Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle Doesn’t Back Down

Don’t call Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle a wimp. Or…at least don’t call his press flaks wimps. They certainly didn’t back down in their wager over the NFL Playoff game between the Packers andSeahawks. Washington Governor Chris Gregoire came out swinging earlier this week when she went right at the entire State of Wisconsin by staking Washington Cheese against Governor Doyle’s Wisconsin Bratwurst. Doyle, clearly not one to take such a whack lightly went right back at Gregoire byupping the “ante” by agreeing to include some “freshly caught Lake Michigan Coho Salmon” — in addition to the already agreed upon Wisconsin bratwurst — if the Seahawks beat the Packers.

From the press release:

“It seems a little fishy that Governor Gregoire would want to send cheese to the greatest cheese makers in the world, but we will happily accept her gift after the Packers victory,” Governor Doyle said. “Wisconsinites don’t have a lot of occasion to eat canned cheese from the West Coast.”

Nice. The Governors will meet face-to-face this weekend. I’m certain that Governor Gregoire will re-up her ante if she can. We’ll wait to re-evaluate the number of Daleys we’re giving this wager until the final stakes come in.

Oh No they Didn't: Washington State Stakes Cheese Against Wisconsin

When one thinks of food products from Wisconsin, we naturally think of cheese. Bratwurst second, but cheese for the most part first. Look at what the Green Bay Packers label themselves: Cheeseheads. They even wear silly foam cheese wedges on their heads during games. (Note: My Chicago Bears tried to get together a “deep dish pizza” hat to compete with the Packers. It didn’t work out.) So…with the Packers in the NFL Playoffs against the Seattle Seahawks, we naturally figured that all the politcos from Wisconsin would be staking their beloved cheese on the Packers. Turns out, they not the only ones.

Complementing the wager between the Seattle and Green Bay Mayors, this week, the Governors decided to get in on the action. “Washington Governor Chris Gregoire has just laid the smackdown on Wisconsin in the traditional state-to-state football playoff wager.”

Gregoire is betting Wazzu’s famous Cougar Gold cheese because, she said, “The cheese from Washington is so good that we wouldn’t want to waste it by putting it on our heads.”

The Cougar Gold Cheese, made at the Washington State University Creamery under the direction of students and faculty has won numerous international awards for the fairly unique canned product. For his part, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle has staked Wisconsin Brats.

Gregoire, who will be in Green Bay with Wisconsin’s first couple, would give Doyle’s bratwursts to the Grays Harbor Children’s Advocacy Center, which would in turn give them to flood victims in Montesano.

“It may seem odd to bet cheese against the cheeseheads, but we think Governor Doyle would be impressed with the quality of the Cougar Gold,” Gregoire said.

Bottomline: Awesome bet, Governor Gregoire. She went right at them and was a bit creative. We like the simplicity of this wager. It’s not often that a politico will just limit their wager to one product. 60 Daleys. The high water mark for 2008.

Alabama, Geogia Governors Wager Dirt, Water Respectively

Normally these Friendly Political Wagers are all fun. The participants are surely rooting for their home teams, but for the most part, the wagers are used as an opportunity to mug in front of the local television cameras on an issue that no one can argue against. Win or lose, the Mayor or Governor or Senator usually enjoys either paying up or taking the spoils. That's not the case down in the south where Alabama Governor Bob Riley and Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue (both pictured here) are lashing out at each other through a wager. Seems as if there is a rift between the two states about who has rights to releasing water from Lake Allatoona. Alabama needs the water, Georgia says it can't give it up.

This all came to a head over a Little League Regional Championship Game this past week. Perdue had offered a gallon of "North Georgia's finest, 100 percent locally mountain-grown headwaters" to Riley if the Alabama team won.

Perdue, who played catcher for the Warner Robins team nearly 50 years ago, had started the wager Wednesday with a statement: "I am pulling for our home team just as strongly as I am pulling for our right to protect Georgia's water resources," surely a reference to the ongoing court fights the two states have had over water from north Georgia.

There doesn't seem to be anything offered at first in return. In fact, it appears that the Alabama Governor didn't even know that there was a wager at stake. That didn't stop him from holding up his end of the bargain. His team lost. So, he sent Perdue a bottle of dirt. That's right. Dirt.

Riley said in a letter to Perdue on Friday that he wasn't aware of the bet before the game.

"But since your team won, I am presenting you something in the spirit in which you offered the gallon of water," Riley wrote. "So, I am happy to send you a box of dry, parched Alabama soil. Due to the lack of water in Alabama, this soil can no longer be used for farming, so the farmer I got it from no longer needs it."

Wow. For as long as we here at Our Civic Pride can remember, we've never seen a Friendly Political Wager be used as a way to go after a political opponent - they've always used to hamm it up for the local media. Maybe this is the wave of the future? We'll see Barack Obama send Rudy Giuliani a bushel of Illinois corn when Rudy takes money from the bean lobbyist? Who knows?!?