The latest entry to the Wisconsin senate race asked us to meet him Sunday at a neighborhood bar called Spanky’s in a blue collar section of Kenosha (near the Illinois border).

The tavern is owned by a friend of Dick Leinenkugel. This morning, Leinenkugel will announce what’s been rumored for weeks, that the former Wisconsin Commerce Secretary for Democratic Governor Jim Doyle will enter the Republican primary for the US Senate seat held for the last 17-years by Russ Feingold.

Leinenkugel is well-known statewide largely because of the family business…beer. Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company is a folksier-marketed line of brews which is part of the massive beer portfolio of Milwaukee brewing behemoth Miller-Coors. Dick Leinenkugel left the company when he joined the Doyle administration in 2007.

When Leinenkugel officially joins the GOP contest…he will enter a race where two candidates have been at work for months getting ready for the September primary. They are Terrence Wall, a real estate entreprenuer  from Madison and Dave Westlake, a West Point grad and Army vet turned small businessman from Watertown.

Just last week, former Governor Tommy Thompson said no to a bid for the Senate seat even though polls suggested a Feingold-Thompson race was a deadheat. So…why did Leinenkugel decide to jump into the Senate battle?

That’s the question we started with when we sat down at Spanky’s for Leinenkugel’s first campaign interview. The bar was busy and a Brewers/Cubs game was on…so there were some interruptions. And yes, “Leinies” were in the hands of more than a few patrons.

((STEVE BROWN)) “Why did you decide to do this and do this now?”

((DICK LEINENKUGEL)) “Two things. I watched uh…the process that took place for the passage of Obamacare in December with the Senate. And I appalled at the process that uh..Reid and others were using to get that passed.  The ‘Louisiana Purchase’…the ‘Cornhusker Kickback’ and all of the other deals that they were making . This was coming from an administration that promised transparency in the whole process. There wasn’t any of that. I was appalled by that. And as I watched that I said, ‘Our Senator…Russ Feingold in Wisconsin is part of that,’ I said, ‘That needs to change.’ Second things that I looked at was that I think there’s a real spirit in America that is saying , ‘We need to change the way things are done in Washington’. And the proof of that was the election of Scott Brown in uh..Massachusetts. When I saw that he was elected in a seat that was held by the Democrats for over 60-years…I said, ‘This is the year that we can bring change…and bring control…of the United States back to the conservative Republicans.”

((STEVE BROWN)) “I’ve heard those arguments before…but why YOU? Why you as opposed to supporting another Republican who’s running already?”

((DICK LEINENKUGEL)) “I have the credentials. A well-recognized name…25-years of experience in the private sector…have some government experience in Wisconsin as its Commerce Secretary…and I’m ready…uh…personally…uh…I’m ready. My family…three kids…out of school pursuing their secondary education. One…my oldest son working. I have a wife who’s agreeable to it. So…I felt…I think public service is part of who I am. It’s part of my D-N-A. I was a Marine officer. I served on the Waukesaw County Board for three years as an elected official…and uh…it gives me an opportunity to give back. Uh…I think it’s poart of who I am. And this was a heckuva opportunity to bring back that 10^th seat that will control the United States Senate back to Wisconsin.”

((STEVE BROWN))  “With your name recognition in this state because of the family business…is that an advantage you get from day one when…when you make your announcement tomorrow morning?”

((DICK LEINENKUGEL)) “Well…certainly it’s a huge advantage. Uh…the Leinenkugel brand is a well-trusted brand here in the state of Wisconsin. But uh…I’m going to be running as my own  person. I…I certainly have that name recognition but they’re going to learn a lot more about me…who I am. You know…as a husband…as a father…as a Marine officer…as a Marquette Warrior…they’re gonna learn a lo more about me and my conservative politics. And…and I was a Marine while Ronald Reagan was president. I really learned that…that his policies government involvement…reducing taxes…having  strong national defense…that’s what I stand for.”

((STEVE BROWN)) “What is it that you bring to the table that Terrence Wall and David Westlake don’t bring to the table. I mean…why you more than those two folks you’ll be running against?”

((DICK LEINENKUGEL)) “Well…I don’t know either Terry Wall or Dave Westlake. But I can tell you that I bring to the table a work ethic. I’m gonna work…really hard at this throughout the entire Summer to get the Republican nomination in the Republican primary. So that we can beat Russ Feingold. Uh…I’m gonna outwork everybody…in this…and I bring that work ethic and a strong sense of conservative politics…conservatism…to uh…out-work them and uh…and…and have the ability to beat Russ Feingold. This is about beating Russ Fiengold…in this election. Elections have consequences…and we need to return control of the United States Senate back to conservatives. Wisconsin is the tenth seat that can do that…and I…I have the ability to win.”

((STEVE BROWN)) “But how is it that you overcome being a Bears fan in Packerland?”

((DICK LEINENKUGEL)) “(laughs) There’s a lot of good Bears fans here…along the border of course. Uh…this bar…Spanky’s have been known as being a Bears hangout for quite awhile and in fact the owner…Rick Kavelouskus is a big Bears fans. He does that very shrewdly. He ’s a business man…so he know that this can be the Bears bar where people can come hangout and enjoy a beverage from Wisconsin while they’re watching the Bears lose to the Packers.”

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