The Personification of Desperation
Saturday, August 21st, 2010If ever there was a campaign tactic that’s doomed for failure, it’s the tactic that the Wisconsin Democratic Party is deploying against Sean Duffy. Here’s what’s being reported on the Democrats’ stunt:
The campaign for the Wisconsin 7th District House seat being vacated by retiring Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey took a strange turn on Friday as the state Democratic Party claimed to have obtained a copy of Republican candidate Sean Duffy’s as yet unannounced economic plan.
“The Democratic Party of Wisconsin on Thursday got its hands on Sean Duffy’s economic plan in advance of its planned release next week and found that, in it, Duffy has applied his life lessons of getting drunk on television and being a mediocre political appointee,” the Wisconsin Democrats’ press release said.
This smacks of desperation. Sean Duffy has garnered endorsements from Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin, which means that they see Duffy as a serious candidate with a legitimate shot at winning. RCP rates WI-7 as leans Republican.
According to this article, this isn’t the Democrats’ first desperate attack against Sean Duffy:
Recently the campaign got ugly and desperate when The Democratic Party of Wisconsin sent out a press release on April 14, 2010 attacking Sean Duffy for being a white supremacist and used racial overtones to do it.
The press release stated, “Duffy was scheduled to appear at a Wausau Tea Party event Thursday alongside white supremacist Alabama militia Col. John Eidsmoe (Eidsmoe since canceled).” It continues, “But even before not answering questions about the Tea Party scandal, Duffy was not answering questions about his unexplained role at a Wisconsin Dells resort where he reportedly fled the scene after his wife got into a shoving match with GOP rival Dan Mielke. Shortly thereafter, his campaign manager either quit or was fired.”
Wisconsin Democrats know that this seat is lost if they can’t muddy Sean Duffy through a prolonged smear attack, something that I’m familiar with as an observer of the Dayton family’s attempt to buy the gubernatorial election for Sen. Dayton through a series of dishonest ads against Tom Emmer.
The Democrats, whether they’re located in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania or Ohio, know that they’re running uphill into a stiff headwind. They’ve been told to run away from the legislation they’ve passed. This administration’s economic policies have stunk up the joint. That’s the context in which this race is set in.
Is it any wonder that the Wisconsin Democratic Party is hurling one smear after another at Sean Duffy? It pains them to think that the seat that David Obey has occupied the last 20 terms will soon be held by Republican Sean Duffy. It’s the Wisconsin equivalent of Martha Coakley losing Ted Kennedy’s seat.
What’s great to see is that the Duffy campaign gives better than it gets. check this response out:
Duffy for Congress campaign manager, Matt Seaholm fired back with a press release. It stated, “In response to the baseless claims of racism thrown at Ashland County District Attorney Sean Duffy, Duffy for Congress campaign manager, Matt Seaholm, said the Democrat Party of Wisconsin (DPW) owes the Republican congressional candidate and his family an apology. Today, the DPW and its Chairman Mike Tate accused Duffy, who is married to Rachel Campos-Duffy, a Mexican-American, of being a white supremacist.”
Seaholm said, “Sean Duffy is proudly married to a Mexican-American and together they have six wonderful children. The DPW crossed the line by blatantly playing the race card and insulting the Latino community. The Democrats owe the Duffy family an apology and Mr. Tate should resign immediately.”
That’s stunning. That isn’t just a response. That’s a Game. Set. Match. type of response. Seaholm’s reply didn’t just counterpunch. It delivered the knockout blow that takes that subject off the table for the rest of this election cycle. You can’t respond more forcefully or more completely.
In that exchange between the Democrat Party of Wisconsin and Matt Seaholm, Seaholm is the clear winner. That doesn’t mean that it’s the last cheapshot that the Democrat Party of Wisconsin will throw at the Duffy campaign. They’ll definitely throw more cheapshots at him. I’m not worried, though, because it’s obvious that the Duffy campaign will consistently get the upper hand in these exchanges.
I suspect that this race is like other races across the country. The Republican is leading the race but they taste victory so intensely that they’ll continue campaigning like they’re 2 points behind with 3 weeks left in the campaign.
Put differently, it’s better to be a Republican than a Democrat and Republicans will keep outworking Democrats through till Election Day.
Technorati Tags: Sean Duffy, Matt Seaholm, District Attorney, TEA Party, Budget, Republicans, David Obey, Ted Kennedy, Mark Dayton, Smear Campaigns, Democrats, Election 2010
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog