November Looking Good for Republicans in Wisconsin

Interesting.

The results show that 51% of likely voters favored Thompson and 39% favored Feingold. Nine percent of the likely voters were undecided.

In a matchup between Feingold and Republican Madison developer Terrence Wall, Feingold leads 47% to 32%.

The poll was directed by political scientist Ken Goldstein of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The survey of 600 randomly selected likely voters in Wisconsin was conducted from March 7-9 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

In the governor’s race, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker leads Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett 36% to 32%.The margin of error of the poll makes a Barrett-Walker race virtually even.

The gap between Walker and Republican home builder and former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann is wider, with Walker leading Neumann by 19 percentage points (46% to 27%.)

Walker’s lead is aided by his large advantage in the Milwaukee media market, where nearly 7 in 10 likely voters said they support Walker over Neumann. In the rest of the state, Neumann held a slight edge over Walker.

In a head-to-head race between Barrett and Neumann, the results show that it’s a dead heat. Barrett and Neumann are tied at 34%.

Schooled

Professional historian Victor Davis Hanson schools Tom Hanks. 

Much has been written of the recent Tom Hanks remarks to Douglas Brinkley in a Time magazine interview about his upcoming HBO series on World War II in the Pacific. Here is the explosive excerpt that is making the rounds today.

“Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as ‘yellow, slant-eyed dogs’ that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what’s going on today?”

Hanks may not have been quoted correctly; and his remarks may have been impromptu and poorly expressed; and we should give due consideration to the tremendous support Hanks has given in the past both to veterans and to commemoration of World War II; and his new HBO series could well be a fine bookend to Band of Brothers.  All that said, Hanks’ comments were sadly infantile pop philosophizing offered by, well,  an ignoramus.

Holder Withheld Legal Briefs from Senate

Seems like a contempt of Congress charge may be in order. 

Justice Department officials say that when senators were considering Eric Holder’s nomination to be attorney general last year, he didn’t given them all the legal briefs he had signed from his time in private practice.

Holder now has told the Senate Judiciary Committee about the lapse in turning over copies of the legal filings.

Fein Tunes

Sometimes when a politician attempts to look cool, they look like an idiot.  For example, do I really care what Senator Feingold likes to listen to on his iPod?  Let’s see, he voted for a ridiculous health care bill that is full of pork and would be incredibly destructive to our country.  His signature legislation restricting our freedom to speak during elections has been ruled largely unconstitutional.  He voted for massive deficits, tremendous spending, and tax hikes.  And I’m supposed to like him more because he digs Van Morrison? 

Um, no.

Third District Candidates Profiled

It’s a fairly sharp contrast.  On one side, you have this:

“The biggest thing I’m bringing is leadership,” Duquaine said, pointing to his 20-plus years as a business owner. “I’ve balanced budgets for years, I’ve grown a business. I’d like to bring that experience to the city.”

[...]

   Duquaine said two issues made him decide to run for the Common Council. “The unacceptable unemployment rate in this city. That’s a huge concern for me.”

   He also believes the city can do a better job attracting and retaining businesses by creating a friendlier business climate. “If you do that it will lower the unemployment,” he said.

   As the owner of a masonry company that works on commercial properties around southeast Wisconsin, Duquaine said he has seen what other communities do to encourage development and would like West Bend to consider some of those ideas.

   “I would do whatever we can to promote our city and develop our city,” he said, “not only bringing in new business but do a better job maintaining the businesses we have here.”

On the other side you have this:

“I’m a totally independent candidate,” Salmon said. “I feel I can look at each issue facing the council, research information on that issue and make a decision independent of any outside agenda. I will make decisions that best represent the citizens of the third district and the citizens of West Bend.”

[...]

   Salmon said it is important to continue to improve taxpayers’ understanding of city issues. “I would work harder to keep citizens informed on how their govenment [sic] was working for them,” she said. “The city recently began streaming the council meetings over the Internet and I think that is a great start.”

Let’s see… business owner looking to improve the business climate and attract businesses against an “independent” candidate who wants to improve my understanding of city issues. 

Yeah, I’d vote for Duquaine.