Holy crap. Joe Wilson fucked up more than he realizes.

[Phx_Dem]

Mark McKinnon, Republican strategist for Bush and McCain not only donated $1,000 to Rob Miller, but he's also volunteering to work his campaign and encouraging others to do the same! ROLF. How do you like them apples, Wilson?

Send Joe Wilson Home

Make Joe Wilson pay.

And by pay, I mean beat his sorry ass at the polls and send him to the private sector. That is the only way to change the political discourse in America today. Because as long as louts like Joe Wilson can spout off and call the president a liar and get rewarded with reelection, then louts will continue to spout off. And we will continue to claw our way to the very bottom of the political swamp.

<SNIP>

I’m a Republican, but I’d rather have a Democrat in Congress who I may disagree with but who has some fundamental character and decency that Wilson clearly lacks. So, today I’m volunteering for Republicans for Rob Miller, Wilson’s opponent, a former Marine and Iraq veteran, and am sending him a $1,000 check. And you can do the same by going here.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-09-11/send-joe-wilson-home/

[monmouth]

1. The problem is, his district now loves him and they're the ones

who will vote for him...

[Kaleva]

2. I thought a recent poll showed his district split about 50/50

[elocs]

4. Polls a year out don't mean much. When the rubber meets the road he will be hard to beat.

But there is always a chance.

[Phx_Dem]

5. That's true, but starting a race when it's 50/50, is a hell of a lot better

than trying to make up a 30 pt deficit.

[elocs]

8. Amen to that. n/t

[Kaleva]

7. At least Miller has a well stocked war chest now

I've seen comments where Wilson outspent Miller by a 2-1 margin in last year's election.

[Phx_Dem]

3. He's one point ahead of Miller in the polls.

And regardless how popular someone "appears" to be, that doesn't mean his opponent should just give up.

Miller has raised more than $1 million dollars, which is a lot of money for a Congressional race and alot of money that can be used for digging up dirty on a racist like Wilson. And, juding by his background, I'm betting there's a lot of dirt to be dug up.

[tblue37]

10. Besides, Wilson's bad behavior can energize the opposition's

voters.

[NinetySix]

19. Don't forget, though, that SC2 is the district that re-elected Floyd Spence 18 times.

Spence was widely considered the most do-nothing member of congress throughout his tenure, authoring only as many pieces of legislation as one could count on one hand. Joe Wilson is his protege, and just as formidable a backbencher. I suppose that, given his constituents' antipathy for Government, it makes sense to them to lack adequate and useful representation.

Perhaps they would be as equally well represented by a stalk of okra.

[fasttense]

6. His district has lost a lot of love for him

"Wilson defeated Miller in 2008 by a margin of 54%-46%, which was much closer than Wilson's previous races. A new poll has given Miller a one-point edge in the wake of the "You lie" incident, with 44% to Wilson's 43%."

He's losing their love real fast.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/

[wial]

20. presumably he won't be sitting on too many committees anymore

and without bringing home the pork barrel bacon, that's got to hurt. What are his demographics?

Ah.

"U.S. Census data put Representative Wilson's record in the context of the people who he represents. South Carolina District 2 is 66.06 percent urban, 29.69 percent non-white, and has a population that is 3.28 percent Latino and 3.82 percent foreign-born. 4.21 percent of adults working in Rep. Wilson's district commute using public transportation, on a bike or on foot. 9.75 percent of adults aged 25 and older in Wilson's district have a Master's, PhD or Professional Degree." (http://thatsmycongress.com/house/repWilsonSC2111.html)

30% non-white. IIRC, that kind of district's whites tend to get their backs up and they did against Obama in the primaries, but it also means it won't take too much human decency re-emerging for him to be defeated.

come to think of it and a bit off topic, wouldn't it be nice if congressional committees were outlawed? Has anyone done a study about causes of corruption in congress vis a vis committee membership?

[harkadog]

27. You presume wrong.

Each party appoints their own members to committees. I doubt the Repugs will take him off anything. Probably give him more stuff.

[CreekDog]

13. he only got 53-54% last time

with a 4 to 1 financial advantage.

[struggle4progress]

9. Republican operatives "helping" Democratic candidates? Noooo thank you!

"Look! We brought you this nice big wooden horse to play with!"

[dmr]

11. Mark McKinnon seems to be a decent man

Have you ever heard him talk?

Rachel has him on her show often.

[struggle4progress]

12. " ... "McKinnon launched his career as a Democratic campaign consultant, then dropped out

of politics to work for corporate clients. But the Austin, Texas, image consultant was lured back into politics by his close friend George W. Bush, this time as a Republican strategist. McKinnon, who occasionally joins the president in mountain-biking trips, oversaw advertising for his election campaign again in 2004 ... He mounted a brutally effective ad campaign against John Kerry in 2004, which included the 'Windsurfing' spot portraying the Democratic candidate as a rich dilettante ..." http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mark_McKinnon

I'm afraid I'm just really gonna have a hard time regarding someone who worked for Bush's re-election as a 'good guy'

[Diamonique]

16. McKinnon is the guy who was working for the McCain campaign...

... during the primaries. He said if Obama won the Dem nomination, he'd have to quit the campaign because he didn't want to be part of knocking down the first Black who had a real chance at the presidency.

He did quit the McCain campaign with Obama won the nomination.

[struggle4progress]

26. Yeah, but if you look at the links I provided, his reason was simply that he didn't want

to campaign against Obama: he said back then he still intended to vote for McCain. Unless you or someone else can provide a more convincing explanation of his unwillingness to campaign against Obama (while still supporting McCain), I think the natural interpretation of the behavior is that he decided it wouldn't be good, for his own reputation as a consultant, if he worked for a campaign that good badly trounced by the opposite side. That he would work for Bush's re-election, after the lies motivating the Iraq war and catastrophes like Abu Ghraib, tells me everything I need to know about the depth of his principles

[Czar One]

14. Is that even possible???

:evilgrin:

[Douglas Carpenter]

15. kick and recommended

[jason_o]

17. i'm surprised e yelled wed

he seems mannered

[Algorem]

18. how did Addison Graves Wilson become "Joe Wilson"?

probably when it was time to get votes from Average Joe,Joe Sixpack and Joe Blow

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

21. Ironic Ad Placement...

I don't know how the "Ads by Google" thingee works, but right now I'm reading the OP with a "Joe Wilson is Under Attack" ad running right next to it.

[thesquanderer]

22. Clicking Joe Wilson's google ad

Funny... the google ad that appeared in your post was an ad to send money to Joe Wilson's reelection campaign!

I clicked it... figuring what the heck, with pay-per-click advertising, just the click will actually take a little bit OUT of his campaign.

But then it was funny to see how non tech-savvy his campaign is. The click takes you to a page where you can enter your credit card info to donate to his campaign... but, at least on a Mac, even before you see the page, you get a message telling you there is a problem with the security certificate, your private data may be vulnerable, and asking if you want to continue! So even someone who actually *wants* to contribute, and gets to his contribution page, is unlikely to want to actually enter his or her credit card information there.

Being prompted NOT to send money on Wilson's own campaign site? Priceless.

[Dr.Phool]

23. Wilson is South Carolina's next Governor.

Just sayin'.

[onehandle]

24. McKinnon is a frequent guest on Rachel Maddow and leans towards sanity. nt

[DrZeeLit]

25. GREAT! He's very civil & interesting when he's on Rachel Maddow's show.