Republican businessman Ron Johnson is two points behind (Rasmussen) Democratic Senator Russ Feingold. The tightness of these contests is especially worrisome to Democrats because once seemingly safe incumbents are now in deep trouble.Rasmussen's is so far the only poll available for the Feingold/Johnson matchup. Nobody's ever heard of Ron Johnson. He has no platform other than "Obamacare is an assault on our Freedoms," whatever that's supposed to mean, and he's pledged to repeal it as his Senate Job One, which is akin to a hellbound snowball's entreaties.
He appeared on Fox & Friends (literally, his most appropriate venue) yesterday to mouth the identical vacuous Tea Party platitudes that WISN-TV's Mike Gousha subtly undermined over the weekend.
And he unreservedly commends Russ Feingold's opposition to one of the most significant and costly pieces of legislation forged by the 111th Congress, the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.
If the theory is that Wisconsin voters will choose anybody — even an unknown — over the incumbent Feingold, then why did the same pollster show Feingold trouncing the other competing Republican hopefuls Terrence Wall (since withdrawn) and Dave Westlake?
Expect Rasmussen Reports' tiny sample size/wide margin of error* science to achieve outlier status in a hurry, just as several of Rasmussen's other U.S. Senate polls already have.
And somebody please hand Fred Barnes a tissue. Or a box of them, just in case Johnson gets an opportunity to debate Feingold.
Johnson's sense of civic and political responsibility is certainly admirable, but he better start boning up on some substance.
Further reading.
* According to which Johnson is actually leading Feingold.
When you make the "Rasmussen-to-reality" conversion of that poll, it puts Feingold up 12. Sounds about right.
ReplyDeleteThe Rasmussen polling is notoriously biased toward the right, methodologically flawed, and a joke in the polling industry. That said, keep doing what you're doing Ron Johnson. Russ couldn't have asked for an opponent with less experience and qualifications.
ReplyDelete"Russ couldn't have asked for an opponent with less experience and qualifications."
ReplyDeleteSort of like John McCain in that respect, right?
To say Rasmussen is a joke in the polling industry is a joke in itself. Rasmussen has been the most accurate pollster over the past two cycles. I still give Feingold the edge, but I do think his margin of victory will be similar to 98 where he won with about 51%.
ReplyDeleteI know nothing of Johnson, but fiends of mine in the valley says he is a bit of a philanthropist.
BTW, Feingold has a $500 a plate fundraiser with Biden later this month. Remember when the left castigated Walker for his $250 fundraiser with Jeb Bush?
Attention lefties: Castigate Feingold or reveal yourself as blind partisan fools.
Peace,
Scott David from Stevens Point