Greetings fellow Kossacks! So I'm very happy with the feedback and recs that my latest two diaries regarding the PPP poll about the Senate race in MA and both those diaries have garnished the most traffic and recs out of any diary I've ever posted. I wanted to thank the community for giving this nub some recs and traffic and a lot of your comments have been great! I want to write a diary regarding on what is the most effective way to help Tammy Baldwin win and the best line of attack against Tommy Thompson. As we discovered this week from Joan McCarter that Thompson was the author of the 2000 GOP platform to deny women the right to an abortion in cases of rape, incest and if the mother's life is in danger:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Flash forward today and Thompson's 2000 plan is now a big part of the GOP's platform. As we saw from PPP polling and even the latest Marquette Law School & Quinnipac's polls give Thompson the lead. I personally tend to believe PPP's polling more over the other two but here are the three polls:
Marquette Law School:
http://polltracker.talkingpointsmemo.com/...
Quinnipiac/CBS/NYT:
http://polltracker.talkingpointsmemo.com/...
PPP:
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/...
Now I admit, I always figured that Thompson would be a tough one to beat. The man is the longest serving governor or Wisconsin so of course he gets more name recognition but Markos also pointed out that he ran a terrible Presidential campaign. Now being that this is a state election for a federal office, Thompson is probably ready for this but I heard from a commenter in my diary from yesterday that Tommy can't answer questions. I don't doubt that the debates will be essential in his down fall but debates aren't enough these days. John Kerry crushed Bush in the debates and Lee Fisher hit Rob Portman hard in the 2010 Ohio Senate debate but Portman and Bush ended up winning. Then again, Fisher's campaign imploded before the debates began. But any WI kossacks out there who know a lot about Thompson, I'd love to hear your ideas.
Baldwin has a couple of ways she could go after Tommy. Obviously she could attack him as an anti-woman extremist in moderate clothing. Senator Pat Toomey proved to be way more conservative than Rick Santorum but successfully got center right voters to vote for him, even though those center right voters usually voted for Arlen Specter in past elections. My other concern is Thompson could be successful in accusing Baldwin of turning the abortion issue into a distraction from the economy. Plus, I'm worried if we try too much to associate Tommy Thompson with Todd Akin, it may not work. Joe Sestak did an excellent job associating Toomey with George W. Bush and Rick Santorum but his mistake was associating Toomey with Christine O'Donnell because Toomey was backed by the tea party. Toomey is just as looney as O'Donnell but Toomey was a much smoother candidate than O'Donnell and he knew when to keep his mouth shut. We could always emphasize Tohompson's time in the Bush Administration. The majority of Americans still blame Bush for the economy and Bush's name still doesn't resonate well with the majority of Americans and Kerry did win Wisconsin in 2004. She could always hit Thompson for refusing to release his tax returns, those attacks are working effectively for Obama in his attacks towards Romney. Can we get Harry Reid to accuse Thompson of not paying any taxes? We could also point out the Thompson supports a number of provisions in the Affordable Health Care Act and David Nir pointed out that Thompson has donated to Democratic politicians before like Senator Carl Levin of Michigan. Lets not forget that Thompson eked out his victory in the GOP primary. If the Club of Growth, Karl Rove, Americans For Prosperity, The Koch Brothers and the Tea Party didn't have two dogs in that race, Mark Neumann & Eric Hovde, no way Thompson would've won. So another effective tactic would be is to hamper Republican voters into realizing that Thompson isn't a true conservative. What do you guys think? Should Baldwin attack Thompson as a right wing nut or a hypocritical RINO? I'm not surprised by the post primary unification. There are homophobic evangelic tea bagger voters who are holding their nose and voting for Thompson because they refuse to see a progressive lesbian who is close to Obama become Senator. Of course we are also seeing that Obama is viewed way more favorable than Romney in Wisconsin and if Obama can make the case that he needs Baldwin in the Senate, it's her's for the taking. Any WI kossakcs out there, please shoot some other ideas on how to beat Tommy Thompson and feel free to vote in my poll.
Baldwin isn't as well known as Thompson yet but she has proven to be a true fighter for the middle class. She has a lot of great qualities that will help her but I think she'll need Obama's help. Now PPP showed that 45% of WI voters want the Senate to be in the GOP control while 44% want the Democrats to control the Senate. This race isn't over yet and we still have a great shot to hold onto this seat and again, Baldwin will need Obama's help in nationalizing this Senate race. Obviously, we can't try to associate Thompson with Scott Walker. Sad to say Walker's approvals are back up but at least the Democrats have the majority in the State Senate. What do you all think?
12:14 PM PT: Excellent suggestion from khyber900:
I think the way to approach it is to galvanize female voters and young voters first. She needs to educate folks that Tommy Thompson has pretty extreme views on abortion and is really no different than Akin. He just has more polish.
Next she should say that Thompson will be nothing but a rubber stamp for his party because he wasn't the choice of the tea party and will always bend to their will. She should explain why that would be bad on a range of important issues (education, taxes etc.).
She should then argue that she will be an independent voice for Wisconsin's middle class in the mold of Russ Feingold. She will support overturning Citizens United, bring green jobs to WI like their neighbors to the south in Iowa, end the partisanship in DC by reaching across the aisle on issues that matter to Wisconsinites.
She can attack Thompson's terms as governor and how he conducts his campaign (no tax returns) etc. He can't be trusted to take care of the best interests of Wisconsin. He will be a secretive DC politician who toes the party line in order to get the campaign cash and fend off the tea party.
She should also appeal to Obama supporters and help Obama drive turnout up in liberal areas of the state.
12:43 PM PT: Joan McCarter just posted a diary about Thompson refusing to show his tax returns and she emphasizes that Thompson isn't for you anymore:
http://www.dailykos.com/...