Newsmakers: Governor Jim Doyle's Record
Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle will be leaving office Jan. 3, so it’s time to review his eight-year record as Wisconsin’s 44th governor. In a Newsmakers taped on Dec. 7, panelists Thad Nation, a consultant who was Doyle’s first communications director; Bob Hague, news director for the Wisconsin Radio Network and one of six Capitol reporters who covered Doyle’s full term, and Brandon Scholz, president of the Wisconsin Grocers Association and a former Republican Party staff director, considered the governor’s record and his priorities. His second term was characterized by the recession – a historical downturn that led him to raise taxes and spend one-time federal stimulus cash to preserve education and health-care programs, the panelists agreed.