First off, the spread was impressive. Guacamole and chips, goat cheese and crackers, meatballs with marinara sauce.
But the crowd was not. At least not when Jason Joyce and I first arrived at Talula, the east side joint where Joe Parisi was hosting his election night party At 7:45 p.m. the only human targets for our two flip-cams were the campaign's finance director and one very dedicated volunteer. It was then that I should have taken some pictures of the food. Instead I went to the bar.
The footage of the food I got two hours later was much less impressive; it had been largely devoured by the sizable crowd that had assembled to celebrate their candidate's first place finish in the primary for Dane County executive. Since Eileen Bruskewitz, a conservative, finished second, virtually all progressives in Dane County, including the Democratic Party establishment, are expected to support Parisi, a three term state representative and former county clerk.
For instance, outgoing County Executive Kathleen Falk, who was at the party, will be spared the awkward task of picking between two candidates on the left.
Parisi, perhaps because the results of the election were still unclear, refrained from commenting on Bruskewitz in his victory speech. Instead, he directed his criticism at Gov. Scott Walker, and said it was time for Dane County to make clear that "Scott Walker's vision is not our vision."
Although Walker-bashing has already been a hallmark of this county executive race, the fact that Parisi's opponent is an unabashed supporter of the governor will probably make the rhetoric seem more relevant to Dane County voters, especially in light of the fury provoked by Walker's proposals to strip collective bargaining rights for public employees.
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