2008 Primaries, Strategic Blueprints, Views on News • September 5th, 2008

A taxing question in Milwaukee County

by Chris Lato

This November 4, voters in Milwaukee County will have their say on whether the county should triple the county sales tax to 1.5% ‘to fund parks, transit and provide property tax relief.’ Hmmm……

This article lays out the issue. Essentially, County Executive Scott Walker fought the tax idea but was outgunned by the County Board. Walker has positioned himself as a fiscal conservative, and there’s no way he could be seen as endorsing this tax hike. He was criticized by some for ‘denying the voters a choice.’

(BTW - maybe I’m crazy, but in the middle of an economic downturn, does a sales tax hike really have a snowball’s chance in H-E-double-hockey-sticks of actually getting voter approval?)

We all know the economy is going to be one of the driving issues this November. The voters will now get their say and the tax referendum will be a red-hot issue. It will likely drive turnout even higher than already-high expectations.

And that has the potential to benefit John McCain.

With a tax hike referendum on the ballot, there will undoubtedly be voters spurred to go to the polls to defeat this referendum. And, since McCain is positioned as the tax-cutter compared to Barack Obama, the perceived tax-hiker, can McCain enjoy some boost in Wisconsin’s biggest county? For those voters who are compelled to vote based on their frustration over high taxes alone, the tax referendum could ding Obama’s vote tally in Milwaukee County.

If McCain’s team moves taxes right to the top of the issues being discussed in that county, and bundles it up with the tax referendum issue, then that offers one way to move numbers in their direction.

As an aside, McCain and running mate Sarah Palin are in Wisconsin this morning, the night after McCain delivered his convention-closing speech at the RNC. It’s fun to be a state in play, isn’t it?

As for McCain’s speech, I spent a chunk of it feeling underwhelmed. A lot of the address sounded like GOP boilerplate, and the efforts to single out American families that McCain would be ‘fighting for’ felt ham-fisted. No home runs, but no errors either. Safe and middle of the road, for the most part.

But as McCain discussed his life experience and his time as a POW, the speech really took hold. For those who were getting a sense of McCain for the first time, the closing minutes of the speech drew a connection between the man and the candidate, painting an affecting portrait of why he is in this race.

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