Reid Ribble announces candidacy against U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen

[undeterred]

A Kaukauna roofing contractor with no experience in politics says his dissatisfaction with Congress and the rising national debt have caused him to enter the GOP primary to unseat two-term Democrat Steve Kagen in 2010.

Reid Ribble, 53, says he filed nomination papers Tuesday, a week after he visited Washington, D.C., where he met with the National Republican Congressional Committee, members of Congress and other groups and got a "lay of the land" in the 8th Congressional District.

"I'm a bit of a reluctant warrior here," said Ribble, explaining his frustration with federal lawmakers, including Kagen, who he feels cannot pass legislation without loading it with pork spending.

"At some point, somebody has got to go to Washington, D.C. with enough common sense to say, 'No.'"

Attempts to reach Kagen for comment were unsuccessful. Like Kagen, Ribble is a Fox Cities native. He is the president of the Ribble Group Inc., which operates two roofing businesses in Kaukauna. Three generations of his family are now in the business.

He said he is committed to bringing to the office a level of statesmanship, the kind that draws people to a different path and rises above partisanship. He says former U.S. Rep. Mark Green, who once served as U.S. ambassador to Tanzania, is a political role model.

more at: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20090709/APC0101/907090538/1003/APC01/Political-outsider-to-run-against-Kagen

[midnight]

1. Mark Green is his political role model?

When initially asked by Wisconsin Public Television whether he would pardon Jensen as Governor, Green’s incredible response was “Good Lord.” Green went on to waffle even more, saying “first off, we have a ways to go before we even think about being governor yet.” VS Governor Doyle’s answer was quite a bit different – and a lot more decisive:

“Absolutely not,” Governor Doyle’s campaign told the newspaper. “Governor Doyle believes that when elected officials ab! use the public’s trust, they should pay the full price. That means serving their full sentence.”


It was Mark Green who was the Caucus Chair of the Assembly Republicans during the scandal. It was Mark Green and two of his top aides, including Graul, who engaged in illegal campaign work while they worked in the Legislature, according to documents and testimony introduced during Jensen’s trial. And it was Mark Green who destroyed all of his state electronic files and the files of aide named in the caucus scandal when he left office in 1998.

“Documents show Mark Green was in the thick of the caucus scandal, yet he continues to claim ignorance,” said Michael Murphy, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. “First Green destroyed his state files. Now he refuses to answer whether he would pardon Jensen.! Maybe Mark Green has more to hide than we thought.” http://uppitywis.org/mark_green_on_possibility_of_pardoning_scott_jensen

[hayrow]

2. Interesting - Turns out he's the illegitimate son of Barney Rubble and Dale Dribble

[Poiuyt]

3. I know Ribble personally and he's a nice guy

I won't vote for him, but he's a nice guy.