Another Week, Another Outside Group In The Governor's Race

A week after a Democratic smear group launched ads slamming the two GOP candidates for governor, an out-of-state pro-business group is sponsoring two television ads lauding Republican candidate Scott Walker.

The 30-second ads by the Michigan-based American Justice Partnership mostly show film clips of Walker saying he will create jobs by lowering taxes and easing regulations on business.

American Justice Partnership is a coalition of corporations, foundations and business trade organizations affiliated with the National Association of Manufacturers which spends millions of dollars to support mostly Republican candidates in federal campaigns. American Justice Partnership's website says it was created by Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus and former Michigan Republican Governor John Engler to promote state level efforts to control damage awards and make it more difficult to sue businesses in court.

The group's ads come a week before the Republican Party state convention in Milwaukee where delegates will vote on whether to endorse the contested primary between Walker and Mark Neumann, who has said he will not seek the party's endorsement.

The group claims its state partner is Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and counts among its state successes the elections of Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices Annette Ziegler in 2007 and Michael Gableman in 2008 and state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen in 2006.

The Democracy Campaign has estimated WMC spent about $6.5 million on nasty broadcast advertising, mailings and other outside electioneering activities to support Ziegler, Gableman and Van Hollen.