Senate candidate Ron Johnson has developed a new campaign technique, and the news media seem happy to let him use it.
Caught in a contradiction, or taking a position he can't defend, Johnson simply restates the question he was answering -- although it wasn't the one he was asked.
He's done it twice -- and both times when Russ Feingold began running a commercial telling the voters about what Johnson had said.
First it was drillling for oil under the Great Lakes, something Johnson was not opposed to until it became a political issue. Then he threw up so many smokescreens about what he thought he was saying, and what he was being asked, and claiming he didn't hear the whole question, just the parts he liked, that the media gave him a pass. Johnson has always been against Great Lakes drilling, don'cha know?
Now it's guns. Here's his latest statement;
“In my first days as a candidate, I used the wrong terms when discussing my strong support for gun rights and concealed carry here in Wisconsin. I’m a first time candidate and I made a mistake. I used the term ‘licensing’ when I meant permits for the right to carry a concealed weapon. Wisconsin is one of only two states whose citizens do not have that basic Constitutional right. I do not, nor will I ever, support licensing or registration of firearms.
What's wrong with that?
Well, he wasn't asked about concealed carry, and he never mentioned it, so it would be pretty surprising if that's what RoJo's answer was really about. Here is the actual question and answer:
Rock River Patriots: “What infringements would you support for reasonable restrictions, if any?”
Ron Johnson: “You know, like we license cars and stuff, I don’t have a real, I don’t have a real problem in a minimal licensing and stuff, I mean I don’t. Again, I’m, I’m not a gun owner, so it’s not a, it’s not a, it’s not something I’ve given a great deal of thought about. But I support the right.” [Rock River Patriots Meeting, 6.11.10]
I happen to disagree with Feingold on gun issues, too. He is way too pro-gun for my taste. But at least when you ask him about it he'll give you a straight answer and not pretend you were talking about something else.