Wisconsin State Journal endorses Dan Kapanke

Which confuses the liberals in my town who think of La Crosse as "little Madison."

Kind has done some good things, such as challenging wasteful farm subsidies and pressing for outcome-based payments in the new health care law. We've endorsed Kind in past elections.

But Kind hasn't done enough to change Washington's bad habits and misguided priorities.

Kapanke deserves a shot to do better.

Kapanke helped lead a principled push last year to strip all non-fiscal policy items from the state budget. Kapanke favored financial disclosure for groups that run nasty issue ads before elections. And he was one of the first and relatively few state lawmakers to return his legislative pay raise during tight times.

Kapanke also showed he doesn't follow the marching orders of the GOP and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce when he opposed a gimmicky constitutional amendment on spending and taxes in 2005.

Wis State Journal

Like a battered wife afraid to leave her husband, the La Crosse Tribune endorsed Ron Kind who even by liberal standards has done nothing noteworthy in his political career in Washington.