August 1, 2012

"Here we go – upset brewing in Wisconsin Rep Senate Primary?"

The candidate who would be upset is Tommy Thompson... but if you want to upset him, you need to pick one. There are 2 potential upsetters.

Give Wisconsin conservatives some advice. Let's say they want a not-Tommy. What's the scenario for getting the not-Tommy votes to go to one place — to Hovde/Neumann?

63 comments:

traditionalguy said...

Does Wisconsin use the run-off if no one gets 50%+1? Or do you consider the plurality winner wins it?

Thompson is past his elect by date.

The Tea Party wants one young guy and Althouse likes the other young one.

Stay tuned.

edutcher said...

I'd tend to go with Neumann, as he seems to have the Club for Growth behind him. A little less ideology, but more solid economic foundation.

MadisonMan said...

Neumann is so 1990s, and in the past he has come across (to me) as angry. That's not an electable coutenance.

traditionalguy said...

As a total outsider I can confidently tell Wisconsoites that Hovde sounds like a cartoon character and Neumann sounds like the mean character on Seinfeld.

Be governed accordingly.

dreams said...

Thompson has really aged I noticed in an updated picture. Not having followed it at all, I'll still go out on a limb and predict that the tea party candidate will win given they seem to be on a roll.

Original Mike said...

Baldwin might actually beat Neumann.

Badger Pundit said...

Jeff Fitzgerald is moving up, and shouldn't be ruled out as an alternative to Thompson, especially if the Hovde-Neumann battle becomes even more negative (which hopefully won't happen).

There ought to be, and I assume there will be, one or more forums organized by Tea Party forces in which people present their views on who would be the best alternative to Thompson (in particular on who would be most electable for the general), and try to reach a consensus. Ideally respected opinion leaders not affiliated with either candidate, like Althouse, Vicki McKenna, Mark Belling, Charlie Sykes, etc., would be in some way involved with such discussions, if not in person then chiming in using their soapboxes.

Fortunately all 4 of the candidates would make a fine addition to the U.S. Senate, and would run strongly in the general. As long as we avoid extreme negativity that might taint the winner of the primary, the difficulties associated with choosing among the candidates are good problems to have.

ndspinelli said...

Get some photos of Neummann and Fitzgerald @ a gay bar. NTTAWWT.

Michael Haz said...

Eric Hovde will win the primary election by 1-2 points, and then will defeat Tammy Baldwin by 4-6 points in the general election.

Hovde is a very smart guy and understands the budget, banking system, and Treasury Dept like no other candidate in this race. He deserves to win.

Tommy Thompson, should he win, will be an excellent senator. He knows his way around DC. The problem with him is that he is most likely a one-termer, where Hovde would be in that seat for at least two terms.

Mark Neumann is highly unlikeable in person. Ornery, abrupt, sometimes hostile when questioned. Baldwin's team can hurt him greatly by using his background in several failed housing companies. He'd likely lose the general election.

Anonymous said...

Tammy Baldwin's work with "buy American" and the Coast Guard plays very well. She comes across as a down home Wisconsin gal in her ads. I think she has a good chance of winning over all comers.

dreams said...

"while Neumann is backed by Jim DeMint, Mike Lee, Rand Paul and the Club for Growth."

Thats all I need to know, I'll be pulling for Neumann. Though I think Thompson would be a Senator.

Tim said...

I doubt that electing any of the Republicans will make much difference. I am at this point inclined towards Tommy, but any of them will be better than the extremely liberal Tammy Baldwin.

Even with one more Republican in the Senate, I doubt that entitlements will get reformed, or the budget balanced.

traditionalguy said...

This just in:

The Occupy Madison Bars movement severly beat Montee Ball last night...something about him being among the 1% of college football running backs which was highly offensive to them.

Curious George said...

"AllieOop said...
Tammy Baldwin's work with "buy American" and the Coast Guard plays very well. She comes across as a down home Wisconsin gal in her ads. I think she has a good chance of winning over all comers."

