Federal Judiciary

The End of the Clean Campaigner

Sen. Russ Feingold (D., Wis.) would like to be known as a champion of positive campaigns. As part of his 2004 reelection bid, Feingold urged Republican challenger Tim Michels to sign a 'Clean Campaign Pledge.' In 1998, he angered Democrats by adhering to his self-imposed spending limits and refusing to accept 'soft money' from his own party -- essentially letting his opponent outspend him. But he still won.

It's always easier to play nice when you're winning. This year, facing a wave of anti-incumbent, anti-Democrat sentiment and a charismatic GOP challenger, Feingold is leaving his commitment to clean campaigns by the wayside. In his first TV ad that mentions his opponent, plastics manufacturer Ron Johnson, Feingold attacked Johnson for supporting oil drilling in the Great Lakes.

#ad#Only that's not true. Johnson told an interviewer in June that he supported domestic drilling, but never mentioned the Great Lakes. The day before the ad was released, Johnson told an interviewer that he opposed 'any and all efforts to drill in the Great Lakes.' Feingold ran the 'misleading' ad anyway, prompting a swift retaliatory spot from Johnson. The Wisconsin State Journal called this mud-slinging exchange an 'unfortunate volley of ridiculousness.'

So much for item two on Feingold's 2004 Clean Campaign Pledge: 'to refrain from distorting or misrepresenting an opponent's positions or record.' Or the preamble to that document, which asserted that 'the people of Wisconsin are not served by negative campaigns.'

Barry C. Burden, professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, says Feingold's actions indicate the three-term senator is concerned about his chances for reelection. 'This race was not expected to be close,' Burden said. 'Now [Feingold] sees he's got a difficult road ahead.'

Difficult indeed. Feingold's attempts to defend his unpopular votes for the stimulus package and health-care reform have done little to stir support among voters. He has sought to distance himself from President Obama, whose approval rating in the state has fallen dramatically in the past year, by touting his votes against the Afghanistan troop surge and financial reform. Feingold was conspicuously absent when the president appeared in Milwaukee on Labor Day to announce a $50 billion infrastructure plan -- a plan Feingold has been hesitant to endorse.

Wisconsin GOP chairman Reince Priebus says Feingold's poor voting record on the economy explains the negative turn his campaign has taken. 'At the end of the day, Russ Feingold can't talk about the economy and spending and debt because he's part of the problem, so he has to talk about personal issues,' Priebus said. 'He tries to portray himself as ‘Mr. Clean Campaign,' but at the end of the day he's about as dirty as any politician in the country.'

Johnson, on the other hand, is the ultimate outsider candidate, having never held or even run for political office. He came out of nowhere to emerge as the frontrunner for the GOP nomination after the popular Republican former governor Tommy Thompson decided in April not to run. 

Feingold has survived close races in the past. None of his electoral victories has been particularly decisive. He won 53 percent of the vote in 1992, 51 percent in 1998, and 55 percent in 2004. But this year is shaping up to be Feingold's toughest challenge yet. In an August 25 Rasmussen poll, Feingold trailed Johnson 46 percent to 47 percent among likely voters.

Vicki Burke, who chairs the Democratic party in Feingold's home county of La Crosse, recently told the Wall Street Journal that 'in talking to people who work in [Mr. Feingold's] campaign, they think, given the atmosphere, that this could be the first time where he could possibly lose a race.'

Feingold's seat is crucial to the GOP's hopes of retaking the Senate. After the September 14 state primary, expect to see a lot of money flying into Wisconsin. And, apparently, a lot of mud.

-- Andrew Stiles writes for National Review Online's Battle '10 blog.

Full post as published by Bench Memos - National Review Online on September 13, 2010 (boomark / email).