The Last Campaign of Scott Jensen

It’s over. The die has been cast. The stain has set.

The Trial of Scott Jensen has torpedoed any strategy Republicans might have trotted-out this election year exploiting ethics reform. Those 30 second TV ads and 60 second radio ads slamming Dem. Gov. Jim Doyle and legislative Democrats are now toothless. Every day has been another train wreck of testimony that should have never reached the front pages.

Republicans across the state are cringing as we recognize the names of those staffers being forced to stand naked and point their fingers back at Scott Jensen. So much for nurturing the next generation of public servants. So much for showing the state that the Republican majority was about something. Now we see the Republican majority was about someone.

The Trial of Scott Jensen has confirmed that all roads lead back to Scott Jensen.

No surprise; the Capitol Culture has known Scott Jensen is/was at the epicenter of every campaign dollar, every policy roll-out, every election, every press conference, every committee assignment, every everything.

If a team photo was taken, it was Scott Jensen who sat squarely in the center of the frame.

In my years working with him, including his near loss in his first Assembly race, it was clear that Jensen was simply smarter than the average legislator. Cream does rise to the top in both the dairy business and legislative leadership.

But I think the personality glitch that is being laid open today is Jensen’s longstanding inability to accept collaborative efforts. He never wanted to be the power behind the curtain; he wanted to be the power on center stage. And he achieved it. But make no mistake; his success was a collaborative effort.

And his failure, today, is a non-collaborative, power-at-center-stage, Scott Jensen collapse.

The Trial of Scott Jensen is being campaign-managed by the accused. The trial is the first campaign where Scott Jensen has complete control. In the days, weeks, months leading to Election Day -- errr, Trial Day -- it has been Scott Jensen who has written the scripts, devised the strategy and framed the message.

The difference is, he no longer has control over dozens of staffers, no longer can throw a birthday party where hundreds of lobbyists flock, no longer has State Party resources and expertise, no longer has beholden committee chairs, no longer has associations conducting his polling.

So this is the last campaign of Scott Jensen. This one is all on himself. How’s it going so far?