Make Governor’s listening sessions open to the public

Scott Walker is the governor of Wisconsin. All of Wisconsin. The red parts, and the blue parts. He represents all the people of the state, even those who didn’t vote for him. But when Walker tours the state to hold listening sessions, he only wants to hear from certain people. In fact, only certain people are invited. When Walker laid out his plans to hold listening sessions in Wisconsin, he called it an effort to bring together a diverse group of people. But it turns out the groups are not that diverse. They are overwhelmingly republican, people who are happy with the job the governor is doing, and a higher proportion donate to political campaigns than the national average. These are hand selected crowds, sometimes picked by lobbyists eager to give the governor a friendly audience. It must be working. Statewide polls show 50% of the people in the state believe that under Walker, the state is on the wrong track. That surprised the Governor, who says he only hears good things at his listening sessions. No wonder. If you let the lobbyists hand pick the audience, you can guarantee a friendly response. Walker should make these events open to the public, and perhaps he will find that things aren’t quite as rosy as he seems to think.