Republican Senate Candidates in Dead Heat on Election Eve

The three Republican Senate front-runners are stumping the state Monday, with polls showing a statistical dead heat leading into Tuesday’s primary.The candidates’ paths crossed in Wausau Monday afternoon.

How tight is the Republican Senate race? About as tight as the candidates’ schedules.Tommy Thompson, Eric Hovde and Mark Neumann all arrived at the Wausau airport within twenty minutes of each other.All three tried to tie themselves to Wisconsin favorite son Paul Ryan.Thompson was at the rally Sunday when Mitt Romney introduced his vice presidential pick. “Yesterday when Paul Ryan shouted out to me as being the leader in welfare reform and the crowd went wild.”

Neumann said he worked with Paul Ryan in Congress. “I worked with Paul Ryan 18 years ago. I was a member of Congress, and he was working in D.C.He helped us write the plan that led to a balanced budget the last time.”

Hovde said Paul Ryan is the reason he is running for the Senate. “You know, I’m really pleased that Governor Romney selected Paul Ryan because he’s going to be really focused on our debt issues and our economic issues and that’s the whole reason I got into this race.”

Democrats say they will win by tying Republican candidates to the Paul Ryan budget, which they say will destroy Medicare.All three of the would-be Senators had a response.

“We continue down the policies that the Democrats have been promoting, you will lose social security, you will lose Medicare,” Hovde stated.

Thompson said, “The Democrats are the ones who cut out $500 billion from Medicare and not the Republicans.”

“Barack Obama, in Obamacare, took $700 billion out of the Medicare system, and if you want to know why Medicare’s in trouble today, look at the $700 billion that Barack Obama took out of it,” Neumann responded.

Neumann said he will win Tuesday because he’s the true conservative in the race. “The message, true conservative in this race and true conservative and the Tea Party Express endorsement last week was a big help to us, and we’ve seen a pretty big surge since we got that.”

Thompson said a vote for Neumann or Hovde Tuesday could mean a Republican loss in November. “I’m the conservative that can win.Everybody knows I am the sure bet to beat Tammy Baldwin.None of the other candidates have ever won statewide.”

Hovde said the polls show otherwise. “Political hyperbole. A whole number of polls showed me beating Tammy and Tommy getting beat.”

The polls show the fourth Republican candidate, Jeff Fitzgerald, well behind the three front-runners.