I was quite vocal about my frustration with the Republican Party of Wisconsin for failing to get its act together and find a viable candidate to challenge Russ Feingold.
For example, from October 7, 2009:
Question: Why doesn't the Republican Party of Wisconsin get its act together for the 2010 U.S. Senate race?
Question: Why has the Republican Party of Wisconsin completely surrendered Wisconsin's Senate seats to the Democrats?
It drives me absolutely nuts!
Especially with Scott Walker's gubernatorial bid and the 2010 election guaranteed to bring lots of voters to the polls, it's crazy to let the opportunity to unseat Russ Feingold slip away.
CRAZY!
And here we have a poll that shows Feingold is vulnerable enough.
From The Hill:Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) won't be on anybody's target list unless things get pretty bad for Democrats, but a new poll shows the right candidate could at least have a shot at beating him.
The poll, which was conducted by University of Wisconsin professor Ken Goldstein for the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, shows former Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) leading Feingold 43-39 in a head-to-head matchup. Thompson hasn't shown interest in running against Feingold, though, and his inclusion in the poll represents something of a best-case-scenario for Republicans.
In contrast, Feingold polled double-digit leads over Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and former Rep. Mark Green (R-Wis.) in June.
Feingold has never taken more than 55 percent of the vote in three races, but he's not generally thought of as a top potential target.
First, a lot has changed since June. I doubt that Feingold would pull a double-digit lead over Paul Ryan now.
Second, it bugs me that Feingold isn't considered a target. Why not?
Feingold has been exposed as a fringe Leftist. He wanted to be president but the Democrats rejected him as being too extreme, opting to go with Obama, the most liberal person in the Senate.
I think Feingold has managed to present himself as a nice guy, a regular guy, with his folksy persona in those homespun ads.
Feingold may be a nice guy, but his policies are radical. He's not a moderate.
Why won't the Republican Party of Wisconsin get that message out?
Tommy Thompson isn't going to run, and that's unfortunate.
Anyone to unseat Feingold.
For months, it seemed hopeless. It appeared that Feingold was destined to waltz into another term, another torturous six years.
Then Ron Johnson, a tremendous candidate, stepped forward, and the Republican Party of Wisconsin stepped up.
Other terrific candidates, like Reid Ribble and Sean Duffy, fought the good fight, too. So did Dan Kapanke, nearly upsetting Ron Kind, as well as the other Republican candidates in the state who were unsuccessful but devoted themselves to the conservative cause.
And of course, Scott Walker was tireless in his commitment to get the state of Wisconsin back on track and determined to win.
Reince Priebus, the Wisconsin Republican Party, and the field of qualified, committed Republican candidates deserve credit for making the most of the opportunities presented by the unbelievable missteps and overreaching and extremism of Obama and the Democrats these past two years.
They tapped into the concerns of the people, and they effectively communicated solutions and their conservative message.
They offered Wisconsin voters real change we can believe in. And this time we got it.
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UPDATE, November 22, 2010: Potential Priebus bid for RNC continues to get buzz
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UPDATE, December 6, 2010: State GOP leader Reince Priebus to run for RNC chair
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