GOP Governor Candidate Rescues Himself from Sinking Plane in Lake

A four-seat Bonanza loses power on approach to Wausau and suddenly the “candidate” part of “GOP governor candidate” is the least interesting detail. Tiffany says the plane was coming in to Wausau Downtown Airport when it went quiet, and he ended up in a sinking aircraft in a lake. That is a long, cold few minutes, no matter how many yard signs you’ve printed. When the engine quits, the résumé doesn’t matter.

We’ve all seen politics turn every event into a costume change. But there’s something refreshing about a story that refuses to be spun. This isn’t a viral stunt or a carefully lit “authentic moment.” It’s an elected official or would-be governor doing the most basic thing a person can do in a crisis: get out, stay alive, and then tell the truth about what happened. Survival is not a photo op.

Now we’ll probably get the predictable second act. Some reporters will hunt for a “gotcha” about why he was flying, who paid, what he was doing up there, whether he should have been on a commercial flight like a normal person. Fine. Ask the questions. But don’t turn a mechanical failure into a morality play. The real public interest here is whether the aircraft was maintained properly and what the investigation finds about the power loss, because that’s what keeps the next family from ending up in the same water.

And yes, it does say something about the kind of candidate this is. Anyone can talk tough in a studio. Not many people have to keep their head while a plane is taking on water. Voters can separate drama from character, and still notice both. If Tiffany comes out of this more grateful and more serious about the job, that’s not a bad outcome for Wisconsin.