Fox Bills GOP Senate Candidate, Local GOP Officeholder As Concerned Parents

Your World Graphics Describe Dave Westlake As “Wisconsin Parent” And Organizer Of Rally Supporting WI Gov. From Your World with Neil Cavuto:

[Fox News, Your World with Neil Cavuto, 2/18/11]

Westlake Was A 2010 Republican Senate Candidate. From a Slate.com blog post by David Weigel:

That didn't take long: a Saturday rally in support of Gov. Scott Walker's “budget repair” bill, countering the days of union protests, featuring conservative stars Andrew Breitbart, Jim “Gateway Pundit” Hoft, and Herman Cain. (Cain, now a presidential candidate, hired former state Americans for Prosperity director Mark Block last month.) The main organizer is the Virginia-based conservative training group American Majority, funded in large part by the Sam Adams Alliance. That's a conservative 501(c)3 that seeds this kind of activism, and has succeeded since 2006 in building activist infrastructure in several states.

The event's also being put on by unsuccessful 2010 U.S. Senate candidate Dave Westlake, who had one of my favorite gimmicks of the cycle.

[T]here was Westlake, on the other side of the yellow police tape, almost glowing in a blaze orange button-up shirt. It's become the signature color of his unusual campaign, which is staffed by volunteers and funded in part by sales of his blaze orange T-shirts declaring, “I am Dave Westlake.”

The Republican Senate hopeful says he chose the classic hunting color as part of a pledge to be visible to the people of Wisconsin.

“If politicians who are in Washington voting for things that we don't want them to vote for had to wear blaze orange when they came back here, they couldn't hide,” Westlake said. “We could find them and hold them accountable.”

[Slate.com, 2/18/11]

Fox & Friends Hosts “Upset Wisconsin Parent” Amber Hahn To Attack Teaching Union History In Public Schools. From the February 28 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

BRIAN KILMEADE (co-host): Amber Hahn is a parent, and she joins us live right now from Madison, Wisconsin. She's got three kids in the school system. Amber, what's wrong with teaching about the history of unions in public schools?

HAHN: Look, what I don't like is that government has overreached its use again and said we need to set as a teaching standard to teach the history of organized labor and collective bargaining. You know, I'm sure they teach the benefits of it, but I doubt that they also talk about the financial impacts and the aggressive intimidation that the unions have been using.

GRETCHEN CARLSON (co-host): Yeah, the interesting thing, Amber, is that this apparently was passed recently when the governor of Wisconsin was a Democrat -- this lesson plan. I want to take a look at some of the salient points in it.

Number one, they teach this. “Unions work closely in the community.” Number two, “Face greater challenges after President Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers in 1981.” That sounds kind of biased. Number three, “Developed highly successful political efforts during last two decades of 20th century,” and it goes on and on from there. So do you think that those talking and teaching points are biased?

HAHN: You know, I do. And this was passed in 2009. Wisconsin was actually the first state to pass something like this. It took them 12 years to try to get it through. Now, I'm all for teaching in 1959, you know, that the union labor movement, you know, really began in Wisconsin. And teach the facts, the dates, but, you know, in 2009, 50 years later, we decide that we've got to put it into legislation and into the 46 pages of school board operations that we need to teach about the union labor movement?

And we don't know what they're teaching in the classrooms. Honestly, I've not been in the classrooms and listened to how the teachers are teaching it. But, you know, I have my doubts.

KILMEADE: Amber, you just moved back to Wisconsin, and now all this. You also salute your teachers for working through the strike. You have not been disrupted, but do you regret putting your kids back in the public school system with this type of angst?

HAHN: No, absolutely not. I believe in the public school system. My husband and I are both -- you know, came out of the public school system, and I think we're doing OK. I don't regret moving back to Wisconsin. We love this state. We were out of state for 10 years. And I have to commend the Poynette school district -- pardon me -- for staying open through this crisis when all the other school districts around us were closing. So, commend the staff and the administrators there for continuing to do their job.

CARLSON: Let's look at a statement from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, from the website. “Wisconsin has long been a leader in labor rights. Unions such as the AFL-CIO and Teamsters allow us to enjoy an eight-hour work week and vacation time.” So that apparently is in response and support of why they teach the history of unions to the kids. Any reaction to that?

HAHN: You know, I think it's a perfect example of how the unions have infiltrated our administration, and now we've got the DOA and the Department of Education, you know, supporting them and teaching our kids about them.

Look, I want my kids to have the best education that they can get. I want them to learn about things, but they need to be taught to research things and form their own opinions. You know, I think we need to back out of putting some of the requirements on school districts. Let's just set up some basic goals, you know, reading, writing, and arithmetic and focus on that and give teachers the autonomy to teach the kids and meet those goals.

KILMEADE: Amber Hahn, go to shelter. Thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it. Thanks for sharing your personal story.

HAHN: Thanks for bringing light to this.

KILMEADE: No problem.

[Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/28/11]

Hahn Was Treasurer For WI County Republican Party. From the website of the Columbia County, Wisconsin, Republican Party:

Treasurer Amber Hahn, Poynette
Finance Action Team

[...]

Amber graduated in 1997 with degrees in finance and marketing. After graduating, Amber moved to Cincinnati to work for Procter & Gamble as a finance manager. In the ten years she spent with Procter & Gamble, she held eight positions with increasing responsibilities and moved three times (Green Bay, WI; Cincinnati, OH; Fayetteville, AR). Amber is married to Brian Small and has three energetic kiddos. [...] Amber and her family chose to move “home” to start a dairy farm in 2009. They currently milk 29 registered Jerseys on the St. Lawrence Bluff Dairy, co-owned with her parents, in Poynette, WI. Amber is also a volunteer firefighter on the Poynette - Dekorra fire dept, a past board member of UARK Credit Union, chairman of the Association of Women in Agriculture House Management Committee, and an active triathlete. [Republican Party of Columbia County website, accessed 3/1/11]

Fox Hosts CEO Of Multinational Company To Attack Protesters For Targeting “Small Businesses”

Doocy: “Union Protesters In Wisconsin Now Encouraging People To Boycott Small Business Owners.” From the March 1 edition of Fox & Friends:

STEVE DOOCY (co-host): Union protesters in Wisconsin now encouraging people to boycott small-business owners. Why are they dragging the free market into that debate? [Fox & Friends, 3/1/11]

Kilmeade: “Wisconsin Protesters Are Now Attacking Small Businesses,” Gary Reynolds Is CEO Of “One Of The Companies Named.” From the March 1 edition of Fox & Friends:

KILMEADE: Wisconsin protesters are now attacking small businesses who supported and support Governor Scott Walker by handing out these fliers. They read: “Here is a list of just a few companies that gave significant amounts of money to the Scott Walker campaign. Let them know that you will boycott them until they put out a statement that takes a stand against Walker.”

Joining us now, Gary Reynolds. He's the CEO of GMR Marketing, one of the companies named on the list. He joins us right now and took a time-out from his business over in Milwaukee. Gary, welcome to the show. [Fox & Friends, 3/1/11]

Reyolds' Company, GMR Marketing, Says It Has 24 Offices In 12 Countries. From GMR Marketing's Facebook page:

Founded in 1979, GMR Marketing is a pioneer in the practice of engagement marketing. GMR builds brand relevance with campaigns that resonate with consumers on a personal level by leveraging passions for sports and entertainment through the use of interactive channels of retail, digital and live events. A subsidiary of Omnicom and a part of the Radiate Group, GMR Marketing is headquartered in Milwaukee with 24 office in 12 countries. GMR has received numerous industry accolades, including Sports Business Journal's 2009 “Sports Event Marketing Firm of the Year” award. [GMR Marketing Facebook page, accessed 3/1/11]

GMR Press Release Says GMR Is “The World's Largest Engagement Marketing Agency,” From a GMR Marketing Press Release:

GMR Marketing, the world's largest engagement marketing agency, is adding Australia to its growing global footprint with the opening of a new office in Sydney.

In response to growing global client demand to extend GMR's specialist scope of service into key international markets, GMR's Sydney operations, covering the Oceania region, will be led by experienced Australian marketing executive Lindsay Chappel, formally of M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment and Traffik Marketing. The new office will be the 24th office globally, with GMR now operating in 14 countries. In 2010 and earlier in 2011, GMR commenced operations in the UK, Germany, Poland, Spain, Russia and Singapore, in addition to its existing extensive network. GMR Australia is a result of a joint venture between GMR Marketing and the Clemenger Group, Australia's largest communications group. [GMR Marketing, 2/7/11]

• GMR Website Lists Sony, Microsoft, Levi's, Bank Of America, Hershey's, And Visa Among Its Clients. [GMR Marketing website, accessed 3/1/11]