Free | 23/6
Posted: 6/1/2012
MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) accused Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) during the gubernatorial debate on Thursday of running an inappropriate ad about crime in his city, comparing it to the much-criticized 'Willie Horton' ad of the 1988 presidential campaign. 'This 2-year-old spent six days in intensive care after being severely beaten,' says the Walker ad's narrator. 'But Tom Barrett s police department didn t consider it a violent crime.' The ad then shows crime statistics and asserts 'violent crime is up' in Milwaukee. 'He's running a commercial right now that shows a dead baby,' Barrett said during the debate. 'It shows a picture of a dead baby. This is Willie Horton stuff. That baby died.' 'You're running a commercial attacking my integrity, claiming that I had something to do with this, and you know that's false,' added Barrett, his voice rising. 'You tell me whether you think I had anything to do with that.'Walker began to respond, saying, 'No, I'm asking you --'Before he could finish, Barrett cut him off. 'I'll tell you right now, I had nothing to do with that,' Barrett said. 'You should be ashamed of that commercial, Scott Walker.' At a press conference after the debate, Walker said the ad hadn't received bad reaction. 'Most people are surprised when they see that the facts show ... that violent crime sadly is not down in the city of Milwaukee. It's up,' Walker said.Thursday's clash at Marquette University Law School was the second and final debate before the June 5 recall elections, where the governor, lieutenant governor and six GOP state senators will fight to save their seats. As in the first debate, Barrett aggressively went after Walker. But at that face-off, the two men stood at lecterns, and Walker largely avoided engaging the mayor. This time, the two sat close together a