Look who could very well replace Russ Feingold in the Senate

[cali]

Before what he calls "the jaw-dropping" events of the past 19 months -- TARP, the stimulus, Government Motors, the mistreatment of Chrysler's creditors, Obamacare, etc. -- the idea of running for office never crossed Ron Johnson's mind. He was, however, dry tinder -- he calls Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" his "foundational book" -- and now is ablaze, in an understated, Upper Midwestern way. This 55-year-old manufacturer of plastic products from Oshkosh, Wis., is what the Tea Party looks like.

He is trim, gray-haired and suddenly gray-suited. For years he has worn jeans and running shoes to his office, but now, under spousal duress, he is trying to look senatorial -- "My wife upgraded me to brown shoes." He has been endorsed by the state party and will almost certainly win the September primary for the Republican nomination to run against Russ Feingold, who is seeking a fourth term in a year in which incumbency is considered a character flaw.

Former Republican governor Tommy Thompson led Feingold in polls and froze the race on the Republican side before deciding not to run. But in this season of simmering resentment of the political class, a neophyte such as Johnson might be a stronger candidate than a recycled executive. Johnson can fund himself. Asked how much of his wealth he will spend, if necessary, his answer is as simple as it is swift: "All of it."

The theme of his campaign, the genesis of which was an invitation to address a Tea Party rally, is: "First of all, freedom." Then? "Then you've got to put meat on the bones." He gets much of his meat from the Wall Street Journal's opinion pages. And from a Wisconsin congressman, Paul Ryan, whose "road map" for entitlement reform Johnson praises. Health care? "Mitch Daniels has the solution." Indiana's Republican governor has offered state employees the choice of consumer-controlled health savings accounts, and 70 percent now choose them.

<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/26/AR2010052604760.html

[aquart]

1. Let him spend "all of it" and lose.

[cali]

2. Assuming that Feingold will beat this guy is dangerous

The anti-incumbent sentiment is real and potent. Feingold has a real fight on his hands- as does Boxer.

[elocs]

5. I live in Wisconsin. Feingold will beat this guy.

I know Republicans who vote for Feingold and he is the only Democrat they will vote for, the same way they voted for Senator Proxmire and no other Dems.

[mochajava666]

10. Lived in Wisconsin almost 50 years, and I agree.

Feingold is well liked and respected in Wisconsin, and although he is an incumbent, he is pretty anti-establishment.

[charlie]

3. Cripes, is it Year of the Randroid or something?

He's only been at it 11 days. That's reassuring. Maybe he'll take media heat off Paul with greenhorn bumblings of his own.

[Scuba]

4. Yep, another millionaire ....

... trying to unseat the finest Senator in the pack. Remember, Russ was the ONLY Senator who voted against the war in Iraq.

Johnson has deep pockets, and if todays Milwaukee Journal Sentinal blogs are an indicator, lots of support from the right-wingers.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/95008829.html

This is the paper that employs Patrick McIlheren to write a column called "Right On". In yesterday's fact-free column, Patrick wrote that the civil rights act was conceived, supported and passed only thanks to Republicans who managed to prevail over the racist Democrats. http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/95025664.html

Please support Russ in any way you can. A few dollars will help defuse the smear campaign. This state has a red/blue history. Let's keep it blue.

[kevinbgoode]

8. I wonder why Patrick McIlheren is even employed to write "opinions"

. . .when it is painfully obvious that he wasn't writing an original opinion, but merely parroting the same tired, right-wing talking points used on the willfully ignorant for years.

I question the patriotism of anyone who willfully and intentionally misrepresents facts in an effort to perpetrate propaganda on the American people - especially when that intention has nothing to do with presenting ideas for the American people to consider to make intelligent decisions. Instead, McIlheren strikes me as just another spoiled, whining, right-wing ideologue who willingly loves manipulation of the masses in order to secure power. They don't love America - they love running America.

[Scuba]

9. Eloquently said. Thanks.

[Dr Morbius]

6. I believe this only appears to be an anti-incumbent election.

It's only May. More than five months before the election. The economic recovery is proceeding. The state of the economy before summer is not nearly as important as the state of the economy at the beginning of the school year, and the economy is the top issue.

[midnight]

7. Hopefully,Wisconsin will be astute enough not to be impressed with a lazy man who gets a steady

diet of opinion instead of fact. Also, hopefully Wisconsin will be awake enough to see through what Paul Ryan considers entitlement spending. Paul wants to means test medicare, raise retirement age. These are two sustainable proposal he has for our budget. What a drop in the bucket. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVsRbYIWKgY

"Paul Ryan's is one of Wall Street's most devoted partisans on Capitol Hill, a veritable lobbyist inside Congress for all of their interests. Teabaggers don't like politicians who voted for the irresponsible Bush bank bailouts? Ryan didn't only vote for it-- twice-- as a high ranking member of Ways and Means and Banking Committee, the he persuaded dozens of reluctant GOP colleagues to vote for it and after it failed the first time, is said to have been the key figure in passing it the second time a week later!"http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/paul-ryans-sick-privatization-scheme-ma

I wonder why he gives so much attention to removing the safety net for the working class, but not for removing the tax cuts that are destroying the bottom line in this country? If this Republican gang wants the "real meat" in entitlement programs, they should start with those given to the top. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7ZQe-LI0lE&feature=channel

"The implicit premise is that we have to screw ordinary people–or at least make them bear a high degree of risk–in order to save the government budget. But what is the government budget? It’s a pile of money that we contribute and that our representatives are supposed to spend on things we can’t buy for ourselves individually. I know that those representatives make mistakes, are borderline corrupt, etc. But Medicare is exactly the kind of program that we want government to provide–a program that shifts risk from individuals to the government, and thereby the country as a whole–and that’s why it’s so popular.

Other countries manage to keep their citizens healthy at a much lower cost than we do. They don't have to dismantle their social insurance programs to do it. Why should we?" http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/02/paul-ryans-budget

Paul Ryan's road map for the future will lead us back into the ditch..... And if this business man, Johnson, is getting his inspiration from Ryan, he too will follow the road into the ditch....