Youthful Wisconsin congressional candidate Mike Alfonso’s online buddies have started comparing him to the Founding Fathers. It’s bad enough that they think the Marathon County-raised former Florida podcast producer (for about 14 months) with a slender (almost invisible) resume is qualified for Congress. But now they’re comparing him to George Washington and James Madison!

For good measure, one guy threw in the French military hero Marquis de Lafayette, while insisting he wasn’t really comparing him to Mike Alfonso in a debate about Mike Alfonso being compared to the Founding Fathers. The argument is, the Founding Fathers were young! So stop being mean to Mike. He deserves to be elected to Congress without doing anything because he’s 26.

That’s literally the argument. At this point, I almost died of laughter but, somehow, I survived. Of course, George Washington led the Continental Army and James Madison is known as the “Father of the Constitution,” but, sure, they have lots in common with a guy who followed his wife to Florida to work with Dan Bongino before moving to Hayward to live in his in-laws’ second house. C’mon guys.

The Founders, who mostly served in the military before forging political careers and authoring some of the most brilliant documents in global history, actually have more in common, when they were young, with Kevin Hermening, Alfonso’s opponent in the 7th congressional district, who was a Marine and hostage in Iran. At least Hermening also served, but, after that point, we should probably dispense with Founding Father analogies.

I like a Lot of Things About Michael Alfonso

Look. I like a lot of things about Mike Alfonso. I like that he role models choosing fatherhood and marriage for young men. He has a beautiful, feisty wife, and they have an adorable infant daughter. I defended his wife when the national elite snark media bullied her right after giving birth. I also deeply admire the family’s devotion toward little Valentina and their championing of life. They are single-handedly changing the national conversation on Down Syndrome kids, pushing back against that narcissistic YouTuber who disgustingly engagement farmed off his wife’s aborting a possible Down Syndrome kid. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cuter child than Valentina. All of this leads me to believe that Mike Alfonso is a good person.

But that doesn’t make him qualified for Congress, although his miraculously manicured eyebrows are practically an award-winning Picasso-esque public art project all by themselves. Credit where it’s due.

There’s a creeping incel-like, anti-woman element among the conservative movement these days. So bravo to Mike for championing the opposite. If only he’d done this the right way – serve his country, come back in a uniform like the Founding Fathers, run for legislature – I would have been all in. I also defended him when Ashley Furniture official Jessi Ebben, who is also running as a Republican, launched an unwise and ultimately failed effort this week to get Alfonso and conservative Kevin Hermening kicked off the ballot with a technicality. She’s a new transplant to the district who also caused sour feelings when she ran against Derrick Van Orden in the 3rd, but she’s got some big funders behind her. Bad look. I have not chosen a candidate in this race, and although I was raised there and my mom still owns a non-working farm there, I don’t get a vote.

It’s the audacity of Duffy Inc. that I can’t abide, it’s the WAY they are doing it, and it’s getting worse with every debate that Alfonso, 26, skips and every federal lobbyist donation that he accepts. And since I don’t need or want anything from any of these folks, I’m going to say what I really think.

‘Unqualified…Utterly Disgusted’

I’ve never seen a more arrogant, entitled campaign. I’m not the only one saying it. Meg Ellefson, for years, was known on conservative talk radio in Wausau as a “fiery redhead.”

She cut her political teeth in the Tea Party movement, and she’s a solid, common-sense conservative who puts principle first. She’s now got a cool podcast, and she lives and owns property in the 7th. Meg is no Duffy hater. She used to be a Duffy supporter. But now she tells Axios that Sean Duffy “is exploiting his Cabinet position and fame to influence an election and hand one of the nation’s highest offices to his unqualified, 26-year-old son-in-law.” Duffy’s spokesman responded by defending his ethics.

Meg also declared that she was “utterly disgusted by this blatant manipulation of voters.” She is supporting Hermening, a conservative Republican who, after being held hostage in Iran, became a financial advisor, school board president (against masks) and Marathon County GOP chair. (I’m going to save Evita Duffy-Alfonso the trouble of reminding everyone that Axios is part of the evil, hated liberal media axis. I’ve heard Meg make the same points several times. And she’s not alone.)

I used to go on Meg’s radio show to discuss politics. I respect her. She is part of a growing chorus of decent, hard-working conservatives who are turned off by the transparent machinations of Duffy Inc. John Righeimer and Tanner Hiller, who run the Sawyer and Iron County GOPs, have made similar comments. Hiller is only 31. He’s already been a county supervisor, firefighter, small business owner, GOP county chair, and served in the Army. Why didn’t they run him for Congress? He’s actually done something. It’s not about age. It’s about connections and nepotism, frankly. Those used to not be conservative values.

