Recallarama and the tens of millions of dollars the Democrats flushed down the media toilet for nothing accomplished gives the lie to Hansen’s last sentence, but be that as it may …

Yet to be heard from is state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (D–Alma), who ran four years ago and supposedly is mulling over another run. Vinehout’s advantage to “regular people” is that she’s not from the Madison–Milwaukee axis. She keeps sending weekly newspapers op-ed pieces, and she’s not likely to be doing that in preparation for a post-legislative career as a columnist.

Yet to be heard is Burke’s perspective on doing business in Wisconsin (during which she might have to explain why her family’s company’s bicycles are not assembled in the U.S.), as well as what she thinks her party has done wrong over the years. If Burke is not willing to criticize the Democratic Party, particularly on its anti-business policy since, well, Gov. Anthony Earl, then all that focus-group marketingspeak about not being a politician is not worth the trash from the coffee and muffins served to the focus groups.

I am aware of no one who predicted Van Hollen’s departure. I hope there is no comment attributed to Van Hollen that he has to go out and earn “real money.” I heard that comment attributed to one of the recent Assembly GOP departures. That is an insult to the taxpayers who make half what state legislators make. And constitutional offices — the governor, attorney general and even the do-nothing secretary of state and state treasurer — are considerably better compensated than state legislators. One state legislator by himself or herself makes nearly as much money as the average Wisconsin family.

Regarding Schimel, James Wigderson wrote, and writes:

With more news that Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel is likely to run for the Republican nomination for state Attorney General to replace JB Van Hollen, a column I wrote about Schimel last year is attracting some attention on the Democratic side. I thought I would take a moment to clarify the Schimel record and what I wrote.

The column was in response to a decision by Schimel not to pursue an open records case against former Waukesha [Business Improvement District] President Norm Bruce. An investigation showed Bruce intentionally inflated the cost of my open records request. …

If it was just the Bruce case, perhaps what I said and what I wrote was over the top. Maybe.

But to say there was just one case is to ignore the bizarre decision by Schimel not to prosecute for the alleged fake signatures on the petitions to recall former Alderman Peggy Bull despite some pretty strong visual evidence. Then there was the decision not to charge Alderman Roger Patton for deleting nearly all his email regarding the Business Improvement District and official city business. No asking Patton to resign, not even a fine, after he was caught destroying public records.

Even as I write this, Schimel is sitting on two vote fraud cases from the February primary election for District 11 Alderman in the city of Waukesha. The case involves two downtown businessmen who allegedly voted using their business addresses rather than their home addresses. I won’t name the two yet because they haven’t been charged, but the case is well known and should be relatively easy to prosecute. However, it is eight months later and still no charges have been filed. Schimel has even confirmed with me the names of the individuals being investigated, but somehow the case is just sitting there.

I’m not the only one who has been bothered by Schimel’s unwillingness to use his office to support openness in government. Schimel has been a target of other conservatives, too, because of the district attorney’s unwillingness topursue open records cases involving the Menomonee Falls school board.

And let me throw one more thing out there for my Republican readers. Many of you felt, with justification, that former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen was railroaded during the “caucus scandal” as a way of balancing out the prosecution and criminal conviction of former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala. When no Assembly Democratic leaders were ever charged despite evidence they were doing the same things that got Jensen prosecuted, including former Assembly Speaker Tom Loftus who wrote about using caucus staff for political work in his book, Republicans were understandably outraged at the selective reinterpretation of the law. When Schimel made the decision not to retry Jensen, it was an understandable and even just decision.

But when you combine the decision to not retry Jensen with all of the times Schimel chose to look away when confronted with cases involving politics, whether it is open records, destruction of public records, or vote fraud, the pattern puts the Jensen decision in bad company, and it’s a record Democrats will use against Schimel.

So some conservatives have problems with Schimel. Democrats have been duplicating their Burke anointing with Richards, despite unfavorable comparisons to both Van Hollen and Schimel, as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

“I think Wisconsin needs a tough-on-crime, no-nonsense attorney general who will also stand up for middle-class families,” Richards said.

Richards said he would be independent, fight for open government and combat drunken driving, school violence and domestic abuse. On the budget committee, Richards has also advocated for better pay for state prosecutors and opposed bringing back for-profit bounty hunters in Wisconsin. …

Schimel campaign adviser Darrin Schmitz said that Richards would seek to advance a liberal agenda as attorney general.

“Last thing the state needs is an Eliot Spitzer-type attorney general who views business as prosecutorial prey or refuses to defend the state from the overreach of the federal government,” said Schmitz, referring to the former New York attorney general and governor. “There will be a stark contrast between a frontline prosector like Brad Schimel and a politician like Jon Richards.” …

Richards has also served as a special prosecutor in the Kenosha County district attorney’s office. His campaign didn’t include that information in the media release announcing his candidacy.

Richards campaign adviser Sachin Chheda said that the position was an unpaid volunteer post of several months in which, to learn about prosecutors’ work, Richards filed motions and made some court appearances such as bail hearings on behalf of the district attorney’s office.

Richards, however, may get company. The Journal Sentinel reports that Matt Frank, who worked for the state Department of Justice and then was Gov. James Doyle’s corrections secretary, may announce in the next week. Frank has actual criminal justice experience that Richards lacks.

Izanne is insane to consider running. The only reason anyone has heard of Izanne is because his definition of law enforcement is … filing a lawsuit to stop the public employee collective bargaining reforms of 2011. Izanne, who was appointed by Doyle, has spent his time in office ignoring the rise in Dane County crime.

And then there’s this strange potential addition, according to the Journal Sentinel: Jim Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, is reportedly considering running as an independent.

Who, you ask? From the WPPA website:

Prior to joining the WPPA in 2003, Mr. Palmer worked for an Indiana law firm and primarily practiced corporate transactional law, which included incorporations, mergers and acquisitions, import law and product safety compliance, as well as specialized employment contracts. During that time, his representation included an investor-owned subsidiary of a national water utility, a regional hospital system, a minor league professional basketball team, and various units of local government.

Mr. Palmer is a member of the board of directors of the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Accreditation Group, a Regional Vice-President for the National Association of Police Organizations, and the chairman of the board of directors for the Wisconsin Coalition of Annuitants. In 2009, he was appointed by Governor Jim Doyle to the State of Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board, and has since been elected its secretary. In addition to having been a presenter at arbitrator and advocate training conferences for the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, Mr. Palmer has been a keynote speaker at police conferences held all across the country to talk on a variety of labor and law enforcement-related issues. Frequently in the media, Mr. Palmer has appeared on national television and radio news media outlets, such as CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, and National Public Radio, to name a few.

Mr. Palmer received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and a law degree from the Valparaiso University School of Law, where he was an editor of the law review. In addition to being a licensed Wisconsin lobbyist, Mr. Palmer is also admitted to practice law before all state and federal courts in Wisconsin. He is an active member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Wisconsin, and the Association of Wisconsin Lobbyists.

Notice the absence of the words “criminal law” in those paragraphs.