In an interview with WisPolitics earlier this week, Terrence Wall, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, made it abundantly clear he plans on running a highly partisan and negative race if he’s chosen as the Republican Party’s nominee to oppose Sen. Russ Feingold.
Though he’s running for the seat currently held by Sen. Feingold, Wall couldn’t resist the chance to take a shot at Sen. Herb Kohl, saying he didn’t plan on significantly self-funding his U.S. Senate campaign:
“I don’t think it’s wise to pull a Herb Kohl and try to purchase an election,”
It’s important to note Wall indicated he didn’t plan on significantly self-funding, but he didn’t rule it out. What’s more, the fact that he felt the need to get in a cheap shot at Sen. Kohl shows what kind of hyper-partisan T. Wall is.
In discussing Sen. Feingold’s criticism of cap and trade, Wall said Feingold’s maverick stance on issues in general is a “façade”:
“You look at his voting record, it is far, far left. It is right up there with Nancy Pelosi,” Wall said, referring to the Democratic House Speaker from California. “He votes exactly how Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leadership tell him to vote.
Putting aside the fact that it’s more than a little hard to believe that a U.S. Senator would take his marching orders from the Speaker of the House, it’s plainly obvious T. Wall hasn’t done any basic research, because if he had he’d know Sen. Feingold voted with the Democratic Party on only 77.3 percent of 353 votes during the 111th Congress. Only ten U.S. Senators voted with their party less than Sen. Feingold, and among those ten are noted moderates such as Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and Democratic Sens. Evan Bayh and Ben Nelson. It’s clear to anyone with basic comprehension skills that Sen. Feingold doesn’t simply vote the party line, and it’s shameful that Terrence Wall would resort to an outright lie in an attempt to score cheap political points.
What I found most telling about the kind of U.S. Senator Terrence Wall would really be is the fact that Wall said it’s apparent to him through polling that the majority of Americans do not want a “government takeover of our health care system.” While Terrence Wall may think governing by polling is the right way to do things, I’d rather have a U.S. Senator who will do what’s right, even if it’s not what’s popular. Then again, if Terrence Wall forms his opinions on issues based on public opinion polling, then perhaps he’d be interested to know polling done in Wisconsin shows 61% of residents favored replacing the current health care system with a new system administered entirely by state government that covers all Wisconsinites. What’s more, when it comes to how responsible the State of Wisconsin and the Federal Government should be in making sure that all state residents have access to both high quality and affordable health care 44% said the State of Wisconsin should be extremely or quite responsible and 55% said the Federal Government should be extremely or quite responsible.
Speaking of polling, in the interview Wall also claimed a poll they conducted stated he would win if the election was conducted today, with 62 (I think?) percent of the vote. The question? “Would you vote for a successful Wisconsin businessmen who would act as a break on Obama or would you vote for Russ Feingold an 18 year incumbent elected official?” This was at about 29 minutes into the audio interview.
I don’t like to namecall but Wall is an idiot if he thinks that is the case… Or maybe he’s just not going to bother campaigning, 12 percent lead, right guys?
Jim, that same poll was referenced by Wall & Co. in the press release announcing his candidacy. I have yet to see anything on who conducted the poll, the sample size, etc.
I think his reluctance to self-finance his 2010 campaign says a lot about his confidence in his ability to beat Feingold. I don’t think he believes the bullshit he’s peddling. He’s just building name recognition (and a donor list) so he can go after Kohl’s seat in 2012.
Jill, you might really be on to something there. I keep hearing Sen. Kohl won’t run for reelection in 2012, and I can’t help but think Wall’s just building name recognition for a run against Sen. Kohl – or better yet, for Sen. Kohl’s empty seat.
I couldn’t agree more. He knows full well he’s not going to win, but the name recognition is all he needs to call it a victory for himself.
Unfortunately, for him, I think the name recognition will go right along with people realizing what kind of person he really is – which will not help him in the least.
AJ, I think you’re right. The more folks get to know Terrence Wall, the less there is to like about him.
In the interest of more disclosure, Feingold voted 88.9 with his party in the 110 congress, which was above the mean. http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/senate/party-voters/
and 87 in the 109th v. a democratic mean of of 85.
All in all, he’s pretty close to the party averages.
Senator Feingold knowingly and deceitfully has and continues to vote against the will of the majority of his own constiuents.
The comment “I’d rather have a U.S. Senator who will do what’s right, even if it’s not what’s popular.” in this article is glaringly strange.
Could these be sentiments of the Honorable Russ Feingold?
This would explain why Feingold and his fellow congresspeople, have ignored ALL credible polls, our letters, phone calls, rallies, saying STOP SPENDING, STOP TAXING, STOP THE BAILOUTS, STOP DESCONSTRUCTING THE BEST HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN THE WORLD, STOP DISREGARDING THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AND OUR RIGHTS, STOP THE PORK,STOP LEGISLATION THAT ENCOURAGES VOTING FRAUD, STOP BUYING MULTIMILLION $ VOTES WITH TAXPAYER MONEY WE HAVEN’T EVEN MADE YET, STOP PUTTING MY CHILDREN’S FUTURE AT HIGH RISK, STOP!
Feingold thinks Wisconsites aren’t smart enough to know what is right for them. He even thinks he will easily retake his seat in 2010.
Senator, if you’re listening like I think you are, you are wrong about us and the majority of Wisconsin will prove this when they vote you out of office in 2010.
Lori, how has Sen. Feingold voted against the will of a majority of his constituents?
The fact is, he’s voted exactly how I’d expect, given the things he said he stood for when he was running for the Senate. If you’re surprised at how Sen. Feingold has voted, then quote honestly you haven’t been paying attention to things.