Doyle Uses State Aide To Write Convention Speech

Ahem.

Gov. Jim Doyle used a state aide to help write his speech before the Democratic National Convention in Denver, a move that may have violated the state’s ethics code.

A lawyer for the board that oversees the ethics code said using a state aide to write a speech for a political convention could violate a law that bans using state resources for private gain.

“It’s not state business,” said Jonathan Becker, counsel for the Government Accountability Board. “So if I was having my staff write a speech to read at a political convention, that would be bothersome to me.”

He cautioned that such a speech might not violate the ethics code if it focused on state issues and policy matters rather than partisan attacks.

Becker would not say whether the board is investigating the matter.

Doyle aide Lee Sensenbrenner said he spent a couple of hours working on the speech. He said he and Doyle thought it was appropriate for Sensenbrenner, rather than a Doyle campaign worker, to do the work because Doyle was given a national stage to showcase Wisconsin.

Read the speech.  It was not showcasing Wisconsin.  It was showcasing Obama.