Former Trek executives say Mary Burke was forced out

[riversedge]

20. Milw Jour Sen Our View: Smear job on Mary Burke: Consider the source ....

I am shocked the MJS put this out just now.




@RightWisconsin Milw Jour Sen Our View: Smear job on Mary Burke: Consider the source http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/attack-on-mary-burke-consider-the-source-b99381534z1-280977622.html #wiunion

[link:http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/attack-on-mary-burke-consider-the-source-b99381534z1-280977622.html|


Our View | Governor’s Race

Attack on Mary Burke: Consider the source




Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke addresses supporters at a campaign stop in Milwaukee last week.
Associated Press
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke addresses supporters at a campaign stop in Milwaukee last week.
Oct. 30, 2014 3:05 p.m.




.....But as of today, we know no more about Burke's time at Trek than we did earlier this week.

What we do know is that two reports, one in a conservative publication, the other in the Journal Sentinel, have given voice to critics of Burke's time with Trek — criticism larded with hearsay, innuendo and sexist overtones.

Here's what we know:

Fact: The initial report surfaced in The Wisconsin Reporter, a pseudo-journalistic publication bankrolled by conservative foundations. The Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation gave the Reporter $190,000 in 2012 to help underwrite the website. The Bradley Foundation's top executive is Michael W. Grebe, who also chairs Walker's campaign committee. Consider the source.

Fact: That initial report relied heavily on a single source — Gary Ellerman, who Trek says was fired "for incompetence" in 2004 and is now chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party. He also ran as a sham Democratic candidate in the 2012 Senate recall primary to help the incumbent GOP senator in that race. He also has a Facebook page of crude posts regarding President Barack Obama and the first lady, even likening Obama's "hope and change" campaign slogan to a Nazi swastika, reports the Journal Sentinel's Daniel Bice. The page was taken private about 30 minutes after Bice first posted about it Thursday. Consider the source.......


No voter should base his or her decision on 20-year-old twaddle from a fired Trek employee who now is a Republican county chairman — all dredged up a week before the election. There are plenty of good issues to vote on, including Burke's record as a businesswoman. After all, she brought it up. But these reports prove nothing and say more about the attackers than they do about her.