JS on Doyle: Feeling the Pressure

Major hat tip to Charlie Sykes. His efforts to remove Doyle 'from the school house door' seem to be paying off. After airing a spot which he produced along with Mikel Holt and several students from Messmer High, which received a lot of attention in the blogosphere, it seems the Gov. has taken a shift in his formerly aggressive stance.

The Journal reports today in an article titled, "Doyle seems willing to negotiate on voucher cap," that:

Gov. Jim Doyle said Friday that he hoped an agreement could be reached on the future of the private school voucher program in Milwaukee, and he appeared to send stronger signals that he is willing to negotiate an agreement in which enrollment in the program would be increased in exchange for agreement on accountability.

Although not directly named in today's article, it is obvious that the efforts put forth by Sykes and friends are cited as a large part of the reason for the Gov's change:

Voucher advocates have launched a series of moves aimed at pressuring Doyle to agree to lift the cap. Commercials in which students and others urge Doyle to "lift the cap" have been running on radio and television in Milwaukee and Madison; voucher students were highly visible in the Capitol Tuesday during Doyle's state of the state address; and business and religious leaders from Milwaukee have been speaking out and meeting with politicians.

In one commercial, students say Doyle is "standing in the schoolhouse door" the way segregationist Southern governors did in the 1950s and '60s.

Listen to the spot here.

The most notable change in Doyle's position: Doyle said he did not think it would be hard to agree on specifics of lifting the cap on voucher enrollment.

Good work, Charlie.