Why is Feingold, according to the polls, doing so bad? /nt

[still_one]

[elocs]

1. I live in WI and I don't really know, but I wouldn't count him out yet.

There is a lot of incumbent anger and an attempt to nationalize the election tying incumbent Democrats to Pelosi/Reed, and his opponent has million$ to throw against Feingold in negative ads.

That being said, I know Republicans who have voted for him in the past because they believe he is honest and has the courage of his convictions, even if they don't wholly agree with them. Trust goes a long way.

[still_one]

4. I am not counting him out, but it is pretty depressing, since he is one of the few honest people in

Congress, and much of the problems we are in today, would have been prevented if the government listened to him

[OHdem10]

2. I remember way back, the Republicans had Feingold as a target.

(He is seen as a Liberal. For whatever reason, he was
a target.) I would imagine very early on they had their
ground whisper csmpaigns and every method possible to
bring his numbers down.

[DCBob]

3. He's gone too far left in my opinion.. voting against finreg was his biggest mistake.

that legislation, even if deficient, was very popular with the voters. The reality is that you still have to be re-elected.

[still_one]

6. There still is no real financial regulation. Yes, it is harder for people to get loans, but

nothing has been done about high speed computer trading, dark pools, and quants

The financial institutions who were bailed out, are still not giving loans to people who could afford the lower rates, but because the value of their loan is more than the value of their house they cannot refinance at the lower rate

[DCBob]

14. It does alot more than that..

http://www.davispolk.com/files/Publication/bc70cd4c-c6bd-472d-ad37-0a63481fe36a/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/6a2f81d8-d5c5-4d5d-9b97-fef48b6821e6/070910_Implementation_Slides.pdf

[DCKit]

5. Who believes in the polls?

Which of the polling corporations isn't (R)?

I'm not a constituent, I'm not there, but Russ has been done good things for all of us. If the people back home don't get that, I'm sorry for them. They'll get the representation they deserve if they vote Russ out.

[still_one]

8. I agree with your second part, however no mater how bias the polling, it is about a 10 point

deficit right now, and that is hard to ignore unfortunately

[stray cat]

9. DU thought Kerry would win in 2004 ignoring the polls

[LiberalAndProud]

16. There are some of us who believe that he did, barring the shenanigans in Ohio.

That would be one of the some there.

[elocs]

17. Republicans, like us, believe in polls with which they agree or have good results for them.

Otherwise, the polls are not valid.

With your reasoning, everybody gets the representation they deserve and perhaps that is true, but WI is no different than anywhere else in that respect. The question is, if Feingold loses, do the ones who voted for him get the representation they deserve? As with all things, some people get what they deserve, others do not.

[DCKit]

18. Guess I'm in limbo then. Haven't seen a poll (for either side) I agreed with in decades. n/t

[stray cat]

7. Proof that the secret to winning all elections is not simply being an outstanding progressive

[still_one]

10. The fact is that if we had done what Feingold stood for, the country would be much better off /nt

[KharmaTrain]

11. Campaigning vs. Legislating...

For all the good things Russ does and stands for, he lacks something that is hurting him...a "personality". Campaigns are based as much on perception and making people like you. Bill Clinton is the master in this area. Russ has always looked uncomfortable milking a cow or kissing babies and this has hurt him in the past. He's also facing a challenger who is flooding the airwaves and beating Russ on the ground. Hopefully this can turn around. IRC he was in a similar situation in '98 and squeaked by...we may see this happen again as voters get serious and look closely at the candidates.

[Arkana]

19. Helps to a) not run to the right on bizarre things like "Obama's czars"

and b) to run an effective campaign in the face of an opponent who's a gazillionaire.

[undeterred]

12. How many threads do we need asking this question?

The answer is money, and the appropriate response is to contribute.

[Imajika]

15. No, that isn't the answer...

There is more going on here than just money.

From what anyone can see on OpenSecrets, Russ Feingold has about doubled the amount of money Johnson has spent. Feingold has raised double, spent double and has double the cash on hand.

http://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.php?id=WIS2&cycle=2010

Yes, contributing to Feingold's campaign is a good idea, but the answer to why he is polling so poorly is not as simple as your making it out to be.

[treestar]

13. what is that saying about picking the real Republican every time?

Some of his votes make him look like he's voting with the Republicans.