I think Feingold is a better legislator than he would be a Governor, so I do want him to beat Ron Johnson.
As for Governor, I am liking the way Scott Walker is handling things and I hope Democrats go with someone as anonymous as Ron Kind because, in spite of the closeness now, I don't think Kind has the will power or the charisma to beat Walker.
Maybe Walker is a better Governor when he has some fear of being defeated. Confrontational arrogance is not good for "winning friends and influencing people", and he may have been scared out of that. Walker is underwater, but he is far from being as vulnerable in a re-election bid as Snyder, Corbett, LePage, Deal, Jindal, or Perry.
If he were to be in that spot a year from now he would have about a 70% chance of winning re-election.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/02/myth-of-incumbent-50-rule.htmlAccording to a study by Nate Walker three years ago, the 48% approval rating is good enough at this stage (or if it holds a year from now, then) for Scott Walker to win re-election decisively.
The average incumbent Senator or Governor gains 6% from an early-in-the-year approval rating to the final vote share. Governing or legislating requires some polarizing choices, and opponents can carp about any vote or decision being unpopular with 45% of the electorate at will. Walker has been a polarizing figure at times, and you can be sure that he still will be.
Incumbents with a 44% approval rating typically have about a 50% chance of winning re-election. At or above that they usually show why they were elected; they typically put on a spirited campaign and win. Politicians with troubles usually have approval ratings below 44%. Breaking scandals (not that I have cause to expect one) rarely cause the defeat of an incumbent whose approval rating is above 44%. Reason? Politicians with scandals ready to break typically are secretive and thus out of touch with the electorate, and the media are already avoiding saying anything flattering.
Below that they demonstrate why voting for them was a mistake. Effective Governors and Senators cause marginal voters to decide between the Devil that they know to the Devil that they don't know -- and choose the one that they know. With the others, voters start looking
at the Devil that they don't know so well.
Scott Walker doesn't have the votes to push a Right to Work (for much less) law as the Michigan Snake Legislature enacted so he almost certainly won't get defeated for that. He may have become much less a target of D-leaning special interests than governors of a half-dozen other states. Caution is a political virtue.
