2008 Woodie Awards
State Assembly race heats up as November approaches
Ryan Donahue
Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: News
Races for the next president and the State Assembly seat in District 43 are taking the mainstage as election day approaches.
Many thought Sarah Palin was not an expected individual to be chosen by John McCain as his running mate.
"It's brilliant because (McCain) himself is not charismatic and Barack Obama is," Political Science Professor Paula Mohan said. "The way you design a campaign is come up with a strategy that exploits your opponent's weaknesses and fills in the areas that you are missing. She's bright, she's pretty, she's charismatic, she can draw a crowd and she appeals to the part of the Republican base that he doesn't."
Mohan said Barack Obama used the same strategy when choosing his running mate.
"Joe Biden is not colorful. He knows a lot about foreign policy. When Obama picked him he used the opposite strategy as McCain," Mohan said. "People thought he was a lightweight and didn't have enough foreign policy experience so he picked the guy that's the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee."
In the State Assembly race, Debi Towns (R.) is squaring off against current Assemblyman Kim Hixson (D) who took the position from Towns in 2006. She was originally elected in 2002.
Towns says she believes we need to jump start Wisconsin's economy.
"The way you do that is to create jobs and ... make the state an attractive place for new employers to come in or bring expansion of businesses," Towns said.
As a 1999 UW-Whitewater graduate, Towns has a record of supporting university students.
"Higher education is very important," she said. "I sat on the Higher Education Committee. I support limiting tuition increases. I don't disagree that the university has to at times increase tuition but I believe it should be incremental and should be low enough percents that it relates to the cost of living," Towns said.
As a former Associate Professor at UW-W, Hixson is not out of touch with the needs of university students.
"I fought like crazy against the cuts to the UW-System," Hixson said. "(Republicans) wanted to cut $350 million from the University System. If you look at that in (General Purpose Revenue) dollars, that is the same as closing UW-W and UW-LaCrosse. We're talking about 23,000 students not being served."
Many thought Sarah Palin was not an expected individual to be chosen by John McCain as his running mate.
"It's brilliant because (McCain) himself is not charismatic and Barack Obama is," Political Science Professor Paula Mohan said. "The way you design a campaign is come up with a strategy that exploits your opponent's weaknesses and fills in the areas that you are missing. She's bright, she's pretty, she's charismatic, she can draw a crowd and she appeals to the part of the Republican base that he doesn't."
Mohan said Barack Obama used the same strategy when choosing his running mate.
"Joe Biden is not colorful. He knows a lot about foreign policy. When Obama picked him he used the opposite strategy as McCain," Mohan said. "People thought he was a lightweight and didn't have enough foreign policy experience so he picked the guy that's the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee."
In the State Assembly race, Debi Towns (R.) is squaring off against current Assemblyman Kim Hixson (D) who took the position from Towns in 2006. She was originally elected in 2002.
Towns says she believes we need to jump start Wisconsin's economy.
"The way you do that is to create jobs and ... make the state an attractive place for new employers to come in or bring expansion of businesses," Towns said.
As a 1999 UW-Whitewater graduate, Towns has a record of supporting university students.
"Higher education is very important," she said. "I sat on the Higher Education Committee. I support limiting tuition increases. I don't disagree that the university has to at times increase tuition but I believe it should be incremental and should be low enough percents that it relates to the cost of living," Towns said.
As a former Associate Professor at UW-W, Hixson is not out of touch with the needs of university students.
"I fought like crazy against the cuts to the UW-System," Hixson said. "(Republicans) wanted to cut $350 million from the University System. If you look at that in (General Purpose Revenue) dollars, that is the same as closing UW-W and UW-LaCrosse. We're talking about 23,000 students not being served."
Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 8
Mark
posted 9/30/08 @ 9:42 PM CST
Alright Debi! I hope she wins her Assembly seat back.
Great to see one of our own alums doing so well! I'll be voting for her in November and I think everyone else should too, no matter if they vote for Obama or McCain for president. (Continued…)
Andrew
posted 9/30/08 @ 9:54 PM CST
Debi Towns is the choice in the state Assembly race. Look at her record and look what she did when she was in the Assembly and then look at what Hixson did last year - he didn't even get a single bill passed. (Continued…)
Greg
posted 9/30/08 @ 11:51 PM CST
Let's go Debi! She has got my vote and seems to be getting the attention of a lot of my fellow students.
Some people will try getting us students to vote straight party Democrat or Republican, however I for one will not be suckered into voting straight party ticket without first looking into the candidates at all levels especially in this important Assembly race. (Continued…)
larryfitzsimmons
larryfitzsimmons
posted 10/01/08 @ 11:42 AM CST
Hixon has tried to do a lot for us. He is on several committees. He has one vote, he cannot singlehandedly pass or reject bills, all he can do is try and do the right things. (Continued…)
Ian
posted 10/01/08 @ 3:11 PM CST
I am a strong supporter of Kim Hixson and his voting record in the State Assembly. It is important to note that the current Republican majority in the Assembly prevents progressive legislation from being passed. (Continued…)
IanV
Ian
posted 10/01/08 @ 3:36 PM CST
I am a strong supporter of Kim Hixson for State Assembly. Kim Hixson has opposed tuition hikes on students, but has also proposed legislation to make student loans more accessible along with other significant benefits for university students in his "Syllabus for Success. (Continued…)
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