Bice: Politicians literally playing games in Madison

Republicans believe two can play this game.

Last month, some Assembly Democrats entertained themselves during Gov. Scott Walker's state of the state address with a bingo game designed by state Rep. Gordon Hintz, an Oshkosh Dem.

In the game, Democrats were to mark off on their bingo cards when the second-term Republican governor said any of a number of his catch-phrases, such as "thanks to our reforms," "the state of the state is great," "big bold," "ham and cheese sandwich" or "toime" (his unique way of pronouncing "time").

At his 2017-'19 budget address earlier this month, the second-term Republican governor called out the Democrats in the Legislature for their, um, gamesmanship.

"Sorry if that screws up your bingo cards," Walker jokingly said while talking about the size of the rainy day fund in a new way.

Now Republicans have come up with their own bingo card, this one trying to make fun of Wisconsin Democrats and their well-known lack of success in recent elections. Among the boxes to be filled in are "just vote no," "lose seats" and "what would (former Democratic Gov.) Jim Doyle do?" This one reads something like one created by conservative talk show host Dan O'Donnell.

"Since Gov. Walker threw off not only the Democrats' bingo game but also their hopes of returning to their failed Madison policies, we thought we'd offer them a little help remembering who they are," said Alec Zimmerman, spokesman for the state Republican Party.

Folks at the state Democratic Party declined to comment. Which, incidentally, wasn't a square — but should have been — on the bingo card.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @ DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.