Governor Jim Doyle makes his final State of the State address tonight, and one observer expects he’ll attempt to cast his stewardship of Wisconsin for the last seven years as a positive one, in the face of difficult economic times.

Doyle and Democrats in the legislature have taken a beating because of tax and fee increases in the state budget. UW Madison political scientist Charles Franklin expects Doyle will use the speech to put that in a larger perspective. “I think in part he’ll counter that by talking about how the budget has left us in a relatively good position, compared to some of the other states,” such as California, says Franklin. [Read more...]