What happens when you bring a Lamar Alexander to a Chuck Schumer fight?  He turns around and becomes a weapon for Chuck Schumer and his allies, albeit an ineffective one.

In 2007, before running for a second term, Alexander rightfully noted that “to regain the public’s confidence, we ought to scale it back and fix the problem step-by-step by absolutely securing our borders first, then enforcing our laws without amnesty.”  Now, after years of voting for more spending, higher taxes, more debt, expanded government healthcare, massive energy regulations and subsidies, and liberal judicial nominees, the former third ranking Senate Republican has become a Chuck Schumer Republican.  He led the fight, along with Bob Corker, to push a fledgling amnesty-first bill across the finish line.

Naturally, his constituents in Tennessee  – a state where Obama lost 91 of 95 counties – are not too happy with him.  So he’s going up on the air with a $180,000 media campaign featuring Rand Paul.  What is he touting?  His fishing bill:

In an apparent effort to boost conservative support, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) has launched his first TV ad campaign of the 2014 cycle with a spot featuring footage of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that touts a measure Alexander spearheaded to protect fishing access.

“We don’t want a government that’s strong enough to make our lives risk-free. We can do that for ourselves,” says Alexander in the ad, which touts his work to pass a measure that placed a two-year moratorium on efforts to restrict fishing access in certain areas in the state.

The spot includes footage of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who co-sponsored the measure, saying: “Nobody wants to say no to Lamar Alexander.”

Fish?  Really?  After voting for mass amnesty and new red tape on ICE agents with the hollow promise of enforcement 10 years from now, I don’t think we will have to worry about free fishing.  The entire country will be voting like California, and fishing will be the least of our problems.

Besides, it’s a bit amusing to hear him speak of a risk-free society when he voted for the bailouts and against eliminating government subsidies of energy.  Then again, he was one of the few Republicans to vote against a resolution disapproving of Obama’s job killing Utility MACT regulations that would ostensibly shut down coal-fired power plants.  A born-again free marketer indeed.

Yes, we are impressed that he raised $2 million from his special interest friends.  But there are diminishing returns to how much love money can buy you in a conservative state with high-information voters.  A few corny ads about fishing certainly won’t ameliorate his record as a Schumer Republican.

Cross-posted from The Madison Project