Democrat Mandela Barnes’s Wisconsin Senate campaign appears to be self-destructing five weeks before election day, as the candidates allies have begun to blame the campaign’s media consultant and “racist” GOP attack ads for Barnes’s lousy performance.
Barnes has come under heavy fire in the last two months for his radical record of allowing criminals out of jail early on parole, pushing to defund police, and using race as a means to push climate change policies to reorient the Wisconsin economy.
Johnson’s campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, under Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) direction, have been blasting Barnes with TV ads for two months to define and crystallize Barnes’s radical policies. Apparently, the ads have been working.
Barnes’s allies have begun to whine about the failing state of his candidacy. They have accused Barnes’ media consultant of failing and called for his resignation. Others have blamed the successful Republican attack ads for being racist.
“To make Mandela and Black folks endure the relentless racist attacks, then not hit back on treason, corruption and lies, is unfortunate,” State Rep. Francesca Hong (D) told the New York Times on Thursday.
Another ally of Barnes, Tom Nelson, an Outagamie County executive who dropped out of the Democrat primary to endorse Bares, said he believes the campaign is in such trouble it needs to replace its media advisor.
“The campaign needs to fire its media consultant,” he said. “They’re losing.”
The blame game comes as Barnes and Johnson are set to debate Friday night from 7-8 PM central daylight time. Both campaigns have agreed to two debates. The next debate is scheduled for next Thursday.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.