I saw Michael J. Fox give a speech!

This is my grandmother, myself, and Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton.

The Michael J. Fox campaign for WI Gov. Jim Doyle was amazing. He gave a great speech on the importance of supporting Stem Cell research and why it was important to Vote for Doyle. He was probably one of the major reasons that Doyle won in such a landslide.

I have pictures from the event, which are posted here. You can see all the pictures from the event (including some of WI State Sen. Jim Sullivan, Kathleen Falk, plus more of Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, Gov. Jim Doyle, and Mr. Michael J. Fox) on my facebook account.

The local news media also covered this event...

From JS Online...

Fox touts Doyle on stem cells
Green ad aims to link casino deals, donations

With the election two weeks away, Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle returned to the stem cell issue Tuesday, unveiling a TV ad with actor Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease.

The ad suggests that the Doyle campaign sees the stem cell issue as a powerful way to woo undecided voters. Stem cell research is seen as holding the promise to cure or lead to treatments for a host of debilitating diseases.

Meanwhile, Republican challenger Mark Green launched a new ad that slams Doyle for contributions from casino interests, picking up an issue he raised Friday in the final debate before the Nov. 7 election.

As Green did Friday, the ad alleges Doyle changed his position on casino expansion because of money spent by American Indian tribes and casino interests in the 2002 election and since then. An accompanying news release listed $1.9 million in spending.

Both sides said the other is lying and desperate.

"They have made up every wild accusation they can," Doyle said. "It seems to me their ads are getting more desperate."

In a statement, Green said: "In his desperate attempt to hold on to power, Jim Doyle continues to run the most dishonest campaign Wisconsin has ever seen."

A look at the developments:

Doyle stem cell ad: The 30-second ad featuring Fox will begin running today in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Wausau. It features Fox talking directly to the camera, the shifts and shakes in his body underscoring the impact of the disease.

The ad is similar to ones Fox has cut for Democrats in Missouri and Maryland. The effort drew national attention when radio host Rush Limbaugh questioned whether Fox had stopped taking his medication or exaggerated the effects of the disease by acting - a notion dismissed by others.

"I think the statement (by Limbaugh) was sad," said John Rogers, Fox's political adviser.

He declined to respond directly to Limbaugh's charge.

"I'm not going to get into Michael's meds," said Rogers, who also serves as chairman of Stem Cell Champions for Doyle.

An excerpt from Fox's autobiography that appears on the Web site of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, says this about a 1999 appearance before Congress: "I had made a deliberate choice to appear before the subcommittee without medication. It seemed to me that this occasion demanded that my testimony about the effects of the disease, and the urgency we as a community were feeling, be seen as well as heard. For people who had never observed me in this kind of shape, the transformation must have been startling."

The star of the "Back to the Future" movies and TV shows such as "Spin City," Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991. He toured stem cell laboratories at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Doyle in February 2005. About a month ago, he helped Doyle with fund raising in New York, Rogers said.

In the ad, Fox says Doyle "knows the promise (the research) holds and the jobs it can create," while saying Green "has stood in the way of embryonic stem cell research."

He closes by saying that what voters decide here "can affect millions of people - like me, like your family. Please re-elect Governor Doyle. For all of us."

Green has said he is a strong supporter of stem cell research, including votes to fund research going on at UW-Madison. As a member of the U.S. House, he voted against a measure, however, that would have expanded the number of embryonic stem cell lines for which researchers could obtain federal grants.

His chief objection, Green says, is federal funding for research that destroys embryos. During the campaign, he proposed spending $25 million over four years for research into techniques that would allow the stem cells to be obtained without destroying the embryo.

Green said the ad "flat out lies about my record" and called it "part of a national smear campaign by Democrats."

Green casino ad: Among other accusations, the ad says Doyle changed his position on casino expansion because of money from American Indian tribes and other casino interests.

The $1.9 million cited by Green is from a compilation of past press reports and other filings. In many cases, the money went to outside groups that advanced Doyle's cause or was spent by the tribes as issue ads.

After Friday's debate, Doyle said tribes "can't make contributions to me and they didn't make contributions to me." He reiterated that Tuesday.

In the 2002 campaign, Doyle expressed an openness toward long-term compacts with the tribes for current casinos. One of the first things he did after taking office was negotiate new compacts that expanded the types of casino games that could be played but required tribes to pay much more to the state.

Doyle also changed his mind on whether the Legislature should be able to veto those agreements, and vetoed a legislative oversight bill.

The Green tally includes money spent by the Troha family, which is involved in a proposed Kenosha casino that would be run by the Menominee Tribe.

Kenosha casino developer Dennis Troha contributed $50,000 to the Democratic Governors Association during the most recent reporting period with the Internal Revenue Service. That's on top of $50,000 he gave to the group in December 2005.

Troha and his family have contributed more than $192,000 to Doyle's campaign since 2002, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

LINK: Fox touts Doyle on stem cells

...

Today's TMJ4 covered the story as well...

Fox said, "'I'm coming to Wisconsin because it's the birthplace of embryonic stem cell research, where pioneering scientists may one day unlock the cures for humanity's oldest and deadliest diseases. For millions of Americans like me, who hope that stem cell research might one day bring cures, the choice between Governor Doyle and Congressman Green couldn't be more clear or more important.'"

LINK: Fox In Milwaukee

And...

Actor Michael J. Fox was campaigning for Doyle in Milwaukee Monday. Fox has Parkinson's disease and believes stem cell research could lead to a cure.

Fox is supporting Doyle and other candidates across the country who support embryonic stem cell research. "America is about hope, it's about promise, it's about always moving forward and we deserve leaders who will deliver that hope to their constituents," Fox said at a rally in Milwaukee.

"What is at stake is Wisconsin's future as the absolute center of medical research that may one day find the cures for diseases that we long thought to be incurable," said Doyle.

Challenger Mark Green wants limited use of stem cells and accused Doyle of wooing the "Hollywood vote." "He's (Doyle) looking to Hollywood. I'm looking to Appleton, Neenah, Oshkosh, West Bend, Port Washington, Green Bay, Hudson, Wisconsin Rapids, Stevens Point, all over the place," Green said.

LINK: Governor's Election

Here are some pictures...

Mr. Michael J. Fox

United States Senator Herb Kohl

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle

You can check out the rest of my album at my facebook page.

All in all, the event was amazing. I was excused from class to attend it, and it was worth every minute.

I'm glad I voted Doyle for Michael J. Fox.

-Mr. Joseph