ABSTRACT
In perhaps no other U.S. Senate race were the media-driven aquatic images of Republican candidates “riding the wave” more apt than the contest in Wisconsin between the Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold and his challenger, Ron Johnson. Johnson came out of nowhere to swamp the 18-year incumbent in one of the biggest upsets of the midterm elections.1 During the last few weeks of the campaign, I received phone calls from reporters all over the country (and even from the largest newspaper in Mexico) who asked the same questions about the Badger State, “What is going on in Wisconsin? Is Feingold really going to lose?”
