Despite GOP efforts to scrub Congressman Sean Duffy's gaffe about struggling on his taxpayer-funded salary of $174,000, that particular turd will not hold a polish.
The freshman congressman from Ashland, Wisconsin, occupies Dave Obey's old seat, having risen on the 2010 Tea Party tide, Sarah Palin's tailored coat tails and his own mediagenic notoriety. His marriage was made on television, and he makes terrific, funny ads centered on his mad lumberjack skills.
After he told a Polk County constituent that he struggles with personal indebtedness, it touched off a tempest that, despite GOP damage control, is beginning to slop over the rim of the teapot. As his stunned constituent, I thought I'd look more closely, and offer some small perspective on how the little people he purports to serve happen to live, up here in the north woods.