Ron Johnson, a businessman seeking the Republican nomination in Wisconsin against Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold, might not fully grasp the concept of dumping one’s stock holdings for political reasons.
Johnson, who has come under scrutiny after his financial disclosures showed that he owns stock in BP valued at between $116,003 and $315,000, has been sending mixed signals over whether he will sell the stock. Now he’s indicating that he probably will sell — as soon as it makes sense from a financial perspective.
“I think that’ll eventually happen, but I’m going to do it based on market conditions,” Johnson said at a forum on Monday, hosted by WisPolitics. “I’m going to have to finance this campaign. At some point in time to get my message out, that’ll probably happen.”
The TPM Poll Average gives Feingold a narrow edge of 42.0%-40.4%.
Late Update: Note that Johnson not only seems to be saying he will wait for the market to get better so that he can sell at a better price — but he will then use his BP capital gains to finance his Senate campaign. This guy really doesn’t get the whole stock-dumping idea.
