Wisconsin's 2nd District: Greer vs. Baldwin

Human Events, Sep 30, 2002 by Gizzi, John

Ron Greer, the Republican nominee in Wisconsin's 2nd District, has had a colorful life, especially for a political candidate. A troublemaker who grew up in the Jim Crow South and the rough ghettoes of Milwaukee, he joined the Marine Corps at 17 to "straighten out." It was there that this self-styled "young black man angry at every white person in the world" had an altercation with a white officer (Greer flattened him) and was court-martialed. Sentenced to 18 months at hard labor at Fort Leavenworth, Greer experienced insomnia, nightmares, depression. At the lowest ebb of his miserable life; the young convict turned to his last possible hope of rescue: Jesus Christ. In his cell, he made a religious commitment and, for the first time since his imprisonment, Greer had a complete night's sleep and no longer felt the rage that had gripped his life.

Upon his release, Greer returned to Milwaukee. He worked his way through the Milwaukee School of Engineering, met wife-to-be Rosalyn, and pursued further studies at Columbia Bible College and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Following a stint as A Baptist minister, the Greens moved to Madison. Ron became a firefighter and a community leader. After 16 years and three children, however, his seemingly secure life was rudely jolted after he. publicly criticized the fire chief, who was a lesbian. It wasn't so much her lifestyle that motivated him to speak out, Greer insisted, but reports from new fire recruits that they were being mistreated by their superior officer. "My concern was for the recruits and for public safety," he said. It didn't matter. In what he deemed a "hate crime," Greer was fired from the Fire Department for his comments.

The loss of a secure and fulfilling job might devastate another man with a family and mortgage. Not Ron Greer, who had been down on his luck before and bounced back. He went to work full-time for Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship Ministries and later launched his own faith-based transition home for former offenders. With. the encouragement of friends and family, who pointed out the widespread press attention and sympathy he received for his firing, Greer also began thinking about continuing his public career in another way: as a candidate for Congress. Earlier this year, the former firefighter won the Republican nomination in the 2nd District with a handsome 61% of the vote and is now running hard against Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 3%), the only avowed lesbian in Congress.

"We have a history," observed the GOP nominee dryly. He was referring to the open letter that then-state legislator Baldwin wrote during the controversy surrounding Greer, demanding that he be fired. To no one's surprise, first the Badger State media and now the national media have begun to look at the Greer-- Baldwin race as the gay vs. anti-gay contest.

"That's not really accurate," says Greer. "What my opponent does in her private life is between her and God. I don't have any intention of discussing it unless she tries to make it into public policy, and that's another matter entirely. What I plan to make an issue of is what her votes in. Congress are doing to families here in the 2nd District."

Staunch conservative Greer especially points to Baldwin's votes against the President's tax cuts, against a ban on partial birth abortion, and against abolition of the death tax. At a time when so much campaign rhetoric is devoted to education, Greer hammers at Baldwin's opposition to school vouchers and, in so doing, speaks from the heart. Noting that his wife's cousin is Democratic state legislator Polly Williams, the mother of school choice in Milwaukee, the GOP hopeful declares: "Why does my opponent want to deny lower-income families in Madison the same opportunities they have in Milwaukee? Why won't she vote to allow school choice and let blacks off the plantation of public schools?"

Speaking with fervor and passion honed by a tumultuous-yet-productive life, Ron Greer is without question one of the most exciting conservative hopefuls this year. His election over Tammy Baldwin would not only give Congress its lone African-American Republican, but also give conservatism a leader and a spokesman like no other.

(Ron Greer for Congress, PO. Box 482, McFarland, Wis., 53558; 608-288-8733; rongreerforcongress@tds.net)