Signs are useless as a way of depicting voter anger and/or voter engagement. Many Ds _and_ Rs are afraid of neighbors throwing eggs at houses, burning or stealing signs, running over signs, etc. -- more Rs _have_ signs anyway than Ds, particularly in "safe" R-leaning neighborhoods, but that means very little. The only thing that matters is the vote on June 5. My money is on John Lehman.

I think that Lehman scored more points. Wangaard said that we have 4 more teachers in Racine Unified. He neglected to say that even with the "tools" RUSD cut over 50 needed Teacher Assistants! They are teachers too! Also, nearby Kenosha laid off tons of teachers last year and they are closing McKinley MS this year! I like Lehman's points of Republicans shifting the burden to the poor and middle class while rewarding the top wage earners and corporations with billions in tax breaks. Lehman represents my interest in fairness and my anger at the Republicans arrogance and indifference.

Lehman never once looked at the audience or smiled. He kept his head and eyes facing down. What an odd body language for a public forum. He is stuck in the past and is full of negative attacks. He had no plans except to tax job creators!

Van Wanggaard was positive and direct while looking at the audience and smiling when appropriate. Van has the enthusiasm and current results that are working at his back. If every informed Racine voter had been in attendance, they would pick Van over Lehman on the spot!

The difference is clear. Do the residents of this senate district want to go back to the over-spending, huge deficits produced by the likes of Lehman?

Or do they want to go forward with adults like Van Wanggaard who follow conservative common sense approaches. I hope they choose the right way, the Wanggaard way.

I agree with Conservativa on this one. Van was more positive and scored more points. Lehman just kept using the class warfare talking points. Hearing Lehman actually using the "War on Women" comment really shows what an idiot he is.

Not only that, but watching Lehman try to weasel his way out of being a draft dodger was hilarious! Sorry John... once a dodger, always a dodger!

All I saw was more lies from Van, master lock brought back 100 jobs based on Lehmens administration and a bad decision to move jobs to China. Fact is the 100 jobs back was due to the qualified and educated workers in Wisconsin and nothing to do with Policy. Van is a rubberstamp and last night he was just reading from scripted responses paid for by His big GOP friends ( talk about a union!)

@Van is a Lier - And how do you feel about your draft dodging "Former" Senator, Lehman who did nothing for Racine and only wants to raise taxes? Please do tell... What are Lehman's plans for the future? Do you honestly think he is stupid enough to try to bring back collective bargaining...

Regardless of whether lehman's policies (READ: DOYLE) brought jobs back, it was under Wlaker and Van's watch. Therefore they get the credit! Same as obommie blaming Bush for everything including solar eclipses!
It's been happening since the beginning when Alley Oop ousted King Guz!

Van Waggard easily won this debate as to how the state moves FORWARD.
I certainly hope that Taxing Tom Lehman aka draft dodging double dipping tax and spend liberal isn't what this district truly wants to represent them. Let's not go Backwards to the failures of the past

There should be no burden, Mac Murray, STOP spending money .. How freakin hard is it ... You don't deserve any handouts ... Be self reliant like our founding fathers wanted, NOT reliant on the Government who uses force to take from some and give to others

Racine Unified School District must be excelling under Act 10. They are coming up with $45 Million to spend on upgrading and energy savings.
RUSD=$45 Million=Act10=Wanggaard.

Hmmm...

In the photo, it's clear that Wanggaard is wearing an American flag pin on his lapel while it would appear that Lehman is wearing an AFL-CIO pin on his lapel.

Very telling indeed!

Wanggaard - represents the interests of all Wisconsinites.
Lehman - represents the interest of a select special interest.

Clearly, any intelligent person would concede that Wanggaard was by far and away the winner of this debate. The only solutions that Lehman offered was to raise taxes on people and businesses during a recession and in a highly competitive jobs environment where other states are offering tax breaks. Also, it was utterly despicable how Lehman tried to dismiss his draft dodging as no big deal. Lehman should be hiding in disgrace somewhere instead of running for public office. Or maybe he believes he's part Native American like Elizabeth Warren and is therefor entitled to preferential treatment. Either way, Lehman is nothing more than a big JOKE!!!

Vote WANGGAARD on or before June 5th!!!

Hmmm and what did Mitt Romney and Newt do for the draft ... wait for it .. oh exemptions .. These freakin big chicken hawks make me sick .. On the other hand you have Dr Ron Paul who served his country, he had children just as Newt did but Ron went ... No wonder he gets more military donations then anyone period ... I will Never vote for a chicken hawk Piece of Sheeeeeet like Mitt .. oh and his biggest Donor Goldman Sachs .. Just like another piece of work Obama .. another Goldman tool ... Come on people wake up we need to fight together

VOTE W...................................
FORWARD = WALKER & WANGGARD & WISCONSIN

BACKWARDS = BARRETT& LEHMAN & REVERSE

THE CHOICE IS OBVIOUS AND ITS FORWARD!

WGTD was delighted to broadcast the debate live. An audio recording of the full forum is available on our website, wgtd.org. Many thanks to the Patch staff for doing the lion's share of the work involved in pulling this off.

@David - no, thank you! It was so great to have the debate aired live and to be able to then share links to the broadcast with readers in case they missed it. I very much appreciate WGTD partnering with Patch for this. Thank you!

A little bit of information on the mining bill that almost passed: 1) It does NOT adequately consider environmental effects. It specifically says, that when environmental law and mining law conflict, the mining law prevails. It allow the mine to dump whatever mine runoff it wants into anywhere it wants. In Hurley that means into streams into Lake Superior, which provides water for all the Great Lakes. Sen. Wanggaard said he authored (or co-authored?) this bill, so he knows this.

2) The mining bill applies to _all_ of Wisconsin. I live live about a mile from a rock quarry. They are good citizens today, but under the proposed mining legislation, they could dump their mine runoff into the Root River, which feeds our drinking water. That proposed mining law is not just for folks 'up north.' It applies to your back yard, and your front yard. And your drinking water. And mining interests trump everything else.

3) Sen. Wanggaard supported, and supports, this bill. He thinks these non-safeguards are the only thing preventing mining and jobs. At the risk of sounding extreme, he sounds like he is willing to sell our Wisconsin birthright for a mess of pottage.