it. In fact, Green put out that press release to counter stories for Governor Doyle with headlines like this:

First Lady Doyle, Families Affected by Stem Cell Research Praise Governor Doyle's Leadership

Now of course his wife would offer up praise but Green knows that many familiess with sick loved ones see stem cell research as hope for the future and they don't think politicians should get in the way of potential cures.

Families looking for cures for diseases are starting to learn that Green would not allow some of the most promising stem cell research techniques to receive support from the state if he were elected governor. He seems to think that a couple of cells in a lab dish are more important than helping Judy Montgomery, the woman who introduced Governor Doyle at the convention, and her daughter who has diabetes see a cure in the near future. But he's got some letters.