Three weeks ago, I asked whether GOP Sen. Ron Johnson had jumped into the spotlight of his reelection battle in Wisconsin. My initial answer to that question at the time was yes. It no longer seems so uncertain. Johnson has lashed out at his Democratic rival, Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, for his radical statements and positions — and it’s working. Before last month, Johnson had never led in the Marquette Law School poll, which is considered the gold standard in Wisconsin. Wheneverin his political career. Then September issues of MU Law Johnson is ahead by one point, an eight-point difference from August. A one-point lead isn’t impressive, but it was still first. This week, polls have fallen in October:
Wisconsin Senate:
Ron Johnson (R-inc) 52% (+6)
Mandela Barnes (D) 46%
.
Governor of Wisconsin:
Tony Evers (D-inc) 47% (+1)
Tim Michels (R) 46%
Joan Ellis Beglinger (I) 4%.@MULawPoll652 LW, 10/3-9https://t.co/2bDFxNCfzR
— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) October 12, 2022
I’m not sure I’d take the “over” on a five-point win for Johnson, but a fairly comfortable win (certainly by recent Wisconsin standards) definitely seems likely. If you missed Spencer’s earlier post, I’m still processing the fact that the Badger State Democrats swept the field for this guy:
Barnes offered his harsh words against American law enforcement agencies in an interview with Russian-funded media. Barnes, a Democrat, will face Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson next month. Records show Barnes gave six interviews to RT, formerly Russia Today, in 2015 and 2016, during his second term as a state legislator. RT is a state-controlled Russian international television network funded by the Kremlin. In May 2015, for example, Barnes told RT that police brutality was a “total epidemic” in the United States. A month earlier, he posted a screenshot of his RT interview about the Baltimore protests, commenting, “People are tired of being targeted.” … In July 2016, after five police officers were shot and killed in Dallas in retaliation for alleged racial discrimination by police, Barnes told RT that “police across the country have not changed their patterns and practices.” and that “cops are overusing their badges.” Barnes then thanked RT on Twitter for the interview… In September 2016. Barnes said that Black Lives Matter protests that have turned violent are a “human response” to police. In the same interview, he says that just because police officers are black, “that doesn’t mean they’re 100 percent supportive of the community.” Earlier this year, the U.S. State Department said RT and another Russian-funded outlet were “essential elements of the Russian disinformation and propaganda ecosystem.”
Mandela Barnes is not just a riot-justifying, defunding-the-police-and-no-bail-on-the-run zealot, though he is all of those things. He has also elevated his anti-police crusade to a Kremlin propaganda operation. Take a bow. Barnes’ campaign was unable to identify a single serving law enforcement officer last month in the whole state who supported their campaign. Not one. Out of more than 13,000. During their debate yesterday, Johnson torn Barnes about the above story:
Senator @RonJohnsonWI criticizes Democrat Mandela Barnes for repeatedly appearing on Russian propaganda networks to condemn U.S. law enforcement. photo:twitter.com/JqSAKgA9H3
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 13, 2022
Spencer also emphasized tweet from 2017 in which Barnes lamented “Russian propaganda,” which I assume he opposes only when he is not actively participating in it. In the same tweet, he cited voter ID as a form of voter suppression. It was odd to watch Democrats constantly shout “suppression” and “racism” while taking the wrong side about 80/20 issue:
79-21% support voter identification
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) October 14, 2022
Sure, Democrats sometimes feel emboldened to take some radical positions if their activist and donor classes demand it, confident that the media will mostly cover them. But as voters learn more about Barnes, his tepid lead has evaporated, and Johnson appears to be in the driver’s seat in this race. If The GOP could hold sway in Wisconsin, Ohio, North Carolina and elsewhere, and would likely need to win two of three in Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania to secure a majority in the upper chamber. I’ll leave you with this. Imagine how much worse things could have been for Barnes if the “news” media hadn’t been on his side:
I love this unbiased journalism from the New York Times photo:twitter.com/1jLp44LQCH
— some guy from PA (@Pennthusiast) October 14, 2022
