Is Republican’s Democratic past getting a makeover?

Kevin Nicholson, a Republican weighing a possible bid for the U.S. Senate, has been a little unclear about his past as a Democrat.

Nicholson acknowledges in speeches that he was president of the College Democrats of America and spoke at the 2000 Democratic National Convention. He then suggests he soon saw the error of his ways and became a solid Republican.

But records show he registered as Democrat in North Carolina in 2005 and may have voted for a Democrat in the 2008 presidential primary, though he disputes it.

Now comes a new poll in which local voters are being asked about an unnamed Republican candidate for U.S. Senate — the description makes it obvious it is Nicholson — and his past ties to the Democratic Party, offering two conflicting scenarios.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, is up for re-election in 2018.

Early in the poll, respondents are asked which qualities they prefer in a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. These include successful business leader, husband and father of three children, highly decorated Marine, Wisconsin native, political outsider and a former Democrat — all qualities that could apply to Nicholson.

Then voters are told specifically about two unnamed candidates, according to audio of the 10-minute poll obtained by the Journal Sentinel. The first is a former captain in the Marine Corps who “was the president of the College Democrat National Committee and spoke at the 2000 Democrat Convention on behalf of Al Gore and voted for a Democrat for president in 2008.”

They are asked to choose between this candidate and one who is a conservative business leader.

Then respondents are told in some detail how the former Marine captain came to switch political parties. But this question suggests, contrary to the earlier one, that the candidate did not vote for a Democrat in the 2008 presidential primary.

“(This candidate) recognized the Democratic Party changed into one that turned their back on economic opportunity, ignored the middle class and pushed the progressive agenda,” the poll says. “By 2008, he had evolved into a conservative Republican where he voted ‘no preference’ in the Democrat primary for president.”

Respondents are told the unnamed candidate gave money to and voted for Republican presidential candidate John McCain in 2008. They are then asked to choose between this combat vet or the business leader.

So is Nicholson trying out two versions of his voting record — one in which he votes for a Democrat in 2008 and one in which he opted for “no preference” — to see which one is more acceptable to Republican voters?

Michael Antonopoulos, a spokesman for Nicholson, declined to say if his candidate even paid for the poll, saying he didn’t want to divulge any steps Nicholson may be taking to test the political waters. The survey was conducted by Victory Processing in Grand Rapids, Mich.

A Democratic Party official said Nicholson’s team is refusing to confirm the obvious.

“Over a year and a half before the election and Kevin Nicholson is already testing which of his lies to sell to honest, hardworking Wisconsin families,” said Brandon Weathersby, spokesman for the state Democratic Party.

Antonopoulos countered: “It’s clear that Tammy Baldwin and her special interest allies are afraid to run against a conservative outsider and highly decorated Marine veteran like Kevin.”

About a half-dozen Republicans are considering a possible run against Baldwin, a firstterm senator.

The poll doesn’t compare Nicholson’s credentials with any of the possible contenders in the state Legislature, such as Rep. Dale Kooyenga of Brookfield, state Sen. Leah Vukmir of Wauwatosa and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau.

As for the business leader mentioned throughout the survey, that could be another way of framing Nicholson, who now works for gh SMART, a management consulting firm. Or it could be Madison banker Eric Hovde or Nicole Schneider, the daughterin-law of the late Donald Schneider, former head of Schneider National Trucking.

Midway through the survey, the poll says this business leader criticized House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, last year and more recently “questioned if Catholics could vote for President (Donald) Trump.” These are references to controversial tweets posted by Schneider, who has yet to explain them.

The poll asks voters to choose between this business leader, who criticized top Republicans just recently, and “the highly decorated conservative captain in the Marines who was last a Democrat over a decade ago.”

The final five minutes of the survey frames Nicholson as a candidate who supports school choice, opposes abortion rights, backed the Iraq War troop surge, is a political outsider and would be happy to serve only one Senate term. The poll ends by asking respondents how regularly they listen to conservative talk radio.