Sen. Ron Johnson says he does “orders of magnitude” more constituent outreach than Russ Feingold

At a “State of the Nation” presentation in Reedsburg back in August, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson told a constituent he does “orders of magnitude” more constituent outreach than his predecessor, Russ Feingold. You may remember Russ Feingold famously held a face-to-face town hall meeting with constituents in each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties during each year he held office, while Sen. Johnson has held just 34 telephone conference calls during his first four full years in office.

Sauk County Sup. John Dietz asked Johnson to consider adopting a policy of the man he replaced. Russ Feingold held listening sessions in each of the state’s 72 counties every year and Dietz said Johnson should, too.

“We see you on TV all the time but where the work gets done is in a room like this,” Dietz said.

Johnson said he recently finished his 34th telephone town-hall meeting in which more than 400,000 Wisconsin residents have participated, expanding his reach by “orders of magnitude” beyond the numbers Feingold achieved in his face-to-face meetings.

As Jud Lounsbury notes over at Uppity Wisconsin, Sen. Johnson’s claim he does “orders of magnitude” more constituent outreach than Russ Feingold is absolutely absurd.

There are three aspects of this claim that beg ridicule:  1) That 400,000 Wisconsin residents have participated in his telephone calls; 2) That these events are actually “town hall meetings.” If we humor the Senator and accept the 400,000 number, that would mean approximately 12,000 people are calling in to each of his 34 conference calls– that’s not a “town hall meeting,” that’s thousands of people listening to Johnson pontificate. 3) That the reach of his telephone town hall meetings is “orders of magnitude” larger than what Feingold acheived via his face-to face listening sessions– assuming the minimum of Johnson claim, two orders of magnitude would mean that he has done 100 times more constituent outreach than what Feingold acheived over the same time. 

One hundred times more?

Putting aside the absurdity of comparing these glorified phone messages to a face-to-face Feingold listening session, it is simply nonsense to suggest that Feingold only met with a handful of people every year. Let’s do the math:  Approximately 50 people attended each of Feingold’s 72 listening sessions every year, or about 3,600 every year.  And if we figure that Johnson has been in the Senate for four years, that would mean that if Feingold were still in the Senate, he would have given 14,400 constituents the opportunity to personally ask their Senator a question or give him an earful. 

And these were just Feingold’s listening sessions.  Feingold also regularly attended community functions, met with constituent groups, and was someone you were likely to run into at county fairs and dairy breakfasts.  

The same simply cannot be said for Ron Johnson, who spends more time on special interest junkets and meeting with billionaires than he spends on his “constituent outreach.”  

Johnson claiming to be a hundred times better than Feingold at constituent outreach is like Anchorage claiming to be a hundred times warmer than Miami or Jay Leno claiming to be hundred times funnier than Johnny Carson:  Some things are just self-evident and constituent outreach is one of them.

I don’t know about you, but 2016 can’t come soon enough for me, because Ron Johnson is an embarrassment to our state.

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13 thoughts on “Sen. Ron Johnson says he does “orders of magnitude” more constituent outreach than Russ Feingold

  1. I agree especially with the point about “in person” local appearances. Like him or not, you would often see Feingold appearing at local events, visiting local businesses, etc. When do you ever see pictures of video of Johnson at any in-state events? Republican voters in this state really don’t care about any of that, though.

  2. In his first 4 years as senator, I had the honor of meeting Russ Feingold 4 or 5 times, usually at a local thing that he was invited to, etc… I have never met Ron Johnson.

    I actually sat through one of RoJo’s “town hall calls.” I am pretty sure it was pre-recorded.

  3. I liked and attended Feingold’s meetings. Johnson had one meeting in my area at which he sent a member of his staff who took notes on my commmens and questions. I never heard from him.

    IMO “Orders of magnitude” = lazy and out of touch.

