Racine Republicans go Rovian

You have to read this story to believe it. Racine County Republican supporters of County Executive William McReynolds are calling for Supervisor Ken Hall to resign.

Ken Hall is the Racine County Supervisor that released a report detailing just how expensive McReynolds' side businesses are to Racine County taxpayers. You can find the report at this post from Progressive Majority Wisconsin.

And just like Karl Rove telling Republicans to question the patriotism of every Democrat saying President Bush's 'stay the course' strategy was flawed, McReynolds supporters in Racine County are pointing the finger at Hall because he is asking the county to look into McReynolds' business dealings.

The most absurd part of this is that the McReynolds supporters are not saying McReynolds didn't do business to benefit himself using the county's resources. They are saying he gets to play be different rules.

Halbach said Hall’s concern that McReynolds violated county work rules were unwarranted because those rules do not apply to elected officials like the county executive.

No there's a tactic the public loves. Politicians claiming they are not guilty because they get to play by rules they make up as they go along instead of the ones everyone else has to live by in their job. What are the chances the public doesn't think the ethics rules that apply to county employees should apply to McReynolds?

If you think they don't want McReynolds held to the same standard, I suggest you check the results of the 21st Senate District elections held earlier this month. The people of Racine County gave a verdict on that one and the McReynolds backers on the County Board would be wise to listen to the people more than they listen to McReynolds trying to save his own neck.

Or they could go with the Rovian tactic of trying to blame Hall for McReynolds' ethical lapses. Of course they may want to ask the Republicans in DC cleaning out their offices over the next month how that strategy worked for them before they decide.