[Madison, WI] – As liberals decide to bypass the voters and anoint fringe-left radical Mandela Barnes as their candidate for the U.S. Senate, Democrats are privately scrambling to cover for Barnes’ record of supporting policies that are out-of-step with the mainstream.
It’s no wonder that Barnes’ championing of defunding the police, abolishing ICE, and ending cash bail is already causing problems for his campaign in purple Wisconsin. Add in his platform to support the Green New Deal, which would crush farmers in the Heartland, impose Medicare for All, raise taxes on others while refusing to pay his own, and serve as a rubber stamp for Biden’s failed policies, it’s clear that Barnes’ candidacy is a recipe for disaster with moderate voters.
Read what they’re saying on Mandela Barnes’ fringe-left record:
Washington Post: In Wisconsin, Barnes reckons with liberal past as he looks to November
“As he runs in one of the country’s most closely contested states, Barnes has faced Republican attacks for the appearance with Omar, for once holding up a T-shirt with the phrase ‘Abolish ICE,’ for saying he supports moving funds from police departments to community programs, and, in a speech referring to slavery and colonization, describing the founding of the country as ‘awful.’ Even as Barnes has sought to clarify himself in all of those instances, some Democrats have privately voiced worries that they could cause problems for him this fall.”
“One GOP insider said Republicans are ready to attack Barnes on many fronts. He will come under fire for his criminal justice views, his support of ‘fringe left’ ideas such as the Green New Deal, his statements about the founding of the country and his personal foibles, including being cited for paying property taxes late.”
“The fear among some Democrats is that Barnes would be a break from the low-key styles of Biden and Evers, and even from the more progressive but still subdued Baldwin, thus providing Republicans with plenty of culture war targets. Barnes once requested and held up an ‘Abolish ICE’ T-shirt, and Republicans have highlighted his support for ending cash bail and his endorsement from groups that backed defunding the police.”
“To take Johnson’s seat, however, Barnes will have to weather attacks over past remarks he’s made about the nation’s founding. Last fall at a candidate forum, he said, ‘The United States is the most wealthy, the most powerful nation on earth, and it’s because of forced labor on stolen land.’”
“Barnes had initially been cast as too progressive to win an election for federal office, and Republicans as recently as Wednesday to paint Barnes as too liberal by pointing to a photo of him holding up an ‘abolish ICE’ shirt.”
