Thursday, August 17, 2006

Why Congressman Green hides his title

Why doesn't Mark Green's television commercial mention that he's a Congressman?

David Broder explains, in a Washington Post articled that mentions Green by name:
A leading Minnesota Republican told me that polls there show "the bottom has dropped out" of Rep. Mark Kennedy's challenge to Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar, the Democratic candidate for an open Democratic Senate seat. Kennedy has company among the corps of Republican congressmen who thought this would be a good year to move up. In Wisconsin, Rep. Mark Green is lagging slightly behind Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle. In Oklahoma, Rep. Ernest J. Istook Jr. is far worse off in his challenge to Democratic Gov. Brad Henry. And in Iowa, Rep. Jim Nussle, the strong early favorite to capture the open governorship from the Democrats, now finds himself in a real battle with Democrat Chet Culver.

For all of them, service in this Congress has turned out to be a handicap rather than a benefit to their chances of advancement. The reason was explained in blunt terms by the Republican governor of one of the states where a congressman of his party is struggling for statewide office. "What has this Congress done that anyone should applaud?" he asked scornfully. "Nothing on immigration, nothing on health care, nothing on energy -- and nothing on the war. They deserve a good kick in the pants, and that's what they're going to get."

That prediction is supported by the AP-Ipsos poll released last week. It showed a 33 percent job approval score for Bush and a 29 percent job approval score for the Republican Congress. On a test of voter preference for the midterm congressional elections, Democrats had a staggering 18-point lead, 55 percent to 37 percent. You can see why Republicans are worried.
The fact that Green has been a loyal Bushite, voting with him 93% of the time, won't help either. With Green mum about his time in Congress, the Doyle campaign has begun to point it out for him -- just to make sure Green gets full credit for all of his experience in public office.

Congressman Mark Green. It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

3 Comments:

At 8:42 AM, Blogger Dad29 said...

Who could possibly argue with polls?

I think it has more to do with 'message integrity' than Congressional asininity, which is notoriously permanent.

This is "Mark Green" vs. "Jim Doyle"...

 
At 8:57 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The dog days of late August always produce the most speculation in any election.
This is no different.
Wait until the week of Sept 12th's election and many polls will begin to give more accurate accountings.
The week after that primary election will truly show how Wisconsin voters feel about the Congressman, his voting record and how Wisconsinite's feel about having that record applied to the state.
Green has a uphill battle. He has no managerial experience in government. He went from college to play in Africa on his Dr. daddie's money and then in 4 years went into politics.
Green has never managed a budget. And his federal spending record does not bode well for Wisconsin's needs. Green has managed his two rental properties in Green Bay, via a third party rental managemtn company. He outsourced his managment.
Doyle ran the Dame Co DA's office for a long time, and the state's Atty General's office.

 
At 9:30 AM, Blogger grumps said...

Former Congressman Mark Green will sound even better.

Borrow and Spend isn't a message to run on but that is Green's record. It must be really hard to run against both yourself and your biggest fundraiser.

 

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