Endangered Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold has sharpened his message in recent weeks, following a series of moments in which his Republican rival, Ron Johnson, seemed unable to answer basic questions about his policy agenda. Throughout the campaign, Feingold seemed to struggle with going negative -- it conflicts somewhat with his established political persona -- but this new ad attacking Johnson for being vague is pretty strong (via Eric Kleefield):
Johnson's hometown newspaper, the Oshkosh Northwestern, endorsed Feingold, saying Johnson's answers "to questions in the limited interviews and appearances he has made have shown a propensity for vague and scripted talking points that strike emotional chords without substance or thought." It wasn't the only newspaper to reject Johnson for this reason, so this is a narrative with some legs.
Nate Silver's model gives Feingold a slim 11.1 percent chance of winning, but one wonders whether things would have been different had Johnson been defined this way earlier in the campaign. It would be really something to see the Senate's only civil libertarian ousted by the kind of person who rails against government spending while raking in taxpayer dollars for his own business initiatives.
