Whallah! See behind Koschnick's curtain

Where in the world is Randy Koschnick getting all of those bogus numbers he's using to distory Shirley Abrahamson's record?

Regular readers of Whallah! will not be surprised to discover who's behind the curtain.

Randy, give Mark a call

Judge Randy Koschnick talks with Mike Gousha:

GOUSHA: Very briefly are you surprised its become a campaign issue, for some on the left and some on the right?

KOSCHNICK: I think most of the criticism on that particular topic is coming from Abrahamson supporters. I think they are trying to make a big deal out of that. I have not heard that criticism from many conservatives, frankly.

GOUSHA: Not that she has personally made it an issue?

KOSCHNICK: I don’t think she has done it personally at all, but people who tend to support her, through various forums and articles that I have read tend to raise that much more frequently than the conservatives who are supporting me. It hasn’t been a problem with the conservatives that I have been talking to.

Apparently the judge hasn't been talking to Mark Belling , who's gone after him regularly. Belling's hardly one of the usual liberal suspects or an Abrahamson supporter.

Unfortunately, Gousha didn't challenge him.

No, Bill. It Looks As If They Already Have Letterhead.

Navel gazing, Cheddarstyle.

WisOpinion posts a link to The Esteemed Mr Wigderson...

Which is almost all, and only a gush fest cut-and-paste of a Koshnick release which was originally posted on Wispolitics yesterday. That's kind of the long way round for what is basically a letter stating that the nascent campaign is fixin' to begin to get started on a mosey towards an office.

Now I'm certain that James doesn't have to resort to copying the release off the Internets, what with his connections and all. I'm just wondering where the news is here that warrants all this attention. It's pretty clear that Koschnick hasn't gotten his papers turned in yet. So far there is no campaign but there is a fundraising portal. Sing, "Hallelujah."

The release tells us far more about "Senior Campaign Advisor" Seamus Flaherty than about the candidate himself. Some enterprising soul might ask the judge about his own vision of how faith and the law should be integrated, perhaps. You know, if he had some one-on-one time with the judge he could see if he agrees with Flaherty's Alma Mater that it's a grand idea.

One might also ask about "Campaign Advisor" Tristan Cook. Young Mr Cook is shown as the manager of the Madison campaign HQ for John McCain. Now, it would take a great leap of faith to believe that McCampaign thought they should commit their heavy hitters to the Madison office. Young Mr Cook was perfect for the sacrificial position. He came to them on the rebound, having been Co-Chair of Students For Romney in Iowa. Before that Cook served as a Field Rep on an un-named-by-the-release Congressional campaign in Iowa. That would have been the 2006 campaign of Jim Leach, a 30-year incumbent who managed to eke out a loss to a Democrat who had qualified only as a write-in in the primary.

I'm also hoping that someone asks what became of the judge's erstwhile Campaign Manager, Todd Albaugh. There seems to be no mention of the failed candidate for Assembly in this latest release. What's become of Todd? Did he fianlly have to look for private sector work after years of suckling at the public teat? Is he consulting with GBG? (Probably not. Huh?)

BTW, Bill. The letterhead shows the scales of Justice tipped to the right. It's probably a coincidence.

Belling goes off on Abrahamson opponent

The first dirt gets thrown in the 2009 State Supreme Court race, with the usual spin -- lawyers who defend criminals are scum, unqualified to sit on the bench.

Interesting twist, though. It's Republican radio ranter Mark Belling doing the slinging, which is not unusual. But his target is the right wing's candidate. Here's Belling:

Abrahamson’s opponent, Jefferson County Judge Randy Koschnick, calls himself a judicial conservative who won’t legislate from the bench. He decries Abrahamson’s rulings that have damaged the state’s business climate and her obsession with overturning the convictions of criminals. But Koschnick has as much credibility on these issues as I do at a teachers union meeting.

Randy Koschnick was Ted Oswald’s lawyer. You remember Ted. He killed a cop. Oswald and his father, James, went on a crime spree in 1994 that started with a bank robbery in Wales and ended with a shootout in which the Oswalds fired at least six shots at Waukesha Police Capt. James Lutz. Captain Lutz died. Both Oswalds are now serving life prison terms. Randy Koschnick is the lawyer who tried to help Ted Oswald get away with murdering a cop.

This is the guy who wants to claim Shirley Abrahamson is soft on crime?

Unlike Alberta Darling, I don't think the Chief will be using Belling to make autocalls for her campaign.