looks like a progressive is winning the senate primary in wisconsin. they might have a point here. wisconsin isnt san francisco
im pretty sure the son of the Bucks owner would steamroll Ron Johnson. this is definitely a winnable flip
Treat this as anecdotal since I'm not using any hard numbers or polling, but coming from a lifelong resident, all three of the major Democratic candidates are flawed.
TLDR: Either you're voting for or against Ron Johnson.
I'll put aside the Lincoln Project/Rubin perspective and say that it's clear this isn't written with any pulse of how it works here. Whoever the Dem nominee is will get the standard tar-and-feathering of being a "socialist", "marxist" or whatever. That's not what'll do Mandela Barnes in. The biggest things against him are that
he's from Milwaukee, Black and tied to Gov. Evers. Either you rock with the governor or not based on your leanings. There's a bad divide between Milwaukee, Madison (the two biggest cities by far) and the rest of the state (which is mostly rural) that gets played to the extreme to the state's detriment when it comes to government. Since most rural and many surburban Wisconsinites view Milwaukee as a lefty cesspool of crime and whatever else they've conjured up in their heads, he's already in the hole. Between race and where he comes from, Mandela would have to run a flawless campaign, develop his messaging beyond "RoJo sucks, vote for me", show that he can connect with outstate voters (and/or heavily turnout the blue population centers) and keep any peripheral fukkery to a minimum (they've already tried to stick some minor shyt on him over the past year or two.) The irony is that of all of the candidates on either side, he's actually closer to average Wisconsinite economically - he's not rich by any stretch and didn't buy his way into office. With the right team around him and a win, he could be positioned for something bigger.
But Rubin suggesting Lasry and Godlewski as silver bullets to beat Ron Johnson is kinda goofy. For starters, they'll have to buy name recognition. Lasry will also get the Milwaukee tag (he's "from" here by way of NYC), already profiles as a bit out of touch, will get dinged for being a rich kid and will get tied to the Clintons and other Dems due to his dad being a donor. Godlewski has the Eau Claire/rural card she can play, but also she'll get knocked for being rich and get tied to Evers simply for being the State Treasurer (which is a useless/low-profile elected position.) While RoJo is wealthy, he's good at messaging the "aww shucks, I earned my money from scratch" game (that's a lie) in a way the other two won't be able to. Of course, Lasry's and Godlewski's respective monies should position them to keep up with - if not outspend - RoJo, which is something that crippled Russ Feingold when running against him.
Ultimately, it'll all come down to a referendum on RoJo, similar to Trump in 2020. In the modern era, he's on par with Scott Walker, David Clarke and Glenn Grothmann as Wisconsin embarrassments - and can look Joe McCarthy in the eye historically. Either people will be reviled by or rally around that rhetoric.
the democrats can knock off about 60 percent of republican attacks, just by dropping the CF. i can already feel the momentum swinging back their way, with this week's decisions
finally, i can stop bytching
whats this, 6 dem governors in 3 days?
