WisDems shouldn't make fake websites

Fake RoJo sites are below what Democrats should stand for

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is engaging in some seriously questionable strategy in its efforts to unseat Republican Sen. Ron Johnson.

I say this as a Democrat, and as someone who really, really wants to see Johnson removed from his post, and replaced with former Sen. Russ Feingold. I also say it as someone who wants the Democratic Party to succeed, especially in Wisconsin.

In 2010 I painted Johnson as an unprincipled candidate for office. In 2012 I showed that Johnson felt that voters were stupid for voting for President Obama. And on several other occasions I have demonstrated that Johnson is just plain wrong on a plethora of issues.

No one wants Johnson gone and Feingold back in more than I do. But how we win this election matters as well, and doing so in underhanded ways isn’t the way to go.

The WisDems have created a website that imitates the campaign site for Ron Johnson, the difference being that the Democratic site has fake quotes that purport to exemplify the Republican candidate’s true feelings.

“I am far too busy to get out and listen to the working families of Wisconsin,” reads one line on the site RonJohnson.org. “And why would I when billionaires, big corporations and the Tea Party give my marching orders.”

The Democrats have also created a fake Johnson Twitter handle that, again, puts fake quotes that the party imagines he might say in private.

I support the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, but this tactic is deeply unsettling to me. When the Republican Party of Wisconsin did the same thing to Democratic candidate for governor Mary Burke, it upset many on the left. Democrats shouldn’t be copying that strategy, going tit for tat and creating another fake website in an effort to unseat Johnson.

We have a brilliant candidate running against him in Russ Feingold. We also have a majority of citizens already backing Feingold and rejecting Johnson, who has failed to represent Wisconsin properly in his role as Senator.

We don’t need to stoop to Republican levels of indecency and crassness in order to win office. We should take the higher road, and promote our candidate rather than create questionable satirical content that does little more than to paint our party in a bad light.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin should delete the Twitter account and the website, and should rededicate itself to electing Feingold and defeating Johnson -- the right way.

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