« BACK  |  PRINT

RS

FRONT PAGE CONTRIBUTOR

Scott Walker would be bad news for Russ Feingold

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  August 12th, 2010 at 12:00 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Wisconsin

From Unlikely Voter: Even in a wave election, some members of the losing party stand well in their own local elections. However one key trait of a wave election is that the losing party’s base is so discouraged that they fail to show up.

So if this Rasmussen poll is right, I think the nomination of Scott Walker for Governor by Republicans would depress Democrats in Wisconsin, and hurt Senator Russ Feingold’s re-election chances.

Rasmussen carpet bombed the Wisconsin Governor’s race, matchup Democrat Tom Barrett against most likely Republican nominees Mark Neumann and Scott Walker. Barrett does fine against Neumann, trailing by a bare 45-43 margin (MoE 4) for a 59/41 split of lead probabilities.

Walker, on the other hand, leads Barrett 49-41, and takes an incumbent-like 84/16 split, clearly ahead. In an environment where Democrats are already hearing the drums of doom and gloom from national analysts, hearing their own state’s troubles can’t help. And when Russ Feingold is close to Republican Ron Johnson in the polls as it is, he needs all the help he can get to keep his seat.

Should Republicans in Wisconsin put up a ticket of Walker and Johnson, the whole could be greater than the sum of the parts and each could win by more than expected.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Get Alerts

COMMENTS

POSTING RULES  |  LOGIN TO COMMENT  |  REGISTER TODAY
  • sacody

    I think the governor races will tip both Wisconsin and Illinois senate seats into the Republican column. Eventually, the split-ticket voting just becomes too large of a hill to climb for Democrats.

  • rdelbov

    seeing Robin Carnahan on a bale of hay in the last thread reminds me of something. Farm income was $87 billion in 2008. That was a record year so maybe Bush did something right.

    In 2009 it was $58 or roughly a 1/3 cut in income. This year its projected to be $64 billion or a 1/4 decline from its peak in 2008.

    Think Dairy in Wisconsin-Corn in Iowa/Illinois/Missouri. A great deal of this decline in income is recession related but the browning of California farm lands hurts too. I know for DC & New York media types this flyover stuff. Rural American, however, is facing a 1/3 cut in income.

    So when you look at a state like Wisconsin & Missouri look at all the gaps between the big cities or even medium cities. Those folks are earning a lot less and they vote in big time numbers.

    Yes it impacts Wsconsin and Missouri but also Ohio plus many other states.

    The flight of the rural midwestern farming communities to the GOP could be the story of the 2010 election

  • oldpuppydixie

    Do you actually think republicans will do the smart thing when it comes to fielding the most competitive candidates in the upcoming election….the party that gave us Bob Dole in the 90s and Juan McCain in 2008? Our loafer wearing, Country Club elitist “leaders” choose candidates based upon whose “turn” it is, or who has done the most effective sucking up. The most likely to win has no bearing on it!!

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Walker and Johnson are the frontrunners right now. Johnson already got the GOP Convention endorsement, too. I Don’t know who did for the Governor’s race, if anyone.

  • Jon E. Schultz II

    Neil,

    Walker got it at convention – something like 92% of the delegate vote (including mine) on the first pass.

    There were some shenanigans from Neumann, but it was covered in some posts here at RedState a couple months ago.

    Walker is going to win in Wisconsin, and Johnson has a *very* good shot.

    - Jon

  • ralatredstate

    Good point. It seems right, and I haven’t heard it anywhere else.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
  • america1st

    . . . that is *such* a nice sounding phrase, much akin to angelic voices.

  • proudgop

    great candidate

    I think him and Johnson will also help us pick up 3 house seats in the state ( Open Obey, knock off Kagen and Kind)

  • bonsage

    Walker will win and end the Doyle nightmare and Feingold is toast: Wisconsin has been the only state with no senators, just Feingold and Kohl, two zeros.

  • Coop

    … along with Johnson and Walker’s likely success, Sean Duffy has an excellent shot of taking David Obey’s seat.