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| Tom Tiffany shoveling the BS |
The memo compares Hong to other potential Democratic candidates Tiffany could face in the Nov. 3 general election, viewing her as someone whose nomination "virtually guarantees elevated Democratic enthusiasm and turnout in Dane County and the Milwaukee media market, where statewide races are decided."In contrast, the memo expects "more moderate and establishment Democratic alternatives would likely produce lower base motivation and depressed turnout.""Unlike more moderate or establishment Democrats, Hong energizes the progressive base in a way that could drive record Democratic turnout precisely when midterms historically favor the party out of power," the consultants wrote. "Her issues resonate broadly with working- and middle-class voters and have some crossover with our populist positions. Hong could bring some turnout advantages with positions that reach outside Democrats' core base."
All of which jives with what we have seen in Wisconsin and nationally in elections. There has been a major - as in double digits - shift to the left. After the SCOWIS election last month, it showed that even the counties that Justice-Elect Chris Taylor lost still shifted to the left.
Nationally, the trend has been the same. Furthermore, often the winner is the person conventional wisdom said was too radical left to win, such as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Apparently, some people have missed these facts.
Right-wing hack James Widgerson jumped on the article, mocking it and trying to claim that the memo was a clever ruse by the Tiffany campaign to trick Opoien, her editors, and thousands of readers into voting for Hong.
Bruce Murphy, editor of Urban Milwaukee, doubled down on the dumb:
In short, Opoien and the JS got snookered, no doubt promised exclusive access to this disinformation intended to convince Democratic voters, whose number one concern is choosing a candidate with the best chance of defeating Tiffany, that Hong was the one causing sleepless nights for Republicans. The paper was so proud of its scoop that it did two stories on this, the first suggesting Hong’s campaign was on the rise, with the secret GOP memo as a key exhibit, and the second entitled “What a leaked GOP memo says about the candidacy of Francesca Hong.”
If the memo was a trick from Tiffany's campaign, it backfired badly.
Keep in mind, Tiffany is the GOP's fourth-string candidate. In early 2025, WISGOP was desperately trying to recruit its favorite carpetbaggers, Tim Michels and Eric Hovde, to return to Wisconsin to run. They were so persistent that Hovde felt it necessary to make a video telling them he wasn't running. Things were too nice in Laguna Beach.
In the 2025 Republican state convention, Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann beat Tiffany in a straw poll. However, to be fair, Tiffany was still waiting for Fearless Leader Trump to give him permission to run. Schoemann didn't drop out of the race until Trump endorsed Tiffany.
The fact that Tiffany has squarely hitched his campaign to Trump, and Trump is polling worse than any president in history - See, he's number one at something! - It's no wonder that the Republicans are experiencing a severe enthusiasm gap.
On the other hand, Hong's supporters are not showing any lack of enthusiasm whatsoever. The Tiffany memo - real or fake - is only going to add fuel to Hong's fire, which is something Tiffany doesn't need, but so richly deserves.