“They are trying to make it a coronation versus competing. If Michael (Alfonso) could win on his own, that would be different. It seems like a machine behind him is force-feeding us someone who is not ready,” stated Righeimer, to me, not the evil national liberal media.

“I don’t think out-of-state money should force an opinion on our district. It’s just sketchy,” maintained Hiller.

If the Duffys don’t pull this Hallmark movie off, and they might, there will be a central miscalculation to blame. The Duffys see themselves as hometown heroes in a Trumpy congressional district that distrusts elites. When Trump is attacked by elites – Hollywood elites, media elites, politician elites – support for him hardens in the 7th. But the Duffys are now elites, and that’s the part they’re woefully missing.

Rachel reveals her princess fantasies on social media posing in her golden gown before a White House dinner for King Charles, writing, “When your prince takes you to the ball….“; the family decamps to their $2 million New Jersey suburban palace (complete with Meghan Markle-style adorable chicken coop!); and they go on a much ballyhooed road trip reality show sponsored by a non-profit funded by Toyota and Boeing, seemingly clueless that the rest of the country can barely afford gas.

I went on a road trip this summer with my daughter btw. We went to Gettysburg. Go there. It’s profoundly moving. And, no, Boeing didn’t pay for it.

Even the patriotic road trip Duffy Inc. is pushing – with Alfonso et al running up those Philly steps like Rocky – is increasingly getting stuck in the swampy muck. It turns out that the road trip was sponsored by a non-profit funded by transpo interests like Boeing and Toyota, some of which allegedly paid handsomely for the chance to participate in the Duffy family escapade while the rest of the country is struggling. It turns out that two former Duffy staffers sit on the board of the non-profit that paid production costs for the docu-series. They include a guy named Max Docksey, who is acting as a spokesman for Alfonso’s campaign. Docksey once sent me a nasty email calling me names. Whatever. I’m the consistent one. I’m for draining the swamp. When did that turn into, let them eat cake?!

The other former Duffy staffer, a guy named Mark, “last lobbied for Peraton, a national security company in northern Virginia that won a contract worth up to $1.5 billion in December to oversee the Federal Aviation Administration’s ongoing modernization of the United States’ air traffic control system, a priority for Duffy,” Politico reported, adding that neither former staffer was involved in the fundraising part.

Lobbyists, Lobbyists Everywhere

There are so many federal transportation lobbyist links to the Alfonso campaign that I would need a flow chart to keep track of the spider web. Duffy, a former lobbyist, lent his name to a fundraising invite for Alfonso filled with transportation industry lobbyists. The donation trail. Alfonso skipped a debate back home because he was in DC at a fundraiser tied to a lobbyist firm linked to transportation interests. Yuck.

This is more concerning when juxtaposed against a candidate with almost no track record in anything except being pulled along in the Duffy family toboggan (heck, Alfonso’s wife/Sean Duffy’s daughter Evita actually hosted a podcast for Bongino while Alfonso was producing one.) What evidence do we have that he will stand up to such powerful elite?

Sean funneled $1 million from his campaign committee into a shadowy Alabama PAC to help his son-in-law win his old congressional district, and he maximized his connections to get his boss, Donald Trump, to endorse the former podcast producer over a former Iran hostage.

Folks in Hermening’s orbit claim Trump was watching TV when he supposedly saw Hermening, 66, talking about Iran, and asked something like, This guy is great! Did I endorse him? No, someone supposedly told him, you endorsed his opponent. You know, the guy who works part-time at a parish, which won’t say if it’s paid. I can’t verify this story, and I added the last line, just that it’s a story making the rounds in the North Woods, as I’ve heard it multiple times. But if it’s merely urban legend that people wish had happened, it should be true because it’s funnier than hell. I did notice that, although Alfonso attended Trump’s farm rally the other day in Chippewa Falls, he wasn’t pulled front and center by the president like DVO.

I think Duffy Inc. believed snagging the Trump endorsement would keep Hermening out of the race, but he’s a stubborn old Marine so here we are.

‘Thank You For Saying What We Are All Thinking’

Although a few Republicans and Max Docksey have nipped at my shoes over not falling in line with Duffy Inc.’s agenda, far more have secretly written me and said, “Thank you for saying what we are all thinking.” They just don’t want to get rolled by the machine so they keep it to themselves.

