WI - Johnson vs Feingold part 2

After stumbling a bit in his first ever political debate last Friday, GOP Senate hopeful Ron Johnson put in an impressive performance tonight. It was a stunning improvement actually. He was energetic without seeming anxious, very well-prepared and deliberate in his speech — he looked like a politician ready to go to Washington. Sen. Feingold stuck to his guns and once again proved himself an experienced debater, even if most Wisconsin voters have long soured on the substance of his message. The debate had a more open format and this played to Johnson’s advantage. That is, he didn’t try to rush his answers and made his points clearly and concisely during the follow ups to the initial questions.

Perhaps the debate’s most compelling exchanges centered on freedom of expression. When Johnson asked Feingold why he did not vote to condemn MoveOn.org’s “General Betray Us” ad, Feingold cried “free speech,” arguing that the Senate has better things to do than pass meaningless resolutions. Several minutes later, Feingold — echoing a tactic that many embattled Democrats are using lately — accused Johnson of benefiting from the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United, what Feingold called “one of the worst decisions in the history” of the court. He called on Johnson to ask third party groups spending on his behalf to stop. Johnson, referencing Feingold’s earlier defense (and drawing laughter), claimed that these groups also “have a right to free speech.” This turned into a bit of a testy back-and-forth with neither candidate backing down. Johnson missed a golden opportunity, however, to point out the almost $600,000 that MoveOn.org has recently raised on Feingold’s behalf, and to ask him if they should stop their activity as well. Count on hearing about it in the next debate.

Johnson scored big on a counter to one of Feingold’s standard lamentations — ‘woe is me, the lonely independent voice in a Congress of partisans,’ etc. — by bringing up Feingold’s (decisive) votes on the stimulus package and health-care reform, two highly partisan efforts. Feingold responded that the stimulus wasn’t partisan because the two Maine Republicans voted for it, and this seemed to cause a bit of a commotion in the crowd and considerable laughter, as Johnson fittingly threw a look of disbelief in Feingold’s direction. This was an absolute low point for Feingold and exposed his biggest weak point. He looked more than ever like a vulnerable incumbent fighting a losing battle. - NRO Story