Election Stuff

This is my day to be disappointed in my fellow citizens.  For 11 months every year I get calls in the Newsroom and emails from people complaining endlessly about the City Council, the School Board and the County Board.  But in the first week of January, just a handful of people file candidacy papers to run for those bodies.  This year, there will be just four contested races for the Winnebago County Board.  One of those is for a vacant seat and John Daggett is running in the other one so that really doesn't count.  There will be no change on the Oshkosh Common Council as John Daggett is the only challenger to the three incumbents.  And the Oshkosh School Board will have two incumbents and two newcomers vying for three open seats--and of course John Daggett will be taking up a spot on the ballot as well.  Maybe my responses to the complaints from now on should include directions on how to file candidacy papers as well.

Speaking of the Oshkosh School Board, the UW-Oshkosh influence there could be growing again.  Challenger Kelli Saginak is an associate professor at UWO.  If she was to win, that would make three University employees filling seven of the seats.  That makes it a serious challenger to the "Secret Government" that the black helicopter crowd believes is running things here in Oshkosh.

Elsewhere, I hope Rick Santorum enjoys his one week of fame.  New Hampshire is where Evangelicals-Who-Do-Well-In-Iowa go to die.  The headline a week from this morning after the "First in the Nation Primary" will be "Can Anyone Stop Mitt?" 

This might also be a good day to tune in for Rush Limbaugh from 11 until 2 on WOSH.  "The Man Who Controls The Republican Party" apparently has some work to do on his "controlling of the party".  Does Rush suddenly dump Newt Gingrich and jump on the Santorum bandwagon?  Or--gasp!--does he warm up to Mitt?  Should be entertaining radio.