MADISON – True to their independent spirit, Wisconsin voters dealt a blow to both Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama when they overwhelmingly wrote-in Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre as the Democratic nominee for President.

Although it will take the state elections board about 10 days to certify the written in votes across the state, spokesman Kyle Richmond said the unofficial counts from the counties indicate that Favre will receive the state’s 74 pledged Democratic delegates.

“We’re nothing if not consistent,” said a somewhat stunned Gov. Jim Doyle, an Obama supporter. “Wisconsin has always spoken with its own voice, but this definitely came out of left field.”

Caught off-guard, both Obama and Clinton made speeches in which they both said they would honor the wishes of Wisconsin voters but refused to concede until the elections board certifies the vote.

Calls to Favre and his agent were not returned immediately, although Packers spokesman Aaron Popkey said the team was “aware of the situation and waiting to react.”

Experts agree it’s not a done deal – but there may be bigger drama in the works. In fact, some early exit polls and conversations with municipal poll workers suggest many voters intended to vote for Favre on the Republican half of the ballot. Sen. John McCain won the Republican primary with about 70 percent of the vote.

Reminiscent of events that occurred in Florida in 2000 when traditionally Democratic voters accidentally chose Pat Buchanan on the infamous butterfly ballot, that could potentially disenfranchise thousands of voters in the Badger state.

“I know I wrote in Brett,” said Crivitz resident Joe Vandersteen. “But never as a Democrat. I’ll be damned if Brett ever runs as a pansy-ass God-hating liberal.”

Because Wisconsin has an open primary – in which voters choose either a Democrat or Republican on the same ballot without declaring a preference – voters could very accidentally write-in a candidate on the wrong half of the ballot, said University of Wisconsin political science professor Dave Davies.

“Theoretically, the open primary has a huge margin of error for retards,” Davies said. “It’s easy to get confused if Democrat and Republican are on the same piece of paper.”

Municipal and county clerks will spend the next week hand counting ballots and certifying write-in votes based on criteria set by the state elections board on what is an acceptable write-in. For example, a vote “Bart Favre” will be accepted but “Brett Fart” will not.

“It’s going to be a long week,” said Robert Ohlsen, county clerk for Dane County, which includes Madison. “We’re going to be here day and night trying to decipher people’s crappy handwriting.”

The capital city was one of the few places where Favre did not win as a write-in, further solidifying the theory that it is inhabited by hippies from California. Milwaukee County was the other part of the state that bucked the trend by voting in Obama as the Democratic nominee by a whopping 68 percent.

For Obama and Clinton – who are looking to the Texas and Ohio primaries on March 4 – Wisconsin was a heated battleground.

“It’s just disappointing that Packers fans couldn’t look past their hatred for the Bears to make a conscientious vote,” said Obama campaign mananger David Plouffe.

Editor’s note: “If elected President, it is believed Favre would serve 1 1/2 years of his term before taking a year off to decide whether he wants to run for re-election.”

Categories: 2008 Elections, Politics
Tags: