The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
Wisconsin Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin is in a close race with GOP challenger Eric Hovde. Long before polls showed her lead narrowing, Baldwin told me that the Senate race would be close. She was correct, a testament to her honesty and straightforwardness. However, it would be a big mistake to count Baldwin out or underestimate her. Baldwin is a savvy and tireless workhorse, not a showhorse like Hovde.
In 2018, she flipped 17 counties that Trump won in 2016. There are many reasons why Baldwin has statewide appeal. Wisconsin journalist Craig Gilbert said: “Through some combination of factors – time and effort on the ground, campaign strategy, a non-divisive persona, a brand of economic populism, attention to home-state interests (including business interests) as a member of the Senate appropriations Committee, and the vulnerabilities of her opponents – Baldwin has charted her own political map.” There’s more.
Baldwin remains formidable, with Republican support, including Trump voters. The conservative Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation recently “endorsed” Baldwin for the U.S. Senate, calling her “a steadfast advocate for Wisconsin agriculture.” Where’s Hovde on farm issues? This presents problems for hard-right Republicans who want to defeat her. So if Hovde and his allies, including the MacIver Institute, can’t win on issues and truth, mudslinging is the only option. The MacIver Institute is throwing everything at Baldwin, including the kitchen sink.
The MacIver Institute disingenuously said: “Baldwin knowingly voted for the law that threatened union pensions … . The reality is that Baldwin helped create the crisis in the first place.” As a veteran political writer I’ve seen much dishonesty and craziness in politics, but this whopper is a new low. The MacIver Institute falsely distorted and minimized Baldwin’s central role in passing legislation to help save retirement benefits of middle-working class participants in imminently collapsing corporate-union pension plans, including the Central States Pension Fund.
I have long followed this issue, written columns on Baldwin’s efforts and am proud to call Bob Amsden, retired truck driver and a leader of the Milwaukee-SE Committee to Protect Pensions, a friend. The truth is that Baldwin is beloved by Wisconsin Teamsters, Democrats and Republicans alike, for having saved their pensions. That’s why they have endorsed her. No right-wing lie can change that.
In 2014, Baldwin voted against a government shutdown, while denouncing an unrelated provision slipped into the funding bill that allowed pension plans to cut benefits. Afterwards, Baldwin successfully pressured the U.S. Treasury to reject the cuts. Baldwin persisted. In 2021, Baldwin led in passing legislation to fix the problem. Baldwin said: “There are about 22,500 workers and retirees in Wisconsin (a million nationally) who were facing massive cuts to their pensions, through no fault of their own. There are also more than 100 employers in the state that were on the hook for a pension liability … . I worked for six years with Wisconsin workers and retirees to make sure they would get the pensions that they worked for and earned … .” Baldwin stands up for regular folks.
– Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995 – 2009.