The fear going into the Democratic primary to choose a recall election opponent for Gov. Scott Walker was that the contenders might attack one another rather than Walker. But that did not happen. While there were fair exchanges over policies and approaches, the Democratic contenders remained respectful and responsible.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the Democratic race for the nomination for the seat of U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, the Madison Democrat who is running for the U.S. Senate.

While state Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, and Dane County Treasurer Dave Worzala were jockeying to develop clean-campaign pledges before Worzala withdrew Tuesday, state Rep. Kelda Helen Roys was attacking Pocan.

Last week, Roys hit the progressive legislator for accepting contributions from political action committees that are associated with several corporations — such as MillerCoors and General Electric — that have historically maintained facilities in Wisconsin.

We don’t mind that Roys is critical of Pocan on this count, although it should be noted that his record of taking on corporations (with demands for tax fairness, responsible regulation and fair labor practices) has won him the support of major unions and leading corporate-responsibility activists.