Sen. Russ Feingold’s last minute decision to appear this evening at a DNC campaign rally with President Obama at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was a surprise to many. But not to his Republican opponent Ron Johnson, whose latest campaign ad points out than even when Wisconsin voters overwhelmingly disapproved of Obamacare, reliable Russ stood by his man.

Well, maybe not always.

Johnson’s campaign issued this response to BATTLE ‘10 regarding Feingold’s surprise visit:

“It looks like Senator Feingold folded to stand with President Obama and the Democrats at the last minute, just as he always has.  When the Democrats needed Senator Feingold’s deciding votes on their trillion dollar stimulus bill and their government-run health care bill, he was there to vote in lock step with the party.  After several trips to Wisconsin to campaign for Senator Feingold and money being poured into the state from outside groups like the AFL-CIO, it is apparent that President Obama, the Democrats’ and special interests are growing increasingly concerned over the prospect of losing their reliable vote for their big spending projects.  Voters know that Senator Feingold is not the independent he pretends to be and it’s time to have a candidate who will stand up for Wisconsin, not Washington.”