Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, the likely Republican nominee in the Wisconsin gubernatorial race, has a new ad in which he says that the presumptive Democratic nominee, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, has been “throwing punches” at him — and Walker shows off his the boxing gloves to fight back. Of course, Barrett was himself a victim of violent crime a year ago. 
 
 “You know, Tom Barrett can’t sell his record, so he’s throwing punches at me,” Walker says before attacking Barrett’s positions on such issues as taxes, spending and environmental laws. “I’m Scott Walker, and I took on the political machine in Milwaukee,” Walker adds, revealing that his hands are in boxing gloves which he then punches together, “and ready to go the distance as your next governor.” 
 
 A complication in the imagery of this ad: Back in August 2009, Barrett was severely beaten by a man with a tire iron at the Wisconsin State Fair. Barrett intervened to protect a woman who was trying to protect her 1-year-old granddaughter from the girl’s drunk father, who in turn then attacked Barrett. Barrett was hospitalized and has undergone multiple operations on his hand, which doctors say might never fully recover. The assailant was later sentenced to 12 years in prison. 
 
 The Associated Press asked Walker spokeswoman Jill Bader whether the ad was in bad taste, in light of Barrett having been attacked. “That was not at all what we’re talking about,” said Bader. 
 
 Granted, boxing gloves probably wouldn’t be nearly as bad as the tire iron. 
 
 The TPM Poll Average currently gives Walker a lead of 49.0%-42.9%. 
 
 (Full disclosure: I was a volunteer back in 2002 for Barrett’s first gubernatorial campaign, in the Democratic primary. I have not had any additional political involvement with him since that time.) 

 Madison -- Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is staying out of whether an ad by one of his opponents in the race for governor is a reminder of the beating Barrett went through last year outside State Fair Park. 
 
 "I don’t know what the purpose was," Barrett said of the ad by Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker. "That’s for people to decide. I’m focusing on everything I can do to create jobs in the state and to make sure that we’ve got a budget that’s balanced, and that’s where my focus is." 
 
 In a new ad, Walker says Barrett is "throwing punches" with negative ads. At the end of the ad, Walker raises boxing gloves and says, "I’m Scott Walker, and I took on the political machine in Milwaukee. And I’m ready to go the distance as your next governor." 
 
 Barrett was severely beaten after he intervened in a domestic dispute as he left the State Fair in August 2009. 
 
 Barrett is the only major Democrat in the race. Walker faces former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann in the Sept. 14 Republican primary. Neumann's campaign declined to comment on Walker's ad. 
 
 Mike Tate, the chairman of the state Democratic Party, told the Associated Press the ad was "tasteless." But Walker’s campaign said the ad was a response to Barrett’s criticisms of him in recent ads and was not meant to raise Barrett’s beating.
– Scott Walker has taken the gloves off—by putting them on—in his push to be Wisconsin's governor. The Republican county executive of Milwaukee has a new ad attacking his presumptive Democratic rival, Mayor Tom Barrett, that shows him wearing boxing gloves. Walker claims he's "ready to go the distance as your next governor." But Walker's choice of imagery is a bit more charged than the usual pugilistic metaphor, reports Talking Points Memo: Barrett was the victim of a savage beating last year as he tried to protect a woman from a violent drunk. The assailant shattered Barrett's hand with a tire iron and got 12 years in prison. When asked if the ad is in poor taste, a Walker rep said: "That was not at all what we're talking about." Barrett himself says he's staying out of it, notes the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "That's for people to decide," he said of the ad's purpose.