(H/T – Charlie Sykes)
The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute’s Christian Schneider embedded himself in the Ron Johnson Senate campaign, and began a week-long series looking at how someone who, this time last year was a successful businessman who was concerned about the storm clouds of PlaceboCare, knocked off the liberal lion of the US Senate, who this time last year, was still seen as a lock for re-election despite a series of testy constituent meetings. I can think of at least 4 Senate candidates who, had they followed what Johnson and his campaign team did, would have at a minimum made a respectable showing earlier this month, which is why it’s a “Mandatory Read” rather than a “Hot Read”. I usually hate to use an extended excerpt for these, but in this case, I must; besides, there’s 4 more parts coming.
One of the times RonJon’s inexperience as a public speaker became most evident occurred in early June, when the new candidate was speaking in front of a conservative group that should have been predisposed to his way of thinking. Johnson was asked a question about illegal immigration, and began giving a good answer.
Johnson was telling the group all about how we need to secure the border and enforce the laws on the books. He could have ended there and been just fine. Then, when he should have stopped talking, he started asking himself rhetorical questions. Johnson, not knowing what was going to come out of his mouth next, said, out loud, “of course, that brings up the question – what do we do with the illegal immigrants that are already here?”
Johnson’s staff was horrified. Clearly, the only reason to ask yourself a hypothetical question out loud is because you probably don’t know the answer. And not knowing things isn’t exactly a strong resume point when applying to be a U.S. senator.
As a result, (Jack) Jablonski (deputy campaign manager), Juston (Johnson, campaign manager), and (Kristin) Ruesch (communications director) began a “candidate boot camp” for the new candidate. They locked Johnson into a room for three days in mid-June, firing questions at him. These quickly became known as the “murder sessions.” Among the questions Johnson was posed:
- Should British Petroleum (BP) be required to suspend its dividend payouts to ensure set aside for liabilities or put it into an escrow fund?
- What do you feel caused the financial crash?
- When is it appropriate to use the filibuster?
- Who is responsible for preserving and protecting the Gulf of Mexico?
- Is Obama a Marxist?
- Are you the tea party candidate?
- Are you in favor of a Fair or Flat Tax?
- Should we audit the Fed?
Both Jablonski and Juston acknowledge that RonJon is a smart guy. “He’s said ‘every day I wake up, my goal is not to say something that will completely sink my campaign,’” recounts Juston. “And he’s a very willing learner – he’d sit and study policy papers all day if he could,” he said. “But he’s also very impatient and sensitive to his own vulnerabilities. He can’t stand just saying ‘I don’t know,’ when asked a tough question. It’s our job to teach him that sometimes it’s okay to give a 10 to 15 second answer, then pivot to jobs and the economy.”
Despite Johnson’s willingness to learn, these behind-the-scenes question and answer sessions often got testy. At times, Johnson’s obduracy ground the meetings to a halt. He didn’t think he’d be asked many of the questions his staff posed him. They often had to go back over issues several times.
For instance, staff told him three separate times not to say he’s a better candidate than Dave Westlake because he has more money. Then, at a candidate forum in Brookfield, Johnson answered a question about why he’d be a better candidate by essentially saying he had more money.
Through the murder sessions, Jablonski says he became convinced Johnson was smart and well-read enough to pull this off. But Johnson was clearly a neophyte, while Feingold has been at the political game for over 30 years now. “For eighteen years, taxpayers have been paying Russ Feingold to know everything there is to know about the federal government,” Jablonski says. “And Ron has to learn it all in, like, two weeks. Can you name anyone in the state who would be able to step into a situation like that?”
A bonus item from today’s piece deals with the raw, naked attempt by Feingold to keep somebody like Johnson from being able to effectively challenge his large warchest by putting the since-struck-down “Millionaire’s Exception” into the McCain-Feingold Liberal Protection Act.
