Green cozies up to the President

We suggested a couple of weeks ago that Rep. Mark Green's fortunes may be tied to those of the increasingly unpopular George W. Bush -- and even more so to the Iraq war, which Green continues to champion. Post.

But the Green campaign wants to dispel any doubts about whether Green might try to get a little distance from W. This week's e-newsletter pushes back at primary opponent Scott Walker and puts Bush right on the ticket with Green in next year's governor's race. From the newsletter:

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Last week in their email update, Mark’s primary opponent reprinted a column arguing that while most people believe Mark is the best candidate to beat Doyle, that reality might be in jeopardy because of Mark’s strong support for President Bush and his work on the War Against Terrorism. Here are a few excerpts from the column the Walker Team promoted:

Most Republican and Democratic insiders have tabbed Mark Green as the more formidable opponent against incumbent Gov. Jim Doyle and the favorite over Walker in the Republican primary.

Green looked squeaky clean, with a congressional record that might help and wouldn't hurt, being largely irrelevant in a gubernatorial campaign. All Green needed was a mediocre or better approval rating for President George Bush and congressional Republicans, and the specifics of his record might not have mattered.

But in the post-Katrina, post-Scooter Libby world, Bush's approval rating has plummeted and is likely to stay in the basement as long we remain at war in Iraq.

While we aren’t buying that argument for one second, we do know that Mark will stick to his principles and will never back down from his support of President Bush’s efforts to make our country and world a safer place by taking the battle to the terrorists before they attack us again. People have been writing George W. Bush’s political obituary for a long time now. The folks here at Green Team HQ have no doubt he’ll prove his critics wrong again.

Considering this new line of attack on Mark we thought this would be appropriate for this week’s POTW.

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That may be great primary strategy to secure the Republican base, but I will be surprised if Mark Green asks the Pres to campaign with him next October. Once that primary's over, if public opinion continues to go in the direction it's headed, Mark Green will be pretending he never heard of George W. Bush or Iraq.