While there is rumor running rampant that Russ Feingold is going to return to Wisconsin to run for his old seat, it is not clear at this time how much of this rumor is based on fact and how much of it is just the fantasy of hope-starved Wisconsinites. Feingold hasn't even returned from his ambassadorship to Africa.

But that didn't stop the Republicans from attacking him:

Russ Feingold has yet to say a word, publicly, about the possibility of a rematch with U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. But Republicans aren't wasting any time in launching attacks against the Democratic former senator.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee sent a press release on Tuesday calling attention to Feingold's role in passing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, enacted six years ago today.

"With Russ Feingold plotting his return to power, it’s worth remembering that when he voted for the failed $830 billion stimulus he claimed spending programs would balance our budget," the release reads.

By failure, the Republicans, of course, mean creating job and having the stock market break new record highs.

But they weren't done there.

Circling the wagons around Ron Johnson, the most vulnerable senator in Washington, they took a page from Scott Walker's playbook, mocking education and making intelligence seem like a bad thing:

The NRSC took a dig at Feingold's Rhodes Scholar status in its release.

"It doesn’t take a math degree to figure out that Russ Feingold is being dishonest when he said spending initiatives like the $830 billion stimulus would balance our budget," NRSC spokeswoman Andrea Bozek said in a statement. "Before this Rhodes Scholar re-enters the ring it wouldn’t hurt Feingold to learn that more spending equals more debt."

If this is the best the Republicans can come up with, it will be a long, long year and a half for them.