LOL She is running unopposed and the GOP candidates are concentrating on differentiation to get their nomination. Tammy Baldwin is a lefty and an idiot. That will surely come out in the election. She has decade long voting record as a hard lefty. She was prominent in the recall campaign. She will be toast.

tiger said...

1) Neumann is A) Too angry and II) a liar. Also calling his grandson a 'rascal' in the new commercials is just grating.

2) Hovde is a carpet bagger and no different than Darrow or Michels from the last campaign when they thought they could buy the election.

IF Hovde, after moving back two years ago, had been made himself more well-known in Republican circles I wouldn't feel this way but to have him show up out of nowhere and portray himself as
'Ron Johnson, Jr.' is just too fake for me.

3) Tommy, who increased State spending AND the deficit under his watch is not conservative enough. Plus at his age he will most likely be a term Senator while the others could serve 2 or 3.

4) This leaves Fitzgerald, my first choice. The problem is that I don't know if he can beat Baldwin.

Baldwin's commercials have buried her screaming Leftist views - in the same way that what's-his-name, the Senator that lost to Johnson did: she portray's herself as a rational populist all the while she are plotting to put people in chains.

Anonymous said...

It's interesting to hear Charlie Sykes get all upset over the fact that the Republican candidates are ravaging each other after promising not to.

Did he seriously think they wouldn't? In the meantime it's all good fodder for Baldwin to use against them.

Thorley Winston said...

As a total outsider I can confidently tell Wisconsoites that Hovde sounds like a cartoon character and Neumann sounds like the mean character on Seinfeld.

Just out of curiosity, who would you consider to have been the “non-mean” character on Seinfeld?

Anonymous said...

Tiger interesting comment about Michels. Barbara Michels is extremely political still, has book club meetings in her home in which kids are given political coloring books, talk about indoctrinating them young.

AllenS said...

Traveling from west central WI to Door County, I saw only one Thompson sign and a whole lot of Hovde signs this weekend.

MadisonMan said...

How is Hovde a carpetbagger? He's native Wisconsin. He's been in Wisconsin more the past two years than Baldwin, that's for sure.

Tiger you do your narrative no good when you forget Feingold's name. I don't anyone in this state, unless they moved here yesterday from Iowa, who doesn't know Feingold's name.

traditionalguy said...

Come on Thorley...Jerry, Elaine, Costanza and Kramer were not mean like Newman was. They were lovable because they were everyday self centered humans living in NYC.

Are you saying that by Wisconsin standards they all seemed mean?

furious_a said...

"while Neumann is backed by Jim DeMint, Mike Lee, Rand Paul and the Club for Growth."

Just like Ted Cruz in TX, who crushed the establishment (and well-known and better-financed) Dewhurst.

Question is, would R-WI be getting a Pat Toomey or a Christine O'Donnell in the bargain?

Strelnikov said...

Easy. Vote for the tallest one.

furious_a said...

Just out of curiosity, who would you consider to have been the “non-mean” character on Seinfeld?

Puddy -- utterly guile-less.

James said...
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garage mahal said...

Question is, would R-WI be getting a Pat Toomey or a Christine O'Donnell in the bargain?

We already have a Christine O'Donnell. Hovde would have to be considered an upgrade to Ron Johnson though.

James said...

BTW, I just drove by the only Chik-fil-A location in Wisconsin at the Regency Mall in Racine and the parking lot is jam-packed. I've never seen the lot so filled; even at Christmas.

The restaurant is in the food court and I didn't want to get hassled for taking photos in the mall but in the first picture you can see the line of people still waiting at 1:45 p.m. Central Time.

Photos here: http://imgur.com/a/2jKFt

traditionalguy said...

I just hope Chick-Fil-A is only using heterosexual chicken breasts. Anything else would get them in deep trouble with the International Roosters Union, and even more seriously, with Chicklit.

And remember, "Food is necessary for life. So make it good." Truett Cathy said that.

MadisonMan said...

If they drove past a Culver's to get to that Chick-Fil-A then they are probably native Illinoisians.

Carnifex said...

trying to convince my wife to go to Chik-fil-a today, but she's tight, and doesn't want to drive that far. And she doesn't like it. truthfully, neither do I...I prefer Lee's.

ndspinelli said...

Garage, When you make comments like your Hovde v Johnson and show you're not just an angry liberal, you gain credibility. Maybe not w/ the angry conservatives, but w/ some..including me.

Anonymous said...

I'll leave the Chick a fil sandwiches to our Chickie,he likes them.

traditionalguy said...

Allie...Nice photo today. The Chick-fil-A sandwich, fries or slaw, and a medium drink with unlimited re-fills is $5.96, tax included.

That is less than the $10 to get in and out of waffle House or the $12 for the Firehouse Subs. Subway Sandwiches are only $7 but the local one is slow and unsanitary.

Anyway, when in an eat lunch or skip it mood, the friendly people at Chick-fil-A usually win a visit. Then I splurge and get the fresh fruit cup.

This has nothing to do with Gay Marriage nomenclature, which is fine with me. It's the good food and a good attitude that wins my business.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Trad guy, that's sweet. We have Culvers here, much beloved in Wisconsin, the butter bacon cheeseburger will clog up your arteries faster than the Chick a Fil, no doubt, we don't fool around here in God's Cpuntry! ;)

And of that doesn't do it the frozen custard will.

chickelit said...

AllieOop said...
I'll leave the Chick a fil sandwiches to our Chickie,he likes them.

Never had one, actually. Don't make me try them.

When I want to satisfy a fast food urge, nothing beats IN-N-OUT burger

There used to be a contingent of looneys out here trying to boycott IN-N-OUT because they were Christians. I hate FOAD Fights

Anonymous said...

Oops , that should be country, sorry that sounds slightly dirty. The grease from the butter burger madeby fingers slip.

Saint Croix said...

Hovde!

chickelit said...

Madison Man wrote: Neumann is so 1990s, and in the past he has come across (to me) as angry. That's not an electable coutenance.

I thought Tommy was the cout. :)

ndspinelli said...

chickelit, I read in the San Diego paper that a study just determined that 1/3 of all welfare recipients in the US live in California. That's sickening.

chickelit said...

traditionalguy said...
I just hope Chick-Fil-A is only using heterosexual chicken breasts.

I just hope they're actually female chicken breasts. The others are higher in trans fat.

chickelit said...

Nick gasped: I read in the San Diego paper that a study just determined that 1/3 of all welfare recipients in the US live in California. That's sickening.

Yes and they all live in San Francisco. Californians see San Francisco like you see California, which is how Europeans see Americans. It's turtles all the way down.

Anonymous said...

traditionalguy said...
I just hope Chick-Fil-A is only using heterosexual chicken breasts.

Chickie said,
I just hope they're actually female chicken breasts. The others are higher in trans fat.

8/1/12 3:44 PM

Yup, stay away from the man boobs, even if they're on poultry.

garage mahal said...

When I want to satisfy a fast food urge, nothing beats IN-N-OUT burger

I had heard from someone that 5 Guys was just as good. So I tried the new location on State, and it wasn't even close to In-N-Out. It wasn't even close to Culvers. [Nice review, jerk!]

dreams said...

"We have Culvers here, much beloved in Wisconsin, the butter bacon cheeseburger will clog up your arteries faster than the Chick a Fil, no doubt, we don't fool around here in God's Country!" (slightly edited)

For an outside the box opinion of fat, checkout this website and see what a low carb high fat diet has done for his cholesterol levels, mainly his triglycerides to HDL ratio. He is a friend of Gary Taubes and they recently teamed up on a new endeavor. I think you believe in the low carb diet unless I'm mistaken. http://eatingacademy.com/

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Dreams, true, I do eat low carb and the part of the butter burger that will probably clog your arteries is the bread. I throw it away. I'll look up his labs, but first I can tell you that my own triglycerides are the lowest they've been my adult life and I'm sixty. My last one was 54. I've had the VAP and the majority of my LDL is the pattern A, large fluffy, harmless. HDL is great. VAP shows I'm insulin sensitive, I was heading toward insulin resistance.

ignatzk said...

