As Steve Benen says, Wisconsin's Ron Johnson is apparently trying to give Rand Paul, Sharron Angle, and Ken Buck a run for their money on the extremist crazy train. Drilling for oil in the Great Lakes?
Actually, yes, and the closer one looks at this, the uglier the story gets.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson found himself under the political microscope late last week after it was revealed that he owns up to $315,000 in BP stock while he has defended the oil giant against its critics and called for continued offshore drilling. [...]
Johnson, whom national Democrats like to refer to as the "forgotten Tea Party candidate," has expressed disappointment with the administration's "assault" on BP. At the same time, he's been a vocal advocate for continued and even accelerated oil and gas exploration, going so far as to express an openness to drilling in the Great Lakes.
According to Johnson's financial disclosure reports, the far-right candidate owns as much as $466,000 in oil company stocks, including as much as $315,000 in BP alone.
Russ Feingold has come out with a hard-hitting ad:
"I said no to drilling in our Great Lakes," says Feingold. "But one opponent, Ron Johnson, disagrees. He's willing to hand over the Great Lakes to the oil companies -- threatening Wisconsin's economy, and a way of life for generations of Wisconsin families. We won't let that happen." The ad shows a graphic of the oil spill along the Gulf Coast, with the blotted area then being superimposed over Lake Michigan and spreading all the way across Wisconsin.
Feingold's in a tight race, with TPM's PollTracker showing him with a very slight edge, 45.7 to 44. Putting Johnson firmly in the Tea Party camp is going to be critical to Feingold's holding on.