Two of the justices on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court and other panelists said this week that record spending by special interests and candidates has made a “toxic landscape” of the past two races for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, reports The Capital Times in Madison, Wis.  The panel in Madison, Wis., included Wisconsin State Supreme Court Justices Ann Walsh Bradley and Patrick Crooks who noted that only 19 percent of registered voters cast a ballot in April’s Supreme Court election.  In that race special interest groups outspent the candidates at a four-to-one rate and bought 90 percent of the television advertisements, according to Mike McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.  Crooks and Bradley said they favor the public financing of elections, disclosure of contributors to special interest groups, public education on the role of the court and promotion of get-out-the-vote efforts.  With a strong finish in 2008, Fair Elections can hit the ground running in 2009. Please consider and end of year gift to Public Campaign to make this happen.