Ron Johnson is running for reelection on a scorched-earth platform

Ron Johnson's approval ratings plummeted in a swing state won by President Joe Biden.

Instead of moving to the center, the Wisconsin senator, who is up for reelection this fall, has become the face of conspiracy theories about Covid-19 and the 2020 Senate election. He has stated that gargling mouthwash can kill the coronavirus, that January 6 was a mostly "peaceful protest," and that unvaccinated people are being sent "basically into internment camps" worldwide.

For a vulnerable senator facing a brutal campaign, the string of eye-catching remarks appears to defy political logic. But it turns out that Johnson's shoot-from-the-hip style is a feature, not a flaw, of his third-term campaign. Republican strategists and officials say his unfiltered remarks are energizing a party base conditioned by Donald Trump and appealing to independents who despise Washington.

"He's still seen as an outsider." "He's not part of the GOP establishment in D.C., and he has never been, and Wisconsinites like that," said Bill McCoshen, a Republican strategist based in Wisconsin who is not involved in the race.

Even Democrats aren't campaigning against Johnson's controversial remarks this year, instead of focusing on the senator's alleged self-dealing in Washington to strip him of the non-politician veneer that has helped him win previous elections.

"Kellyanne Conway was correct when she said that voters vote on what affects them, not what offends them," Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler said. "But no one likes being abode advantage of by someone who is only looking out for themselves." That is the crux of our message.

At the same time that he has served up red meat for the base, he has hedged his bets in previous elections by presenting a softer side in TV ads. Johnson is following the same strategy in this year's midterm elections.

In this campaign, he has aired commercials highlighting the Joseph Project, a program Johnson co-founded with the late African American Pastor Jerome Smith Sr. to assist people in Milwaukee in finding work. One features Smith's widow, Markeitha Smith, who says, "I never thought Ron Johnson would ever be someone I can say is family." 'Wow, he came here,' I remember thinking.