By Todd Robert Murphy

At a luncheon in early August, one of my tablemates scratched his head and said, "Some cats get it, some cats don't. Know what I'm saying, TR?" I did. He was talking about the differences between former Gov. Tommy Thompson and the current occupant of the Capitol's east wing, Scott McCallum.

I've been acquainted with McCallum for more than 20 years. I served with his wife Laurie (a wonderful person) in the administration of Gov. Lee Sherman Dreyfus. Scott McCallum, with whom I was friendly but not particularly close, was at that time a former YMCA director and freshman state senator. McCallum seemed detached and uninterested in public policy, perhaps because he was elected by only a handful of votes and wasn't quite sure what to do in office.

But people change -- they evolve and become more engaged in the world around them. So when the then-Lt. Governor McCallum asked to have lunch with me a couple of years ago, I agreed. When he later solicited money from me, I gladly sent him a few hundred dollars. After all, this was a different Scott McCallum than the state senator of years past.

Or so I thought.

Then something happened that few could have predicted. George Bush squeaked out an Electoral College victory. Tommy Thompson became the new president's Health & Human Services secretary and Scott McCallum became our governor.

So maybe pigs can fly.

Granted, we all had to indulge Thompson and the long goodbye, but most believe his angst of having to leave his beloved Badger State was genuine. Many of us were sorry to see the hardest working governor in politics leave home to try his hand as a Potomac powerbroker. And, after what seemed to be a shaky start, Thompson appears to have everything skillfully under control in his new post.

Initial expectations for McCallum were low, which many believed, was to his advantage. As Bob Dylan says, "When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose."

McCallum had an extraordinary opportunity to develop a new vision for Wisconsin. He had a chance to become a dominant figure in the state's political arena. The opportunity was obvious; the state budget was McCallum's to seize. Regardless of Thompson's influence in the early drafts, this was the new governor's chance to be bold, to right fiscal wrongs and to balance a budget without slight-of-hand. But he blew it.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington think tank, said, "Wisconsin's fiscal management is among the worst in the nation." We have a state budget based on accounting "gimmicks." After McCallum signed this budget, Wall Street investment companies lowered the state's bond rating. Conservative estimates are that Wisconsin will be staring at a budget deficit of between $750-$800 million dollars by mid-2005, despite McCallum's vetoes.

Wisconsin Taxpayer Alliance President Todd Berry said, "Wisconsin's state budget is in the worst shape of all 50 states." Perhaps those initial expectations of the new governor were a bit high.

In Milwaukee, the most populous area of the state and an area he hasn't quite connected with, people have begun calling him Governor Doofus. A popular morning radio team coined the term--a team that would clearly be inclined to support a Conservative over a Liberal or a Republican over a Democrat. As a result, McCallum has lost potential allies on one of the most listened-to morning drive-time radio shows in the state's largest media market.

The "doofus" moniker is sticking, and with good reason.

The following is a sample of what's been said by numerous capitol insiders about McCallum's first six months in office:

• he works a 30-hour week
• he insists on having two days off per week;
• he still plays basketball four times a week;
• he has a staff that is inexperienced and ill-prepared to run a statewide campaign;
• he micro-manages;
• he can't get good people to work for him;
• he's more interested in getting even with people who ignored him when he was lieutenant governor than being governor;
• he's unoriginal and is doing a poor job of emulating Thompson;
• his base of support is lukewarm and getting colder;
• he'll never come close to achieving his fundraising goals;
• he has no message;
• he hides from the press because he's afraid they'll figure out he's lost;
• his inaugural address contradicted the budget;
• he's ignoring key leaders in the minority community;
• his word is no good;
• nobody, including himself, knows who he is;
• and last and but not least, he's Dan Quayle.

That last statement is where I draw the line. I know Dan Quayle. I've spent quality time with Dan Quayle. Scott McCallum is no Dan Quayle.

Scott McCallum needs a primary challenge. A primary will make McCallum a much more formidable candidate in the general election, assuming he survives. Scott Jensen, Bob Welch, John Gard and others should look closely at a bid for the GOP nomination. Regardless of who wins, the nominee would gain incredible momentum going into the general election.

I've been there a few times before with statewide campaigns--the energy is tremendous and impossible to measure. However, without a primary, the Democrats will justifiably dominate the State's political news. The laconic McCallum has been virtually ignored outside the Capitol in his first six months of office and as the Democratic primary battle heats up next spring, the discursive McCallum administration will garner even less attention.

But as the saying goes, "Some cats get it, some cats don't." Know what I'm saying?

Todd Robert Murphy is Republican political strategist and a public affairs and political commentator. This column first appeared in Milwaukee's Shepherd Express