Nusbaum a stronger candidate than Wall?

[Big Al from WI]

Last weekend I touted a list in CQ which said that Jamie Wall was 8th in fundraising among non-incumbents. Unfortunately, according to some early polling done in the district, it looks like Nancy Nusbaum is a far stronger candidate to carry the message. From the press release:

Nusbaum runs ahead of Jamie Wall at every step against Gard: Wall is almost completely unknown to voters and trails Gard by double digits initially. Even after voters hear profiles of the candidates, Wall is still losing to Gard by double digits. Nusbaum runs nearly even with Gard (well within the margin of error)
initially and after voters hear profiles of the candidates.

They have the race currently as Gard 46, Nusbaum 45. In a generic Democrat vs. Republican matchup, it's tied at 43% each.

After posting all of that, I just realized something. If the partisan matchup is 43-43, then why is Wall doing so poorly against Gard, one of the most hated figures in Wisconsin politics, but Nusbaum isn't? Is there something terribly unappealing about Wall?

No matter what happens, though, it looks like there is a good chance to take back that seat.

[Poiuyt]

1. Wall is an unknown, Nussbaum has name recognition

as does Gard. I think the fact that Nacy Nussbaum has served in Brown County both as a mayor of DePere and as county exec serves her well. We saw her face on TV quite a bit when she was in office. I don't remember hearing anything bad about her.

I think name and face recognition is extremely important in this area. Remember Jay Johnson? He had no qualifications except being a TV news anchor, but he got elected.

[sybylla]

2. I agree, but there's hope for Wall

if he already has a quarter mil in the bank. If he can keep the fundraising momentum going and put together a good organization, he's got a really good chance.

I heard this guy give a speech at the DPW convention in June and I was very impressed. Numbers don't mean anything this early in the game if you have a good candidate, a good campaign team and plenty of money.

[ewagner]

3. I was also impressed

with Wall....

and

I am equally curious why Wall isn't doing better if the generic Dem vs Rep numbers are dead even. That just doesn't make much sense.

When Nusbuam first entered, the first thing that crossed my mind was her advantage with name recognition. Hell. I had even heard of her.

Maybe, in this case, a good, spirited primary without killing each other would be good because no matter who won the primary, they would come out with higher name recognition.

Thoughts?

[RevCheesehead]

4. I don't mean to sound petty, but...

I have a hard time thinking of my rep as "Jamie." :shrug:
I know, I know - it's petty, but it just sounds, well, weird.

[ewagner]

5. No, not petty

but ya gotta admit, "Jamie" is better than "Rocko" or "Knuckles". ;)

[RevCheesehead]

6. LOL.

Those would be the Chicagoland politicians, right? :7

[Poiuyt]

7. Or Scooter?

[CarbonDate]

8. Okay, I know I've been away for a while....

...but who's Jamie Wall? Seriously, I've never heard of the guy until people started comparing fundraising. How's he getting so much money? Is he related to the "Denil-Wall" used car lots? What are his qualifications for Congress?

Nancy Nussbaum I know. She's been around forever. Jamie Wall seems sort of like a Johnny-come-lately. Am I wrong?

[safi0]

9. Nope your right

He is a newcomer, hes in his early to mid 30's. I don't know why he's been able to raise so much money. He's extremely smart, he was the first person in decades from Wisconsin who was Rhodes Scholar

[sybylla]

10. It does seem like a bit of a leap to go right into a congressional race

He might have done better to run for a state seat first.

[sybylla]

11. He is a newbie who has made connections quickly

He already appears to have a powerful ally in Dave Obey. Obey was sitting in the audience during the convention (not too far ahead of me) and appeared to be as impressed as I was. After the speech, Obey got up and met Wall coming off the stage. They went backstage together for what looked like a little tete a tete.

I don't know exactly what has happened since, but I suspect Obey has helped Wall make a few connections that most newbies don't have access to when it comes to fundraising and building an organization.

Yes, he comes across that good. With a little polish he has the potential to be as interesting and charismatic a candidate as Barak Obama. He is definitely worth watching.

[ewagner]

12. Do you have

a link to his website? Or does he even have a website that you know of?

[RevCheesehead]

13. Hope so.

I was frustrated that whoever did Dottie's website last year never kept it up-to-date, and failed to respond to e-mail. That doesn't bode well for a future congress-critter.

(note: even a response saying "I don't know, but I'll try to get the answer for you" is better than NO response at all!)

[sybylla]

14. Haven't heard of one.

I'm sure it will show up on the Wheeler Report when he does have one. I haven't been there for a week or two. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check it out and see if he's doing anything official yet.

[jef4wi]

15. Here it is

http://www.wallforcongress.com/

[sybylla]

16. Thanks, Jef!

Been too busy lately to look for it myself.