The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of OnMilwaukee.com, its advertisers or editorial staff.

Forgive those of us in metro Milwaukee who can't raise a flag of enthusiasm for any of the three candidates running for governor.

Think about it: there are 5.5 million people in this state, a good chunk of them living in our part of the state, and these three pieces of stale white bread are the best we can do?

The choices we are offered are reflected in the current debate over the Issues of Our Time (state version).

"My boring candidate took less dirty money than your boring candidate."

Well, hoooooooo-rah.

Medicaid funding? Health care? Welfare reform? Energy? The environment? Declining incomes?

Fuhggedaboutit. Not on the radar screen.

And where is the press? We need it to ask the tough questions so we can watch the candidates squirm as they evade them.

For GOP Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, who most recently spent the county budget cycle being spanked by the county board and complaining about inadequate state funding for the county's court system:

"If you are elected governor, just how would you fund the Milwaukee courts? And why didn't you do something about this issue when you were in a prime position to do so as chairman of the Assembly's Courts and Corrections Committee?"

For Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Green:

"Are you sweatin' bullets over the many investigations into U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, political thug and your financial and political benefactor? Did you ever get restless and want to strike out on your own, or were you satisfied being joined at the hip with him like that?"

For Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle:

"Governor, do you really think the campaign theme of 'Doyle: Doesn't Suck as Badly as the Others' will have broad support?"

Another for the guv: "Do you really expect us to believe that the fundraiser barbecue arranged by a very high-ranking Wisconsin Department of Transportation official wasn't a shakedown of road-builder folks?"

Follow-up for Doyle: "How dumb do you think we are?"

For Walker: "Was it just a coincidence that Phoenix Health Care Systems gave money to your campaign and walked away with a $1.2 million county contract despite finishing near the bottom of competitive rankings?"

Follow-up for Walker: "And what about that $250,000 sole-source contract your administration arranged for Bell Therapy, Inc., a Phoenix division?" (See background on the Phoenix Health Care Systems allegations: eyeonwisconsin.com.)

For Green: "Your campaign manager and former congressional chief of staff, Mark Graul, is reported to have received all sorts of freebies from DeLay crony Mark Abramoff Doesn't your office have any ethical standards at all? Didn't your mother warn you about 'the company you keep?'"

For Walker: "Are your error-plagued campaign press releases meant to show that even semi-literates can get ahead in Wisconsin?"

For Doyle: "You sometimes make noises about protecting the environment before you do something to contradict yourself. Does your understanding of 'green' extend anywhere beyond the color of campaign cash-on-hand?"

For Walker and Green: "Have you dropped a sympathetic note to Stuart Levine, who generously gave to your campaigns? What is with you guys and your connections to all the indicted Illinois figures like Levine and former bond bigwig Nick Hurtgen?''

For Doyle: "Do you think you are a better choice for Wisconsin because you accepted less money than either Walker or Green from -- as the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign put it -- 'Illinois contributors who have been convicted or indicted of extortion, fraud, bribery or other crimes, or who are connected to state and federal criminal investigations'?"

Follow-up for all of us in metro Milwaukee: "Fill in the blank: Milwaukee-area voters should feel good about the gubernatorial candidates because..."

Gretchen Schuldt, a former Milwaukee newspaper reporter, runs the Milwaukee Web site storyhill.net.

See the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign report, which was a source for much of the material above: wisdc.org.

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