So, does this custom bus show Scott Walker’s frugal side?
I’m thinking probably not.
Mark Neumann took a hit a few days ago for driving a seven passenger van.
A slender 6-foot-2, the 56-year-old Republican gubernatorial candidate is often chided by his two main competitors for his plush ride. It could be the name, the size or the bold self-promotion, but either way, the van – with its flat-screen TV, wood-trimmed interior and room to seat up to seven comfortably – is a purchase Neumann says he couldn’t campaign without.
“I felt like I was on top of everybody in a car, and the mobile home we had earlier in the campaign was too big,” he says.
Campaigning is grueling, and Neumann makes no apologies for crisscrossing the state in style. The state may be $2.7 billion in debt, but he’s not.
Come on Wisconsin. This is an example of how differently these two candidates handle money.
Who do you want spending yours?
19 responses so far ↓
1 The Lorax // Sep 9, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Looks like a giant doo-doo.
2 Cindy // Sep 9, 2010 at 6:05 pm
Thank you Lorax. I was thinking the same thing, but I figured it was just me.
3 RL // Sep 9, 2010 at 6:12 pm
Hey! I saw that thing in person today! It is repulsive, visually. This is coarse for me, but did look like an extruded log of poo-poo. Or a big square barf bag.
I would not want to exit from that thing in front of a crowd. Not a good visual, at all.
I wonder what it cost to graphic that tank up to try to pull off a brown bag theme?
4 The Lorax // Sep 9, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Doesn’t help that Walker seems like the sort of frat guy who would leave a flaming bag of poo on an old lady’s doorstep.
On another note, the “Believe in Wisconsin Again” campaign slogan really irks and offends me. Sure, maybe you disagree with the leadership of the Doyle administration but that’s quite the indictment.
Barrett has a really great line in his stump speech (saw him at LaborFest with it) where he says he doesnt know where Scott Walker has been because he has never stopped believing in Wisconsin. Walker is toast either way.
5 Patrick Dorwin // Sep 9, 2010 at 8:00 pm
A politician rents a bus for campaigning, and that’s something new, and a big deal?
6 Cindy // Sep 9, 2010 at 8:08 pm
I guess not for a career politician. You’re right. Same old, same old.
7 Jonas Wilkerson // Sep 9, 2010 at 8:19 pm
I guess when I see this – or hear about Scott Walker’s brown bag movement, I just feel insulted. To boil down your campaign to three fairly broad themes and expect voters to support you – is insidious. However, that’s where this country is. That’s what the general public buys. That was certainly validated with Barack Obama’s “hope” and “change.” Unfortunately, there’s a lot of buyer remorse among those who voted for Obama.
People do deserve the government they get.
8 capper // Sep 10, 2010 at 2:17 am
How do we know it’s not a county bus?
9 Patrick Dorwin // Sep 10, 2010 at 6:01 am
Cindy, remember, the only reason Neumann isn’t a career politician, is because he has lost 4 elections…. So it isn’t for lack of trying.
10 Cindy // Sep 10, 2010 at 6:35 am
Patrick, the reason Neumann isn’t a career politician is because he hasn’t been drawing a government paycheck for the overwhelming majority of his working days.
Scott Walker has been fed by taxpayers all but a couple of years since he dropped out of college. Mark Neumann hung out in the private sector. It’s a really big difference between candidates.
11 RL // Sep 10, 2010 at 7:11 am
Patrick. Not sure how you can say Neumann would hang out in the gov for an endless job. When he was in Congress he espoused term limits and actually kept his word on that promise and got out. Likely he would have done the same in any election he would have won.
I seem to recall Walker promising to term limit himself, but keeps stretching and revising the actual number of terms. Perhaps that is why you are suspicious of Neumann? You’ve got your stink eye on the wrong candidate.
12 BrkfldDad // Sep 10, 2010 at 9:14 am
Capper, don’t be silly, if it were a county bus it wouldn’t be running.
13 RL // Sep 10, 2010 at 11:37 am
Oh, goody. Another funny.
14 The Lorax // Sep 10, 2010 at 12:51 pm
I think Patrick has a point.
15 RL // Sep 10, 2010 at 1:01 pm
I think if Neumann had the personality and desire to be a career politician he would have run for Feingold’s seat this time. People talk like he would have taken it easily. He’d be set there for as long as he’d like. IF he wanted to be a career politician.
Nope. He is running for governor for the same reason he ran for the other races. He thought he could fix a problem in each race, and in this one he feels confident he has the best ideas, leadership qualities and experience to get this state in tip-top shape.
If you meet both men, it is really clear that one seeks to be voted for, and one seeks solutions.
Neumann has always promised term limits and kept to it when he was a Congressman. Walker promised term limits too. Didn’t happen.
16 Cindy // Sep 10, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Lorax, in that case I’m really the mayor. Hey, I tried.
17 The Lorax // Sep 10, 2010 at 2:58 pm
No, it doesn’t make him a career politician. But as a former member of congress who has more than a few runs under his belt, you can’t exactly call him an outsider.
18 Cindy // Sep 10, 2010 at 3:35 pm
I’m glad we could agree: Mark Neumann is not a career politician.
I do think it’s the best of both worlds, really. He knows what he’s getting into because he’s done it before, but he’s also proven his mettle in business.
19 capper // Sep 11, 2010 at 12:40 am
C’mon, B-Dad, Walker wouldn’t settle for one of the old buses. He’d take one of the spankin’ new ones bought with ARRA funds. That’s why it’s wrapped up, so no one could tell.
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