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Opinion | How Is Senator Ron Johnson Still Competitive?


This happened during his 2016 race, which was followed by a rematch with former Senator Russ Feingold, from whom Mr. Johnson hid his face in 2010. For most of the campaign, he Johnson followed Mr Feingold – on money and voting – and the national GOP. abandoned him to expect defeat. That fall, his campaign was retooled and started running active advertising aimed at humanizing the senator, highlighting his work with orphans from Congo and his relationship with Joseph Project, a trust-based initiative that connects urban poor residents with productive jobs. The number of his favorites started to increase, along with the number of voters who said that he care about people like them.

Already in this cycle, Team Johnson has launch ads about Project Joseph. And, for all of Mr Johnson’s inherent MAGAness, his pay media is that of a more conventional Republican, hitting Democrats on inflation and public safety. Keeping the race focused on these policy areas – while clearly navigating the more exotic issues – was seen as key to his victory.

Of course, Ron is Ron, he can’t help but speak out in ways that seem fitting to make the campaign manager feel nervous. This is not new. In his 2010 run (the race in which he proposed that climate change was caused by smudge), his unpredictable verbal style is a source of long-term anxiety. His team basically put him on media lockout for the two weeks that ended the race.

And it’s not just conspiracies. Witness an appearance on his podcast on Tuesday in which he said that Social Security and Medicare must be reviewed regularly Congressional. At times, it can feel as if a senator wakes up in the morning, looks in the mirror, and asks: What can I say today that will get me fired?

Mr Johnson’s defenders insist that these jokes, if not exactly part of the senator’s charm, at least fit his image as a truth-teller – and that, In any case, the opposition is bad at exploiting mistakes. Democrats always thought they were going to sink the senator with one of his non-political statements, a person close to Johnson’s campaign told me. But this ally of Johnson points out that there was so many statements and controversies over the years and very few of them really resonate or stick with people.

A lot of Wisconsin voters agreed with Mr. Johnson’s brand of madness years ago.

Of course, there are degrees of excess and it is possible that Mr Johnson has finally crossed the line with his Covid theme. rantings, including spreading misinformation about vaccines and unfounded treatments. (Listerine anyone?) An interesting change in the Marquette poll: In 2016, many voters still said they didn’t know enough about him or didn’t have a clear opinion of him to give him a “favorable” rating. favorable” or “unfavorable”. In the closing weeks of the race, his dislikes remained fairly steady, but he managed to shift a large number of voters from the “don’t know” column to the “favorable” column, Charles Franklin, director of the poll, said. But this time, Mr. Franklin notes, the senator’s brand is more established – and not in a good way. More people are familiar with him, “and those who know him seem to be forming unfavorable opinions.”



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