  4. Totally agree about the pontificating. I went to RoJo’s office with a group of UAW PAC and CAP members. He spent about 15 minutes telling us his economic policies. When members of our group attempted to ask questions we were given the bum’s rush out of there by one of his staffers. The only person that Ron Johnson wants to hear talk is himself. He seems to have forgotten that God gave him two ears but only one mouth for a good reason.

  5. Most of Ron Johnson’s outreach to the public is via Charlie “Family Values” Sykes propaganda ministry on WTMJ. Free air time for political grandstanding is apparently “public service” provided by Journal Broadcast. Of course, Johnson does have to compete for air time that is shared with Sheriff Clark or Governor Walker. All of them have a direct line into WTMJ.

    1. I forgot to mention– listen occasionally to determine what sponsors to boycott. Spend your money wisely– don’t enrich those who are working against your interests.

  6. Zach,

    Sorry to correct you, but math is important. At least to me. If approximately 50 people attended each of Feingold’s 72 listening sessions, because some of those people may have been at more than one session, all we can state for certain is that the number attending is between 50 and 3600.

    Venn diagrams. Learn it. Know it. Love it.

    1. Nemo wrote:

      Zach,

      Sorry to correct you,

      Another lie.

      Nemo wrote “but math is important.”

      Something we can all agree on.

      Nemo wrote: “At least to me.”

      This from a guy who can’t read a thermometer.

      Nemo wrote: “If approximately 50 people attended each of Feingold’s 72 listening sessions, because some of those people may have been at more than one session, all we can state for certain is that the number attending is between 50 and 3600.

      Venn diagrams. Learn it. Know it. Love it.”

      If you’re so committed to accuracy, call Sen. Johnson’s office and ask him to release the names of everyone who attended one of his listening sessions.

      1. john,

        In addition to math, or more specifically set theory, the right to privacy is also important to me. As long as it falls outside the purview of open records laws, I have due regard for a Senator that shares a respect for privacy. Not sure why you made up the bizarre thermometer lie, did you run out of made up quotes to attribute to me?

        1. Nemo wrote: “In addition to math, or more specifically set theory,”

          Please, explain what you mean by “set theory,” as it relates to this post.

          Nemo wrote: “the right to privacy is also important to me.”

          Prove it.

          Link back to ONE comment you’ve made here at BB which would suggest in anyway you care about civil liberties.

          Nemo wrote: “As long as it falls outside the purview of open records laws, I have due regard for a Senator that shares a respect for privacy.

          The Senator put claims out there. If he can’t back them up, he should retract them.

          Nemo: “Not sure why you made up the bizarre”

          You need to look up the definition of “bizarre” up in a dictionary.

          Nemo wrote: “thermometer lie, did you run out of made up quotes to attribute to me?”

          You dig your own holes.

          “Nemo,

          I’m sorry you can’t even find ONE scientific study that backs up your claim: “I do believe, and can back up with facts, that mankind has not had any statically significant effect on global climate.”

          You’re still on the clock:

          1. Start with the first (earliest) of your peer-reviewed studies.

          2. Name the authors and the title.

          3. Pull out a quote that states what you claimed, ““I do believe, and can back up with facts, that mankind has not had any statically significant effect on global climate.”

          4. List the page on which the quote occurs.”

          http://bloggingblue.com/2015/01/pope-francis-to-issue-edict-on-climate-change/#comment-145761

          You’re still on the clock.

  7. I was one of those 400,000 folks who “participated” in RoJo’s bogus telephone town halls. I remember getting a phone call, which I picked up even tho no caller ID was shown. And then I heard Our Dumb Senator in the midst of blathering about something or other. So I hung up, but I guess that’s RoJo “expanding his reach.”

  8. I was fortunate enough to meet and speak with Sen. Feingold just before the 2010 campaign really kicked into full gear, and I was amazed that 6 months later, we met at another event and he not only remembered me, but he remembered details from our initial conversation. That’s retail politics at its finest, and considering he was a sitting U.S. Senator at the time, that’s pretty damn impressive.

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