Slick new ads defy political analysis, but highlight Potawatomi's anti-competition frenzy

We knew we’d have a lot to talk about at Casino Competition for Wisconsin – we just didn’t realize the Potawatomi’s anti-competition fervor would play into our hands so quickly. Yet just last night, “Wisconsin Gaming for Wisconsin” (the front group funded solely by the Potawatomi) launched a new barrage of TV and radio ads attacking competition from Kenosha.

Potawatomi’s ads – so far, we’ve counted three shiny new TV ads and at least one radio ad – are confusing at best. Their singular message is that the Mohegan Tribe’s investment in the Kenosha project is somehow bad. But insiders familiar with fresh polling on this very issue say that Wisconsinites just don’t agree with Potawatomi’s claims. It’s also puzzling that the ads target Milwaukee so closely – our sources say research shows the Kenosha project has an extremely strong base of support in Milwaukee, right in Potawatomi’s back yard.

But Potawatomi pays its advisers a pretty penny to develop these fancy ads (and so far, we’ve confirmed they’ve paid more than $125,000 to air them in Milwaukee!) It’s not our job to steer them. It’s more important to point out the facts blurred by the half-truths, misleading statements and inaccurate information that Potawatomi’s actors are spouting on the air.

The ads say some pretty silly things about the ominous “East Coast.” What they DON’T say is this:

• The Potawatomi twice refused requests to partner with the Menominee, a fellow Wisconsin tribe, on the Kenosha project. Menominee approached Mohegan – the foremost experts on Indian gaming in the U.S. - only after Potawatomi said no.
  

• The vast majority of Kenosha casino proceeds will always go to the Menominee – one of the state’s poorest tribes – right here in Wisconsin.
  

• The City of Kenosha, Kenosha County and Kenosha schools will always receive more money from the Kenosha casino than Mohegan. So will the State of Wisconsin (in fact, the State will get far more than it currently gets from the Potawatomi!)
  

• Mohegan will receive a small percentage of Kenosha casino revenue for seven years only. After that initial start-up period (during which they’ll train Wisconsin’s Menominee to run the facility on their own), the Mohegan will leave the project. The only tribe – and the only entity – with equity in the Kenosha casino is the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.
  

Wisconsinites realize out-of-state investment to grow local businesses is a good thing – that’s why we welcome foreign-owned Miller Brewing Company, DaimlerChrysler and other good companies like them. And the Potawatomi don’t seem to have a problem sending their own Wisconsin gaming money out-of-state – they’ve invested in businesses in Oklahoma, and elsewhere, even a luxury hotel in Washington, D.C. (on the dreaded “East Coast!”)

This isn’t about a few dollars leaving the state – especially when Wisconsin will get so much in return. It’s about Potawatomi trying desperately to hang on to the monopoly they’ve held for nearly 20 years.