Some brave GOP legislators like Romaine Quinn, Brent Jacobson, Duke Tucker, and Pat Snyder have endorsed Hermening. I heard some legislators and GOP chairs got some nasty pushback. One legislator was moved to endorse Hermening after being told by Alfonso that he has a “career” in construction. Although he appears to have worked construction here or there, no one believes the grizzled construction working-working class warrior BS they’re shoveling out in direct mail.

I’ll withhold the leggie’s name so he doesn’t get a nasty email from Max Docksey.

What does this all amount to? Who wins this primary? Most observers believe the primary winner will win the seat in November. This is Tom Tiffany’s old district and it’s +27 Republican. Notably, Tiffany has not endorsed anyone.

Who Wins?

I don’t know who wins. There hasn’t been a lot of polling; Duffy Inc. pushed one poll showing Alfonso leading, but it was hard to take it seriously when it was conducted for a conservative advocacy group led by a former Trump campaign spokesman. But he might be ahead.

The key question will be whether enough August primary voters will be moved by Trump’s endorsement, which they are slapping on pickup trucks and ads.

And whether they turn out. In a low turnout August primary, those rejected grassroots matter more.

Ebben will have some money but doesn’t seem to be getting off the ground. Her signature gambit backfired and reeks of desperation. Baum, the earnest dog sledder, is probably too liberal for the district and no one knows who she is. Brilliant conservative attorney Paul Wassgren dropped out.

And although he’s been working hard with the grassroots and has decent name ID, Hermening is kind of a type B guy who has been running a type B campaign. He’s not, for example, going aggressively after Alfonso on, say, the swampy lobbyist ties. He’s brought it up, just not with the ferociousness perhaps required to get the word out to folks who don’t attend Iron County GOP corn roasts. Some people are better congressmen than campaigners. He would likely be one. That doesn’t speak poorly of him.

He’s playing statesman. That’s an arguable choice. That might work. It’s unknowable at this point. But since he’s going against the Trump-endorsement machine, he might want to pivot and show us the warrior. Define the opponent before he defines himself. Politics 101.

I’m guessing this is about to get ugly. Unless Alfonso really is far ahead in internals, Duffy Inc. is likely to use surrogates to go hard negative on Hermening. The most they’ve probably got is some old tax and finance issues. Hermening has lived more than six decades, and he’s been through some struggles like most Americans, even weathering the tragic premature death of his beloved wife from natural causes. I’ve heard him speak, and he’s a thoughtful, deeply patriotic and decent man.

The thing about Kevin Hermening is that he is resilient and has always bounced back. This is exemplified by the grainy photo showing him blindfolded and facing a wall in the Iran embassy. He came back determined to live a life with meaning. He told me this in an interview. And he has. This will be the last chance at higher office for the former Marine.

Circling back to where we started, there IS a comparison to the Founding Fathers and Alfonso, although at 26, Alfonso is practically ancient when compared to the Founders. The Founding Fathers were mostly the heirs to a privileged elite. But that’s where the comparison ends. I thought we were past the point in America where you have to be a rich planter’s son (or son-in-law as it were) to help run the country. I’m just surprised that Duffy Inc. didn’t run their rarely seen actual eldest son, or their oft-seen daughter, Evita. But that’s another story.

As I tried to explain to the online buddy crew, folks in the 7th congressional district aren’t turned off by Alfonso’s age as much as the buddies sneer about “boomers” supposedly trying to block young people from getting involved in GOP politics. The lack of any accomplishment at all wedded with a shocking disrespect for the grassroots volunteers who’ve toiled away up there is what offends people. A weak resume combined with disrespect equals a sense of entitlement.

The Founding Fathers, although part of a wealthy elite, were largely military heroes who saw combat and who fought for this country in the Revolutionary War. Yes, they were shockingly young. They also had DONE something.

They were also geniuses steeped in philosophy and the Enlightenment, which elevated reason over monarchy. That sounds more like Charlie Kirk than Mike Alfonso, who comes across more like the nice, earnest jocks who hung out in the IGA parking lot in high school when I was growing up in Rusk County. They were nice guys, but on no planet were they going to author the Declaration of Independence.

Heck, Alfonso doesn’t even show up to debate and prove his brilliance belies his years. In forum after forum, hosted by local county GOP parties, the other candidates are left to debate an empty chair.

“Initially, I was told that he was not going to attend because the president-endorsed candidate does not need to do debates,” Iron County’s GOP chair Tanner Hiller revealed.

Would James Madison have done that?