Forward Our Motto opined on "Mark Neumann's gimmick" of gathering 5,500 signatures to "Say No to Obamacare."
"I'm willing to say it was a successful gimmick, even if he ignored state issues to do it"
It is true. Neumann can't promise a vote on health care the way a senate or congressional candidate could (although I hope they won't still have that opportunity by November). However, governors can influence the health care debate in D.C. quite a bit. The Obama administration already had to respond to the concerns of a bunch of guvs who worried the health care bill might deplete state medicaid funds. Think of all the controversy over the "Louisiana Purchase" or the "Cornhusker Amendment," both of which awarded abnormal medicaid funding to certain states (guess which ones) in exchange for the votes of conservative Democrats. The governor is the perfect actor to say, for instance, that the bill is a bad deal for Wisconsin and he hopes the state's reps in D.C. vote against it. It's an issue that Democrats, including Feingold and Kohl, have had to confront: angry constituents who want them to pursue the same deals that other senators did.
