Republican Senate candidate Ron Johnson responded to Russ Feingold's comparative TV commercial on Great Lakes oil drilling -- which Johnson said he supported -- with a gross distortion of Feingold's record on the issue.
Johnson's slimy ad says Feingold voted against a permanent ban on drilling in the Great Lakes -- the only Great Lakes Senator to do so, he says. And Johnson pretends he's always opposed drilling, when he just switched positions two days ago, and now claims he never said what he said.
The truth: Feingold was an original sponsor of the 2001 bill that banned drilling, which was extended in 2003.
He voted against Dick Cheney's 2005 energy bill, a giveaway written by the oil companies, which included the ban Johnson mentions in his commercial.
The reason there is a ban on Great Lakes drilling today is because of the leadership of Feingold and other Midwestern Senators.
Ron Johnson knows the truth, but he thinks that spending a half million dollars or so to air that ad will make it impossible for the truth to get through.
Sad to say, he may be right.
This issue is a loser for Johnson. It's surprising he would want to continue this debate in the media, since he clearly said what he said in favor of drilling. The quick response means he knows the issue could be a killer for him if he doesn't throw some smoke up quickly.