Feingold Begins Campaign with Distortion
[Oshkosh, WI] After 30 years in politics, Russ Feingold can’t even fill a 30 second ad with positive things about his own record. Instead he’s distorting the record in a cynical ploy to destroy his opposition and hold onto power. In the first attack ad of the 2010 U.S. Senate race, the politician who attempts to portray himself as cleaning-up elections takes to smearing an opponent closing in on him in the polls.
It’s what Washington insiders do when they don’t want to talk about their failed record on jobs.
“What do you do if you’re Russ Feingold and you don’t know how to create jobs? Create a diversion by attacking your opponent,” said Juston Johnson, Campaign Manager for Ron Johnson for Senate. “Russ Feingold spent a trillion dollars last year for a jobs program he said would create 2.4 million jobs. It didn’t. We’ve lost 2.5 million jobs instead. Now as November 2nd looms, Russ Feingold will do anything to avoid talking about his failure to create jobs.
“Feingold’s ad has nothing to do with solving our economic crisis,” Johnson said. “That’s the type of slight-of-hand he’s learned over his 18 years in Washington. Contrary to Feingold’s ad, Ron Johnson doesn’t support drilling in the Great Lakes, but he does know how to create jobs and strengthen our economy.”
Russ Feingold’s false attack is hinged to a response to a question about drilling that the Feingold campaign cites in their cynical claim that Ron Johnson is for drilling in the Great Lakes. Ron was speaking to the greater reality that our nation needs to continue producing oil or risk further dependence on foreign oil. Both Ron and the campaign have since clarified that Ron specifically opposes drilling in the Great Lakes. The Feingold campaign is aware of it, yet chose to distort Ron’s position. Furthermore, Russ Feingold’s attack ad conveniently omits the fact that Feingold opposed the legislation that outlawed Great Lakes drilling in 2005.
“Ron is a straight-forward businessman and not a politician, and was addressing the larger needs of oil production in America while referring to ANWR, where significant resources exist, for drilling,” Johnson said. “Ron does not support drilling in the Great Lakes, a currently illegal practice, and has made that point clear.”
Russ Feingold Voted Against the 2005 Energy Bill, Which Banned Great Lakes Drilling (June 28, 2005: H.R. 6, 2005 Roll Call Vote #158: Adopted 85-12: Feingold Voted Nay, Kohl Voted Yea. July 29, 2005: Conference Report H.R. 6, 2005 Roll Call Vote #213: Adopted 74-26: Feingold Voted Nay, Kohl Voted Yea.)
Ron Johnson is Against Drilling in the Great Lakes and Would Oppose Efforts to Lift the 2005 Ban (July 12, 2010 Ron Johnson for Senate Press Release: “Johnson Campaign: Statement on Great Lakes Drilling”)
A 2005 United States Geological Survey found there was only 312 million barrels of oil in the entire United States-controlled portion of the Great Lakes Basin. (Source: United States Geological Survey, Fact Sheet 2006-3049, April 2006: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3049/)
According to the Alliance for the Great Lakes, a Michigan-based environmental lobby, this is enough to fuel America…for two minutes. (Source: “Alliance’s Work to Protect Great Lakes from Drilling Runs Deep” http://greatlakes.org/Page.aspx?pid=1122)
September 16, 2004 Feingold Campaign Press Release: “Feingold Issues Challenge to Michels to Pledge Clean Campaign and Accept Debates“ “The people of Wisconsin are not best served by negative campaigns. Let’s agree to conduct positive campaigns, based on the issues,” Feingold said.
