May 15, 2011

Replacing Herb Kohl: "And what about Tammy Baldwin?"

"She's got nearly $1 million saved up from her previous campaigns, but I think Democrats would worry that she is too 'Madison' to win out-state votes. She represents her Dane County constituents very well in Congress, and in a Senate race, that might not be a good thing."

You think?!

20 comments:

David said...

I would really like to see Tammy get the Democratic nomination.

Titus said...

Tammy will not play well in Spooner.

Titus said...

And just what the senate needs...a dyke.

Original Mike said...

Tammy represents mainstream Democratic thought and thus, I too think the Democrats should nominate her.

Anonymous said...

I've seen speculation that Paul Ryan is contemplating running for Sen. Kohl's seat, now that Sen. Kohl is retiring.
I'm not from anywhere near Wisconsin and have no idea if Ryan would have a good chance at Statewide election.
Anyone here from WI care to speculate or inform me?

LGD said...

Paul Ryan is my Representative. His budget plan has given him enough name recognition that he could win a statewide race.

Baldwin's advantage is the Dane County vote. We saw Russ Feingold win his first Senate race only because he got a larger vote margin there than Mark Neumann could overcome in the rest of the state. The margin of victory came from Baldwin voters in her first race for the House.

JoAnne Kloppenburg was counting on that same edge in the supreme court race. Instead, she will have to use vote challenges to do it.

State Democrats should prepare for both eventualities and expect Baldwin to win.

James Wigderson said...

Somebody has to say it. Titus was joking, but this is Wisconsin. Can a open lesbian win a statewide vote in Wisconsin? How many videos of Tammy Baldwin dancing with Wonder Woman http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7YDaXqyL-Y
would it take for her to get swept worse than Ed Garvey taking on Tommy Thompson?

You can complain that it's not fair all you want. The reality is the senate race is statewide, not just Dane County.

I doubt she would even get out of the Democratic Primary when she discovers the hard way she cannot appeal to the African American vote in Milwaukee.

kjbe said...

I would agree. Kind or Barca would be better suited for state-wide Dem support, as would Feingold. Tammy's too Dane County for the rest of the state and I don't know if the party will ever get that.

Ralph L said...

And just what the senate needs...a[nother] dyke

It needs a fruit more flaming than Graham or Craig. Has any state elected a known sodomite to the Senate?

Titus said...

I don't think so Ralph and thank god.

Sofa King said...

Let's not kid ourselves. Everyone knows the Dem candidate will be Feingold. I wonder if it will even be a contested primary.

ndspinelli said...

Baldwin would, in a seamless fashion, fill the dull, dumb, and deviant U.S. Senator slot from Wi. held previously by Kohl and Kasten.

Seeing Red said...

Feingold.

They just can't let go, can they?

Whatever happened to gracefully bowing out?

Anonymous said...

Hope she runs. She would get destroyed by any of the Repub candidates

wv: gosestr (baldwin's campain slogan)

Milwaukee said...

I thought Tammy's district was gerrymandered for her to win. She probably would not play well elsewhere. Rock County is part of her district, and it is pretty solid Democratic. She does well in a liberal district, a district far more liberal than the rest of the state.

In the same way, there are no Blacks in the U.S. Senate. One theory is that the "minority-majority" districts which get Blacks into the House produce strong Black candidates, in the Black community. But what wins in a Black community won't win in the state at large. Thus there are very few Blacks in statewide office in any state. Sort of the old unintended consequences thing.

MadisonMan said...

@LGD, that was Feingold's 1st re-election, that saw Neumann lose. Feingold first won by beating Bob Kasten, back when Kasten was driving drunk. That's my recollection, at least.

Inasmuch as Dane Co controls, to a large extent, the Democratic Primary -- witness all the Dane County demos who *try* to become SC justices -- it's not inconceivable that Baldwin would get the nomination. No way would she win, though, particularly against Paul Ryan (who is nephew to one of my Mom's friends).

Jen said...

You’re missing the subtext, narrative, and/or lefty crypto...

Don’t support a vast federal government?
A)Your into states rights; racist.
B)You don’t want to pay into generous social programs because you think minorities disproportionately benefit from them; racist.
C)You want to let corporations to prey on people (nickel and dime so to speak) without your ([white]middle class or above) level of resources (evil big pharm, et cetera); racist (and wallllmarrt sucks). ;)

It’s all pretty cynical when it comes down to it. Progressives wanted arguments to expand the federal government and its power since the 20s. The civil rights act was their opening that finally worked… they’ve been beating that drum ever since. Example, the thought that the government would be telling you what insurance to buy and what the insurance will (and will not) cover (and regulating hospitals and what doctors spend on patience) wouldn’t have been conceivable without the expansion of federal power due to the civil rights act. Hence, if you’re against government power (or government saying you don’t deserve a CRT deliberator, maybe just a plain deliberator… since your getting on in years, maybe no unit at all) you are a racist… or something.

Curious George said...

The irony of Democrats running a senatorial candidate that loves Bush.

Purpleslog said...

She would be as successfull as other Madison left-wing favorite Ed Garvey.

roesch-voltaire said...

Considering that Kohl is known in D.C. as the dairy queen, Tammy might be a good replacement, but then again she has not made the contributions to the Badgers that Kohl has and so I think she will remain a Madison wall flower. Feingold could run on just how little Ron Johnson has accomplished, and just how un-popular Paul Ryan's plan has become with those over 55. But the dark horse might be the mayor of Milwaukee who now looks so much better than Walker.