Expect the Senate race to be close this fall—unless Wisconsinites find out what Eric Hovde thinks of them.
Are you a farmer? Eric Hovde thinks your retirement age should be pushed up to 72 because after all, “you’re largely driving around on a tractor” and you don’t “engage in hard labor.”
A single parent? You lack “morals and ethics.”
Speaking of ethics—are you a young person? Your problem, according to Hovde, is that you “haven't been taught the same work ethic that the Baby Boom generation has.”
Ah, so at least Hovde’s pro-Baby Boomer—right? Well, not if you’re in a nursing home. In Hovde’s view, “If you’re in a nursing home, you only have five, six months life expectancy. Almost nobody in a nursing home is in a point to vote.”
How does he “know” so much about nursing homes? When a newscaster asked him, he replied “Look, I do lending into the nursing home community, or used to.” Which leads us to a nursing home his bank owns, which is facing a lawsuit by a grief-stricken family alleging elder abuse, negligence, and wrongful death.
In fairness, maybe Hovde doesn’t want to take away voting rights from all seniors in nursing homes. It’s just “a large percentage” who he thinks “are not in the mental capacity” to vote.
Farmers. Single parents. Seniors. Young people. Oh—and people who struggle with their weight. He thinks your health insurance premiums should be jacked up because “there should be consequences to those personal choices.”
You kind of get the feeling that there are a lot of Wisconsinites that Eric Hovde just doesn’t like very much.
I’m not saying that’s the reason he left out the phrase “one nation” from the Pledge of Allegiance at a public event. But every time he speaks, you get the feeling that he’s the kind of guy who divides the country into a “them” and an “us”—and you and I and a whole lot of other people are all part of Eric Hovde’s “them.”
So why is he running for Senate again?
Oh, right—to give tax breaks to his “us” and ban abortion for everyone else.
We know Tammy Baldwin. We like Tammy Baldwin. And more importantly, she knows and likes us—the actual people of Wisconsin, no matter where we work or what we weigh or how many years we’ve had the good fortune to live in this wonderful state. She’s a senator for everyone. And her vision of our state is indivisible—with liberty and justice for all.
For the next 193 days, let’s make sure Wisconsinites remember exactly why they’ve elected Tammy Baldwin twice before… and help them get ready to send Eric Hovde back to California.