On the campaign trail, one man’s plan is another man’s gimmick

What is the difference between a campaign promise and a political gimmick? As is often the case when an election nears, political candidates bust out some last minute ideas not previously offered on the campaign trail. We’re seeing that now in the Wisconsin governor’s race, which the polls suggest is a very tight race. Democratic candidate Tony Evers unveiled a plan to put more money in the pockets of middle class individuals and families by increasing taxes on the wealthy and corporations. His opponent, Governor Scott Walker, calls Evers plan a gimmick. But how is that any more of a gimmick than the ideas Walker has announced in recent days? Realizing that our pothole filled roads could be an election issue, Walker has just announced plans to increase funding to Wisconsin towns for road repair. His plan calls for increasing the state funding level to towns from 42% to 58%, which would be the largest level of state funding in history. Also in the final weeks of the campaign, Walker has announced his plan to increase state funding to public schools to two thirds of total costs. And although he doesn’t say how, Walker says he can do that without raising property taxes. Evers had already made a similar pledge of providing more state money for schools. Does that make Walker’s pledge a gimmick, offered only to secure votes? If so, is it any less of a gimmick than Evers plan to re-work the tax code to benefit the middle class? It is hard to tell, but the general rules remain…if a politician’s lips are moving, they must be lying.