The internet’s awash in contradictory polls, tornado-force spin, and extrapolating the next month from the last five minutes.
Step back: Ron Johnson is 100% beatable and Mandela Barnes will send him packing. Here’s how. Read on, share, and join in.
We always knew this race would be close—it’s Wisconsin. Over and over, elections come down to a few votes per ward across the state.
Despite a flood of attack ads by Ron Johnson in the most recent poll, by Public Policy Polling, they’re literally tied:
The September polling dip took place in a very specific context: the GOP and its allies were outspending Mandela Barnes and his supporters on TV ads. In fact, the GOP financial edge reached $6 million in that one month alone.
During that time—in which voters saw a brutal string of attack ads calling Mandela “dangerous” and “different” (hmm, wonder what they were trying to highlight?)—Mandela was gearing up for a huge counterpunch. That counterpunch is now underway.
Mandela Barnes just announced that he raised $20 million dollars in Q3—nearly all of that in September (he won his primary on August 9). That’s a huge fundraising report. It will fuel a flood of communication so voters know just how out of touch Ron Johnson really is.
This ad is reaching Wisconsinites all over the state, right now. It’s an argument that reshapes a race that Johnson wanted to be about… well, any other issue.
And Mandela just launched the “Ron Against Roe” tour, holding Ron Johnson accountable for his anti-choice record all across the state.
Johnson, meanwhile, is on defense—which won’t work well, because his record on reproductive freedom is indefensible.
Ron Johnson’s message to people who are concerned about their freedom over their own private medical decisions? They “can move.”
(Of course, he’s also co-sponsored eight different national abortion bans, including one without exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of the mother.)
Reproductive freedom is Ron Johnson’s most central, decisive vulnerability. But it’s far from the only one.
He serves himself and his big donors, while turning his back on everyone else. He insisted on one of the most regressive tax cuts in history—which netted his two biggest donors $215 million in tax deductions in a single year.
Ron Johnson wants to put Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block. He wants Social Security and Medicare to be subject to Congressional budget cuts every single year, as discretionary spending programs. This is terrible policy.
(Oh, and he’s also supported privatizing Social Security and raising the retirement age, and called the program a “ponzi scheme.”)
No amount of false attack ads can change the fact that Ron Johnson is an absolute disaster. This is the guy who just was saying the insurrection wasn’t armed.
It’s hard to imagine a politician more out of touch than Ron Johnson.
Wisconsin families want a Senator who sticks up for working people.
Ron Johnson doesn’t meet that basic test—and you can tell from his campaign he’s terrified that voters will notice.
Johnson is using dog whistles and lies to try to distract from his out-of-touch record: he’s supported a federal abortion ban that had no exception for rape, incest, or the life of the mother. He’s supported outsourcing jobs. He’s out of step with Wisconsin.
So: help us win this thing.
First, let’s keep closing the funding gap. WisDems and Mandela’s own campaign both have critical roles to play—communicating with voters, getting out the vote, protecting the vote. Split a donation to both of us and we’ll put it to good use.
Help Mandela, his team, and his allies (including WisDems) keep working around the clock to assemble the resources needed for a powerhouse counterpunch. Chip in here.
Second, evangelize this race.
People need to know what Mandela’s for, who he really is—and they need to know what Ron Johnson’s all about. That’s where all of us come in. It’s everyone’s job to fight the fight. Share this really great interview:
New ads sticking it to Johnson on reproductive freedoms and his record of enriching himself will be on the air more and more in the days and weeks to come. It’s up to all of us to get the message out at every opportunity and through every available means.
Senate Majority PAC has a devastating ad on the air right now about Johnson’s record on abortion.
Third, turn out every vote.
No matter how gruesome, vicious, and dishonest the GOP’s attack machine gets, our job is the same—to stay grounded in our values and do the work in these final 33 days.
Whatever the polls look like, we’ve got to stay focused on doing the things we can control, the things we know make a difference: talking to voters and listening to them. This will be an election where a single volunteer pouring themselves into action could tip the whole state. That volunteer could be you. Have you signed up for a shift yet?
This race is *absolutely* winnable.
Mandela’s going to keep debunking Ron Johson’s lies, and even more, go on the offense.
Let’s keep both feet on the gas to support Mandela.
And we’ll keep calling out why the GOP wants us afraid and alone: It’s when we unite—no matter where we live or what we look like—that we have the power to defend the middle class against dangerous Republicans like Johnson who want a Wisconsin, and an America, that serves only the few.
So let’s get the vote out and protect it, and let’s recruit everyone we know to help.
And if you can, pitch in any amount to ensure Mandela wins (your donation will go directly to his campaign and WisDems who's going all out to elect him).