While watching the election coverage and witnessing the indisputable votes that came in one after another for Ron Johnson, it was apparent that my heart was going to be broken tonight and my faith in the electoral process was about to be shaken.

After an 18-year run as US Senator, my hero, Russ Feingold has just conceded to millionaire Ron Johnson. Now maybe it’s the sadness or even the anger I’m feeling right now, but I can’t tell you that I respect the reckless and irresponsible votes so many Wisconsinites made for Ron Johnson today.

Virtually every newspaper in the State endorsed Feingold, including Johnson’s hometown paper, The Northwestern, as well as the most conservative newspaper in the state, The Green Bay Press Gazette. In fact, the GBPG has endorsed all of Feingold’s opponents until this year stating, “Johnson seemed unable to further articulate his plan for job creation — especially for the middle class — during a recent meeting with the Green Bay Press-Gazette editorial board.” 

As for Feingold, they stated, “Feingold's principled independence, knowledge of the issues and tradition of listening to constituents have earned him this newspaper's endorsement to retain the seat he's held for three terms.” 

But Johnson, not having a detailed plan for job creation (or really for anything else) didn’t seem to matter to voters. They were pissed and the incumbent needed to be punished, even if it was voting against their best interest.

So even though every newspaper gave their support for Feingold within the last few weeks, it was too little too late for our beloved senator. The tidal wave that could have been prevented by a higher set of journalism standards, was already in full force. After all, up until then, the state media failed to challenge Johnson on basically anything, including his statement about drilling in the Great Lakes or his original gun licensing views or his support for NAFTA or his crazy adoration for China or his off-base science lesson regarding sunspots or his shocking testimony against sexual abuse victims or his willingness to easily change positions or the basic lack of passion or knowledge of the topics being discussed. The state media seemed to have given Johnson a honeymoon period that lasted the whole election season.

Now let me clarify one thing, when I stated that my faith has been shaken in the electoral process, I don’t mean the act of voting, but rather the process leading up to it. For instance, through Ron Johnson’s campaign, I have learned that a nominee now does not even need to draft up any sort of detailed plan on how he/she plans to fix the massive number of problems in the state, but rather, an election can be bought by purchasing a shitload of TV and radio ads, having a nice looking family, and hiding under a table for 5 months (while occasionally going outside to be interviewed by conservative talk radio).

For those that voted for Johnson, with all due respect, you have made an awful decision today and one, as Wisconsinites, we are all going to have to live with. You have ousted Russ Feingold, a true statesman that has always put Wisconsin before his party, the president, or even his own political ideology. You will not be getting that from Ron Johnson. You can count on that.