Rep. Tammy Baldwin, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Wisconsin, is set to speak Thursday night at the party’s national convention — and Brian Nemoir, the political director for her Republican opponent, former Gov. Tommy Thompson, has ridiculed Baldwin’s attendance at a colorful gay pride event.
If elected, Baldwin would be the first openly gay senator. In 1998, she became the first openly gay person elected to Congress as a non-incumbent.
WisPolitics reported that in response to Baldwin saying that her speech would highlight “heartland values,” Nemoir circulated an e-mail linking to a YouTube video, and declaring: “Clearly, there’s no one better positioned to talk ‘heartland values’ than Tammy.”
The video shows Baldwin at a gay pride event in 2010, in a park area outside a library at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, dancing as a garishly-dressed band performed the disco theme song to the Wonder Woman TV show, along with one dancing participant clad in a full superhero costume of the title character.
Nemoir confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he did send the e-mail, saying that it was sent to a private “handful of select contacts.”
When asked whether he regretted sending it: “I think there are issues in this race that are extremely significant that will be generated on a day-to-day basis, and I look forward to coverage of those issues.”
Nemoir then said the race should be focused on issues such as unemployment and the debt, and should not be focused on the video.
The PollTracker Average currently shows Thompson with a solid lead, 51.6 percent to 42.7 percent.