Tammy Baldwin's work with "buy American" and the Coast Guard plays very well. She comes across as a down home Wisconsin gal in her ads. I think she has a good chance of winning over all comers.

Pretty scary that.

Another Red with Dane County Cred. Hopefully the sane portion of Wisconsin will see through her ploy.

Anonymous said...

Dreams, GREAT blog! I just put it on my favorites list. Lots of Scandinavian countries eating lowcarb I hear.

dreams said...

I'm already pre diabetic with heart disease at age 67 with three brothers diabetic (one has already died from complications). I wish I known of the low carb diet when I was young because at age 25 I quit smoking and tried to eat right, tried is the key word there. I'm going to have to try hard to abstain from sweets so I can get better numbers.
When I eat fast food I throw away the bread too, I grew up on the farm in the country and was always a big bread eater but it was a lot easier to give up bread than I thought it would be.

Anonymous said...

Dreams, I also do intermittent fasting, I eat once a day in a one to two hour window. Occasionally I shake things up and have a second meal. I tolerate this very well, with no crazy hunger issues, or low blood sugars. Ive lost more weight than I will admit to here on this blog, and I'm postmenopausal and hypothyroid. It CAN be done!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Dreams, all three of my siblings are also diabetic, insulin dependent. I'm the only one who has reversed my BS numbers down from, fasting BG's of 114 for a couple of years to low 90's.

I bake gluten free, low carb rolls, they are delicious and I enjoy sandwhiches a couple times a week. One of them is 6 carbs. Also have made lowcarb gluten free muffins, cookies, cheese cake etc. I do use sucralose, but I can't tolerate the sugar alcohols.

It's going to take me a while to read your whole blog, but it will be my pleasure!

Anonymous said...

Oh I see it's not YOUR blog, you follow it, well still a great blog! I'm glad I found it through your profile page anyway:)

dreams said...

AllieOop, I fast too, it is easier for me if I eat one meal a day rather than fast for 24 hours. I've always tried to keep my weight down which I guess is the reason I'm only pre diabetic so far though I've always had a sweet tooth especially after I quit smoking. I'm going to try hard to give up the sweets so I can get good numbers on my next blood work.

Anonymous said...

Good luck Dreams, sugar is baaaad. Uh oh I believe we have hijacked this thread, sorry folks, back to the topic.

ndspinelli said...

For new commenters, Allie is the Carrie Nation of food. She has all the answers, just ask her. Wait...you don't need to ask her, she'll just tell you anyway.

Anonymous said...

Sorry Spinelli, it's just that I'm on fire with passion about good health! I have been known to storm into bakeries and smash flour sacks and pour water on sugar. I should post my mug shot the last time I got arrested.

Francisco D said...

Allie (former psych... nurse),

Your trolling is unusually heavy today. Do you have a particular fondness for Tammy's "down home" approach?

Aside from the fact that Tammy is a socialist, is her sexual orientation a plus in some way?

dreams said...

AllieOop and I agree on the low carb diet.

Anonymous said...

Oy it's the fake shrink again. Go eat a huge piece of sugar laden cake, follow it with about 5 regular sodas.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Dreams, I appreciate that.

Michael Haz said...

Garage - Try AJ Bombers, across the street form Plaza Tavern. Good hamburgers.

Chuck66 said...

The Eau Claire pape yesterday had this item in their "days gone by" section.

Tommy |Thompason broke a record by vetoing xxx bills passed by the Democrat legislature.

Remember that before you attack Tommy as being too liberal.