PROGRESS? Well, we hope so.  There are some indications that Republican Senate candidates are inching up on their opponents.  We urge caution.  There are still almost two months to go to the election, and the Dems are no doubt planning some kind of stunt in October.  But we'll take some good news, if only for morale.  From NBC:

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., has closed the gap in his re-election race, erasing a seven-point deficit to take a one-point lead over his Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, according to a new poll released Wednesday. 

Johnson is the Republican incumbent.  We must hold this seat.

While Johnson’s 49%-48% lead among likely voters is within the poll’s margin of error, it’s a huge reversal for Johnson in the Marquette Law School poll, considered the gold standard of polling in Wisconsin. In last month's Marquette survey, Barnes led Johnson by seven points, 51% to 44%.

The most recent poll also showed Gov. Tony Evers holding his lead over GOP nominee Tim Michels, with 47% of those queried favoring Evers to 44% choosing Michels for governor. 

The survey of 801 Wisconsin registered voters was conducted Sept. 6-11 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.3%. 

The poll’s director, Charles Franklin, in his live delivery of the results, said the Senate race shift happened as voters learned more about Barnes and as Republicans began running ads targeting him. Those ads have depicted Barnes as too far left for Wisconsin voters.   

Johnson senior adviser Ben Veolkel said the Republican's campaign would keep those themes going. “We’ll make the next two months awful for him as we continue to expose the truth about him to Wisconsin voters,” Voelkel said.

COMMENT:  There is other good news, again tentative.  In Nevada, Republican Adam Laxalt is pulling even with incumbent Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto.  This could be a Republican pickup if things continue this way.  In Georgia, Republican football great Herschel Walker is closing on incumbent ultra-Liberal Raphael Warnock in some polls.  This could also be a Republican pickup, but it's a tough fight.  Both men are African-American.  Walker, however, has no political experience, but is learning.

No race has gotten more coverage than the Pennsylvania Senate race between doctor and TV personality Mehmet Oz, a Republican, and Democratic lieutenant governor John Fetterman, a nut case.  The latest poll shows Fetterman up by five points to fill the seat being vacated by Republican Senator Pat Toomey.  Fetterman, though, has deficiencies, and the momentum appears to be with Oz.  Another Republican seat we must hold.

We'll watch the polls, and the politics around the polls.  But nothing in any of these races is set in concrete. 

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy announced tonight that the Republicans will present their four-point plan for America on September 23rd.  That could be important, a list of what Republicans will actually do if elected.  I'm looking forward.

September 14, 2022