Ron John owns left in Wisconsin: Left spending big for Barnes. In-state nerves are spiking that Ron will end up with better record than Aaron Rodgers!

[basquebromance]

Ron Johnson is somehow leading in the polls despite all his flaws, looks like he'll eke out a victory and survive yet another re-election

Ron John owns the left — yet again — in Wisconsin

Democrats are spending big for Mandela Barnes. But the MAGA-friendly conservative up for a third term could end up with a better record than Aaron Rodgers.

www.politico.com

‘It Feels Like We’re Being Punished for Something’: Life Inside Wisconsin’s Most Polarized and Predictive County

The residents of Sauk County, Wisconsin’s premier bellwether, aren’t crazy partisans, but Republicans and Democrats treat them that way.

www.politico.com

Opinion | The race for worst GOP senator on the ballot has already been won

All the disgusting things the GOP has said or done, Johnson has said or done

www.msnbc.com

 

[basquebromance]

excerpts:

There’s a potential nightmare brewing for Democrats here in a birthplace of progressivism: Ron Johnson, the conspiracy-peddling MAGA adherent, could be on his way to clinching a third term in the Senate.

Even Mandela Barnes, his Democratic opponent, sees the risk

“Going into it, we knew it would be tight, regardless of how ridiculous Ron Johnson has been,” the Democratic Senate nominee said in an interview before a round of rainy fall door-knocking.

After two cycles of failing to take Johnson out, Democrats are throwing some star power and a lot of cash into the state. Forget Johnson’s musings on Covid-19 vaccines, widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election and Hunter Biden, Democrats are bringing former President Barack Obama to this lakeside city on Saturday and spending millions on the airwaves to fight for a Barnes victory in a hostile national environment.

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said while the Democratic cash is helpful, “it would have been nice if we had the resources to get that message out a month earlier.”

“The biggest challenge is that people don’t know who Mandela Barnes is. They just don’t know his story,” added State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, who ran against Barnes in the primary but withdrew before the election. “The other side has been defining him and I think we’re really changing that. He’s going out there and telling his story.”

Mark Becker, a former GOP chair for Brown County who left the GOP amid Trump’s rise and now supports Barnes after backing Tom Nelson in the primary, said his primary opponents “all understood and knew that these ads [were] coming.”

“If [Democrats] can’t beat someone like Ron Johnson, you know, it kind of goes to who we nominate ... in these elections,” he said. “If you keep trying to nominate the most progressive of progressives, you will not have success in Wisconsin.”

In 2016 Johnson actually outran Trump. The senator’s 3-point victory even surprised Republicans, who never fully committed to the race as they invested in races that seemed more favorable.

Johnson has repeatedly painted Barnes as a “radical leftist,” including in remarks to a reporters after a closed-press event at the Beloit Chamber of Commerce this week. “He has radical views on most issues,” Johnson said. “This campaign literally pits truth ... versus lies and character assassination.”

As for his standing in the race, Johnson told supporters at a telephone town hall this week to view it as “dead even,” noting that “the only consistency in the polls in my Senate races is that they’ve been wrong.” Polls have shown Barnes leading by as many as 7 points this summer, and losing by as many as 6 points this fall.

 

[1srelluc]