I recently read a letter to the editor, touting one candidate's worthiness for office over another. In this case the writer was comparing Johnson and Feingold. My opinion on the two makes no difference. But I do have a comment and some advice for the undecideds out there who are being bombarded with information (and misinformation). When you see an ad on TV by someone running for political office, it is imperative that you understand where the ad came from and what it means.
First off, ads are paid for by special interests. They have an agenda that benefits them. Those special interest groups, care little about you or me. Second, the ads need to make a dramatic point in just 30 seconds, something that you will remember months later, such as “Feingold voted to raise taxes 270 times."
That ad has already been pulled, along with others that Johnson approved, because it takes a micron of truth and twists it into what amounts to a lie, by omission of all the facts. All candidates do it to some extent, but this isn't the first ad Johnson has had to pull because it crossed the line. Unfortunately, the damage was already done and was then repeated as truth, in an opinion column.
I would urge caution in voting for a candidate because of an ad on TV, a letter to the editor or a sensational pseudo-news source that is funded by special interests. These are very often not hard facts and your vote is too important to waste.There are plenty of places on the web to get the facts and learn about the candidates. Want to know what Feingold or Johnson accomplished in the Senate? You can look it up on the Senate website and see for yourself. You can look up voting records too.
If you do a search about Russ Feingold, you might find a quote by Republican Senator John McCain when Feingold was leaving office:
“I have to confess I think the Senate will be a much poorer place without Russ Feingold in it,” McCain said in a floor speech. (Politico)
But then, that was just his opinion.