Nicholson should lay off Paul Ryan
In September, a lengthy Politico Magazine feature called Wisconsin U.S. Senate candidate Kevin Nicholson a Republican “dream candidate” who “could have been built in a GOP laboratory.”
But if Nicholson was built in laboratory, it’s one in which the primates are the ones doing the testing.
At a Republican Party event in Jefferson County last week, Nicholson told attendees that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s unenthusiastic support for Donald Trump was “a problem” and criticized Ryan for having a “light footprint” in the state.
The Ryan that Nicholson accused of having a “light footprint” is the same one who was born and raised in Janesville and who has won 10 elections to his southern Wisconsin congressional seat. It’s the same Ryan who was so well thought of by his colleagues that he was elevated to Speaker of the House and yet despite his national prominence — which included a spot on the 2012 Republican presidential ticket — has held more than 700 “town hall” meetings to listen to constituents. It’s the Ryan who, according to the latest statewide Marquette University Law School poll, has the highest approval rating of any politician in the state other than Gov. Scott Walker.
Of course, this bizarre Ryan skepticism is the brainchild of President Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon, whose populist, alt-right website Breitbart has turned flogging Ryan into an unnerving fetish. Bannon, who has ties with a super PAC that has endorsed Nicholson, has vowed to spend the time following his recent ouster at the White House torching the Republican establishment.
That, of course, once again puts Ryan in Bannon’s crosshairs. For instance, Breitbart routinely runs stories predicting Ryan is just days from being deposed as speaker, blaming him for failures on health care and accusing Ryan of secretly working to see that Hillary Clinton was elected. Behind the scenes, the Breitbart chairman referred to Ryan as “the enemy,“and earlier this year, Bannon famously referred to Ryan by using a vulgar term suggesting Ryan hasn’t done his job as speaker.
The irony of Kevin Nicholson taking cues from a national alt-right figure to attack Paul Ryan for not being sufficiently rooted in Wisconsin is rich.
But the idea that running as a Republican by attacking one of the state’s most popular GOP politicians is puzzling given that Nicholson is trying to persuade people that he is, indeed, Republican.
Nicholson’s past as an enthusiastic supporter of Democratic causes — including a speaking slot supporting Al Gore at the 2000 Democratic National Convention — has been well-documented, and he speaks about them often. Nicholson claims he converted to conservatism in the mid-2000s, but the details on his voting record are iffy on that front. Regardless of when he flipped, a guy who has been a Republican for about 10 minutes is now taking shots at a congressman who has been the conscience of national conservatism for a decade.
“Anyone who has spent any time in Janesville knows that Paul Ryan is home all the time and is 100% Wisconsin,” said Jess Ward, campaign manager for Nicholson’s Republican opponent, state Sen. Leah Vukmir. In a statement, Vukmir’s campaign called on Nicholson to apologize, with Vukmir adding that while Ryan “may have the toughest job in D.C.,” he has “never forgotten where he came from.”
In fact, Ryan’s greatest weakness over the past two years has been being too deferential to Trump and his fact-challenged supporters. Keep in mind, the House was actually able to pass an Obamacare repeal bill (even though it wasn’t great), while the Senate ground to a halt.
It’s the senator Nicholson is running against, Democrat Tammy Baldwin, whom he should blame for legislative inaction, not the guy in the other house who is getting stuff done. The job of criticizing Paul Ryan should be left to Nicholson’s former partners in the Democratic Party. Hopefully, it’s a habit he doesn’t find too hard to break.