I left the state about halfway through his run. I had the impression he was okay, but he isn't that remarkable in the history of Wisconsin politics (although I'm glad he got the Kohl Center built.) In fact, there are quite a few guys who had longer U.S. Senate tenures.
Now, when
William Proxmire (whom Kohl succeeded) retired, that was something. I remember being very sad about it, and I remember thinking he was going to be impossible to replace (Kohl stepped up pretty well, all things considered.)
Proxmire served from 1957 to 1989 (an impressive run) and he accomplished the unbelievable feat of being a Democrat and getting the approval (and votes, year after year) of my parents, who are pretty staunch conservatives.
I always liked his
Golden Fleece Awards which he used to bring public attention to government programs that he felt wasted taxpayer's money. Also, he once awarded a Golden Fleece award to NASA's SETI program for the scientific search for extraterrestrial civilizations, but he withdrew it after being visited by Dr. Carl Sagan. You gotta like a politician who can admit he made a mistake.
Proxmire was elected, in a special election on August 28, 1957, to fill the remainder of the term vacated due to the death of Senator Joseph McCarthy, on May 2, 1957 (that was a BIG improvement!) He was reelected in 1958, 1964, 1970, 1976 and 1982.
His re-elections were always by wide margins, including 71% of the vote in 1970, 73% in 1976 and 65% in 1982, when he ran for a fifth six-year term.
AND here's a really remarkable fact:
In his last two Senate campaigns of 1976 and 1982, Proxmire refused to take any campaign contributions, and on each spent less than $200 out of his own pocket — to cover the expenses related to filing for re-election and return postage for unsolicited contributions!
Proxmire holds the U.S. Senate record for consecutive roll call votes cast: 10,252 between April 20, 1966 and October 18, 1988. In other words, dude showed up every day; he earned his paycheck.
Herb Kohl always said he was "nobody's Senator but Wisconsin's." Catchy slogan. Not really the best practice in reality.
As Chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Proxmire was instrumental in devising the financial plan that saved New York City from bankruptcy in 1976–77. I like to think of him as nobody's Senator but everyone's.
And then there's this:
From 1967 until 1986, Proxmire gave daily speeches noting the necessity of ratifying The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. After giving this speech every day that the Senate was in session for 20 years, resulting in 3,211 speeches, the convention was ratified by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 83–11 on February 11, 1986.
It's like a page out of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
So, Wisconsin has a tendency to hold on to their politicians for a while. There's no doubt Herb Kohl is liked there, but William Proxmire was LOVED.
