The Democratic primary this August will be more important than we thought

The Journal-Sentinel reports that the GAB has approved the nomination papers for Brett Hulsey (running for governor against Mary Burke) and Gary George (running against Gwen Moore for the congressional seat that covers Milwaukee and a few suburbs). Add to that the fact that Republicans will favor the delusional David Clarke over Lt. Chris Moews in the primary for sheriff. These three matchups suggest to me that Republicans may mount an effort to cross over and vote for the problematic Democrats.

Brett Hulsey offers progressive talking points, but let's face it: he won't defeat Scott Walker. Mary Burke has a fair chance. I was and am a strong supporter of Kathleen Vinehout, but she can't be the nominee this year. I've been skeptical of Mary Burke as a candidate, but after hearing her speak last week and reading some of the things her campaign has put out recently, I feel better about her. She seems to be learning how to be a political candidate, and while it's too bad that her training has to be on-the-job, she's our only shot at Walker.

Gary George threw away his reputation when he was convicted of a felony (conspiracy to defraud the government). He's a flawed candidate. It will be interesting to see who funds his campaign.

David Clarke is not a Democrat by any stretch of the imagination. He has refused to join the party. He speaks at right-wing events and gets all sorts of approval from the right-wing talkers on Milwaukee radio. The Democratic Party in Milwaukee has explicitly endorsed his opponent Lt. Chris Moews, a professional with 20 years in law enforcement who can clean up the mess in the sheriff's department that Clarke has created (the list is too long to go into here).

The Republicans in Milwaukee County have three reasons to cross over this time, and have certainly thought about it already so I'm not putting ideas in anyone's head. We need to go all out for our candidates, or we'll find ourselves like the mainstream Republicans in some states who are stuck with Tea Party folks to vote for.