The most interesting man in WI politics
Republicans just picked up another congressional seat in Wisconsin on their way to taking the gavel away from Nancy Pelosi next year. (The GOP need only flip 5 out of 435.) That would make six of Wisconsin’s eight House seats in the Republican column.
Incumbent Democrat Ron Kind announced Tuesday 08-10-21 he has “run out of gas.” Can’t blame him. Campaigning for election every two years in the last 24 years would wear out a Clydesdale draft horse.
May well be that Kind read the writing on the proverbial wall. (Not that Democrats believe in walls.) Last year, the incumbent beat his Republican opponent — a first-time office seeker — with only 51.3% of the vote. Just four years previous, Kind had no opposition whatsoever in his La Crosse-based Third district.
His 2020 opponent never quit campaigning. Lanky and whiskered like The Most Interesting Man in the World, Derrick Van Orden dominates any stage, on contrast to the bland, centrist Ron Kind. (Like Gov. Tony Evers, a nice guy. Really … just … Nice.)
Derrick Van Orden
Van Orden emceed the Republican state convention in June and stole the show, quipping perceptively and segueing effortlessly between speakers. Indeed, D.V.O. has appeared in motion pictures with Jon Voight (a kindred soul) and Nicholas Cage. (One of his efforts is the 2012 Act of Valor.) Dane County Republicans are featuring D.V.O. at their annual Lincoln-Reagan dinner August 21. That Madison sits in the Second District, not the Third, speaks to the man’s star power (and paucity of “out” Republicans hereabouts).
The guy is in the mold of Ron Johnson but with major military cred — he is a retired, 21-year Navy Seal with five combat deployments. Describes himself as “American patriot, retired Navy SEAL, husband, father, grandfather and Christian.” He’s Build the Wall, Back the Blue, American First, and Covid-19 “masks optional.” In other words, he’s got the Trumpies.
→ Which is good because Trump won the 3rd District in 2016 by 4.5 percentage points over Hillary Clinton and by 4.7 points in 2020 even as Trump lost the state to Joe Biden. (If he lost.)
Nice guys finish …
Kind, on the other hand, is that vanishing breed: a moderate. Good gummint goo-goos love the species but moderates excite no one, by definition. Particularly in today’s Pick-a-Side political landscape. Progressives will put up a Woke candidate in the mold of Mark Pocan and the Squad, thus ensuring a Van Orden victory.
→ Kind’s big bow-out puts us in mind of Dave Obey calling it quits after 42 years, also after reading the tea leaves, in 2010. Northern Wisconsin’s 7th district has been a Republican satrapy ever since.
Indeed, the Five-Thirty-Eight website rates western Wisconsin’s Third District as “leans Republican.” (Click “Old Maps.”)
Blaska’s Bottom Line: When health care workers demonstrate against Covid restrictions in Madison WI (Health care workers!), you know the game is afoot. As if urban crime, the assault on the southern border, critical race theory, free college, and expensive gasoline were not enough.
Education
Blaska Policy Werkes 
Even as stellar a candidate as Mr. Van Orden will have hard slogging when elections are as rigged as they are in this country, including WI now that the miserable old scarecrow in the governor’s office has vetoed Republican measures designed to return at least a modicum of fairness and common sense to the state’s voting system. How is it that Ron Kind gets labeled a ‘moderate’ when he’s voted for every extremist policy proposed by his colleagues in the Democrat party?
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No worries; friday the 13th will see himself back in the WH.
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“Elections are rigged”?
Where is your video footage showing mis-deeds? Where are the ballots that were not counted, or miscounted? What standing election rules were broken?
Trump has lost 71 of 73 lawsuits alleging the same thing you are. SEVENTY ONE of seventy three. That means 71 judges, an army of attornies spending thousands of hours digging, and many millions of dollars couldn’t unearth substantial proof.
But Richard Lesiak has proof? Well then, let’s have it.
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Nathan,
Curious. What type of job do you think Biden is doing?
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Biden’s performance in office is unrelated to the pursuit of truth/facts. Are you attempting to conflate the two?
But since you asked – I would summarize my opinion of Biden in one word: irresponsible.
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Nathan,
Conflating? Perhaps. Democrats use the election rigging story to detract from the failure in the WH.
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Firstly — I’m no democrat. Secondly — I encourage you to entertain the possibility that there was BOTH election fraud, and that Biden is undesirable as President.
Of course Democrats are trying to deflect attention from Biden’s failures. The Public only has a limited attention span, and both parties find ways to exploit that.
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Nathan, you say Biden is “irresponsible”? That’s like saying Hitler was “impolite.” Then again, how responsible can a person be if he’s in charge of–maybe–20% of his faculties?
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Did you want a thesis? novel? 3-part mini-series?
It was a simple question, and I provided a succinct answer. I don’t like Biden. I don’t think he’s doing a good job. I think we’ll all be poorer for his leadership.
But none of this^^ changes the fact that by every available metric, he was elected lawfully.
Furthermore — for people like R. Lesiak and The Pillow Dude to continue inciting some type of coup (based on bogus fraud claims) >> well, I think it’s appalling and very much against our Constitution.
They are entitled to their own opinions. But not their own facts.
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“Firstly — I’m no democrat.”
Assumption on my part.
“Secondly — I encourage you to entertain the possibility that there was BOTH election fraud, and that Biden is undesirable as President.”
I think you meant to say that were NOT election fraud?
I’m not an either-or thinker and am quite capable of accepting opposing premises. Thank you. In this case, I can’t get over the fact that substantial irregularities were found. They’ve been documented in the comment sections of this very blog if you care to look. Arrests were actually made. There is also the indisputable FACT that Democrats ran to judges weeks before the election to change the rules. Judges are human. Many are politicians. They’re biased and make mistakes.
I’m over the election, have been for some time. That doesn’t mean I don’t think there weren’t irregularities, and being told to just sit down and accept it like an idiot does little to allay these concerns.
“Of course Democrats are trying to deflect attention from Biden’s failures. The Public only has a limited attention span, and both parties find ways to exploit that.”
Agreed,
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“I think you meant to say that were NOT election fraud”
Should read “I think you meant to say that there was NOT any election fraud.”
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You’re totally write. banging-keys in a hurry. “NOT any election fraud” is correct.
There were irregularities. Some of them even helped Republicans. But there has not been enough documentation of irregularities to change the outcome.
Again 71 of 73 cases (lost) back this up.
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Nathan
If there were no cases of election fraud, then why were people arrested for election fraud?
Two judges had reason to call the election into question. Again, judges are biased. Look at the recent Ella French case. I’m not saying the 71 judges were wrong, but do I unequivocally trust them? No.
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I never said there was No Fraud. But I have seen no proof of an election-changing amount of fraud. (My instincts suggest that there has probably been fraud in most elections.)
You and I see eye-to-eye there: I don’t unequivocally trust anyone either. At the same time, I don’t have time to hand-count every single ballot myself….(My instincts suggest that most judges who ruled against Trump, especially Republicans, can be trusted).
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