Well...it seems like one of the embattled octet of Republican state senators in Wisconsin has crawled out from under his desk long enough to take to the airwaves.
And (surprise!): he's lying his ass off:
Here’s the clearest sign yet that one of the top targets of the Dem drive to recall Wisconsin GOP state senators is running scared in a big way.
State senator Randy Hopper is up with a remarkably nauseating radio ad in his defense that badly distorts the history of the Wisconsin standoff and contains at least one other distortion designed to smear public employees as greedy swindlers of unsuspecting taxpayers.
Hopper's fibbery here is two-fold: first, he condemns state workers for not agreeing to "reasonable" pension adjustments. Of course, they agreed to them a month ago. He then speaks of a "union bus driver" making six figures, conveniently omitting that the compensation was not the driver's base salary, but rather the total compensation after the driver accumulated substantial overtime pay as a result of working an average of over 76 hours a week.
It should shock absolutely no one that Randy Hopper is feeling a little defensive lately. It should shock them even less that he has a little issue with truth (if there was any doubt, check out this shot of Hopper rocking an AFSCME shirt back in the day. Oh yeah, this dude's word is bond).
You may recall that upon his act of political treachery last week at the behest of his fellow GOPer, Governor Scott Walker, Hopper was the focus of angry protestors who showed up at his home to condemn his participation and support his recall.
Once there, Hopper's detractors got an unexpected bonus, as Hopper's wife confirmed that Hopper no longer lived in the home, choosing instead to shack up in Madison with a GOP lobbyist twenty years his junior.
Meanwhile, a pair of polls were released detailing the extent of his political peril. One conducted for Daily Kos, by our partners at PPP, which showed Hopper in extreme danger of recall. Our polling had Hopper's job approval underwater at 38/47, with only 33% in his district in opposition to his recall. If the election were held today, Hopper would fall to a generic Democratic foe.
SurveyUSA, polling on behalf of MoveOn, got similar numbers last week, before the revelations about Hopper's infidelity came to light. In that survey, 54% of voters in the district supported a recall, versus just 43% in opposition.
Hopper can't face the public yet, given the heat over his political and personal deeds. So, he is trying to combat the growing push for his ouster over the airwaves. He is also headed to DC to cash in with right-wing Beltway lobbyists.
Expect Hopper, and his cohorts, to have ample resources to spread the airwaves with similar attempts to rewrite history. It is one of many reasons why our side needs to give the recall effort all the tools necessary to send a message, both in Madison and nationwide.