April 1–Milwaukee mayoral candidates Marvin Pratt and Tom Barrett joined today in asking the news media to shift the spotlight from their campaigns to the Milwaukee County Executive race in the final days before Tuesday’s election. “We’ve enjoyed the attention, but let’s face it — there is only so much you can say about us,” Barrett and Pratt said in an unusual joint statement. “After a three-part newspaper profile on each of us, the only thing the voters don’t know is whether we have any pets and, if so, what their names are and how we chose them. And some things are just too private to share.” “Being mayor is an important job, but not as important as being county executive,” Barrett said. “The executive represents many more people, and I understand the salary and perks are better at the county, too, especially health care and pension benefits.” “Besides that, the courthouse is a lot easier for people to find than City Hall,” Pratt said. “It’s harder to get into because of all the security, and it’s a lot dirtier than City Hall, but it has a prominent spot in the landscape. If you’re trying to get on I-43 from Kilbourn Avenue, it’s hard to miss.” “We understand the county executive candidates have had almost 30 debates, and that most of them have been a lot hotter and more interesting than ours,” the joint Pratt-Barrett statement said. “That’s because David Riemer and Scott Walker have very different positions on a lot of issues. Some of them are even more important than looking at each other’s campaign finance reports.” “Riemer and Walker are on television, too, with paid commercials. In the mayor’s race, the newspaper has gone beyond the call in providing a public service — they run the TV commercials in the paper for people who don’t watch TV. And for people who still don’t get it, they explain what they mean. But if you want to see the Riemer/Walker TV commercials, you’ll just have to watch TV. That’s really inconvenient for some people.” “Leave us alone and let us spend the next few days talking to voters instead of reporters, Pratt and Barrett told the news media. “We’ll all be better off.”

April Fool!

You’ve been had by the Riemer for County Executive campaign.