"I DON'T CARE" - says: Senator Russ Feingold

[kpete]

I Don't Care - Russ Feingold
by peacenik23
Sat Dec 24, 2005 at 01:05:54 PM PDT

Political analyst Larry Sabato commented on Senator Feingold's viability in the 2008 Presidential election in an article that came out today. http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=66348&ntpid=1

"Political watchers such as University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato point out that while Feingold's recent stands on civil liberties and the Iraq war may please liberal activists, they may well hurt his chances later on with moderate Democrats and conservatives. "


The Senator's response?


"I don't care,"... "Whatever political considerations I have are absolutely irrelevant to the decisions I make having to do with people's civil liberties and something as weighty as Americans risking their lives overseas. The day that I start think politically about those things is the day I should leave politics."


This is the embodiment of what we should demand from our political leaders. Decision making and real leadership sans politics. Just imagine if all our leaders acted like this rather than worrying non-stop about their political futures.

And, I still think that the Senator can be President in 2008.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/24/15554/880

[flordehinojos]

1. Senator Feingold is a man of conscience, integrity and honor.

the bushit boy lacks all of them! how sad for America and the rest of the world!

[donheld]

2. That's the attitude he should have

If not he's not much of an american IMHO. Civil Liberties have to come first.

[babylonsister]

3. Whaaa? A moral man with a conscience? Who's also

a politician? Could it be? That combo is scarcer than hen's teeth! How enlightening! I'm not sure I buy it, but it sure sounds good.

[shraby]

6. Better check into Feingold...that's who he is.

He takes his job in the Senate very seriously..watches out for people, not his career. Why do you think we voters in Wisconsin keep putting him back in the Senate? He's an honorable man.

[kliljedahl]

82. I could support him for President

Unlike most of the DCL corporate shills we have running the party.



Keith’s Barbeque Central

[ClassWarrior]

10. Buy it. Being a Sconnie...

...I can tell you he's the real thing.

Never Give Up, sis.

NGU.

[Chevy]

4. Very honourable

:thumbsup:

[rzemanfl]

5. Bush doesn't care either. It's all a matter of what politicians don't

care ABOUT.

[Hippo_Tron]

15. Bush cares about what people think, so he lies to them

Bush made all sorts of bullshit promises in both elections that he hasn't even come close to delivering. He says one thing then does another and then lies about it to make it look like he was doing what he originally said he was going to do. He does this because he knows that enough people are dumb enough to believe him that he will win an election or at least make that election close enough to steal.

[Kahuna]

29. Bush's lies are as a means to an end. Not so that people will LIKE

or love him. He really doesn't give a damn about that. Only so far as people not liking him would prevent them from voting for him. Once he has your vote it's the middle finger from him.

[Hippo_Tron]

40. Okay but my point is that Feingold doesn't care about either

He doesn't care about being liked or about getting elected, he cares about doing what is right.

[MisterP]

36. right: ignorin the people, peace, and--well--sanity (*) or someone pimping

for the perpetuation of the aforementioned *, murderous war, and a cold war on the people, hiding behind "electability"

[NewJeffCT]

111. Bush cares...

He pretends to care about whatever Karl Rove & Frank Luntz tell him to pretend to care about.

[HereSince1628]

7. Is that code for Sabato saying the DLC won't support Russ or the

Libertarian version of republicans?

[RoyGBiv]

8. Damn ...

I may well have to re-think my position on Senators as Presidential candidates, if he can keep talking like that when the heat is on.

[CarbonDate]

9. In the last election....

...when his opponent tried to corner him on why he voted against the Patriot Act (he was the only one who did), he had a very simple answer:

"Because I read it."

That's Russ at his essence. He doesn't dance around questions like the last senator we ran, and he doesn't base his votes on how it could help or hurt his political future. For him, he stays in office in order to vote on the important matters, not the other way around.

Which of these things is not like the other:

"Because I read it."

"I don't care."

"I actually voted for the $80 million before I voted against it."

[mistertrickster]

70. YES! This is the rocking horse I keep riding . . . stand for SOMETHING

Americans will vote for somebody they disagree with if they believe that HE BELIEVES in something.

Bush played a "straight shooter" on TV for quite awhile, but now the masks is falling away . . .

[helderheid]

11. love him love him love him

[Charlie Brown]

12. Too bad he supported Roberts

That's the only thing I have against him so far.

[Hippo_Tron]

17. Watch what happens with Scalito before you make that judgement

Leahy and Feingold supporting Roberts may just be what keeps this fascist off the bench.

[savemefromdumbya]

48. Does he actually want to be a candidate?

Since Hillary is going to get the nomination.....where does Feingold fit in? He seems to have a lot of spine and seems sincere.

[cascadiance]

72. So I guess your saying we don't need primaries...

... since it's just a formality for Hillary anyway! Pulllease! Don't let the DLC and the RNC propaganda baffle you too much!

[savemefromdumbya]

76. is he interested in standing?

[Le Taz Hot]

84. As a resident of CA

I would think you would know how that one works. In 2000, the frontrunner in CA was Dean, followed by Clark. Did we get to vote for them? Nope. Why? Because the DLC, LONG before the rigged Iowa caucus, decided that Kerry was going to be the nominee. He had virtually no support here. No organized campaign. Nothing but fundraisers and was the most inaccessable candidate I can remember in a LONG time. But who walked into the nomination without the most populous state even getting a vote?

Russ Feingold would be an OUTSTANDING nominee but we'll never get the chance to cast a vote for him. Face it, we're stuck with 'Hil and I'll be stuck, once again, writing in the name of the person who SHOULD have been the nominee.

[secretmouse]

86. AMEN! TO THAT!

Although it was actually 2004; Dean was popular here, as was General Clark...but half the time the die has been set before we ever get to vote..it isn't fair.

I respect John Kerry for his Military service and his service to the country, but he was NOT a likeable candidate..he was wooden and unapproachable and looked damned uncomfortable most of the time. It also was weird that his wife kept talking about her deceased (republican) husband.

[savemefromdumbya]

90. Dean should have got the nomination

although Kerry is very capable

[mmonk]

83. Are we having a coronation?

[Onlooker]

23. I'm glad to hear that

If Feingold supported Roberts, then there's a chance that Roberts will turn out to be better than we expect.

[Jackpine Radical]

34. He didn't "support" Roberts. He didn't "support" Bush either.

He supported the institution of the Presidency. As Russ sees it, the Constitution gives the President the right to make certain appointments, and the Senate should only vote against them in cases where the candidate is grossly unfit (not just unsuited) for the position.

That's Russ. He has principles. You're not gonna agree with all of them, but you're not gonna deter him from doing what he thinks is right. If you don't like that, as Russ would say, "I don't care."

[AndreaCG]

64. And he voted for Asscroft

His was the vote getting him out of committee.

[xchrom]

13. now that's a statement with some meat on the bones!

what moderate wouldn't like that?

it's muscular, forthright, and most important it has the ring of authenticity.

[robbedvoter]

14. yeah, the guy who pushed Asscrack through the commitee - not from me!

[thebigidea]

20. I'd prefer than basketcase to a devious weasel like Gonzales

Ashcroft was a fucking loony. Better to have them wasting time covering up statues than doing things undercover like old Alberto.

let the miiiiiiiiiiiiiiighty eagle sooooooooaaaar....

[robbedvoter]

41. he wasn't just covering statues...Snoopgate was his brainfart.

So were all the arrests after 9.11 - the Gitmo detainees and Patriot Act. Asscrack was not just a harmless joke - but a malevolent bastard who destroyed countless lives. He's the one who said this:

"To those who pit Americans against immigrants, and citizens against non-citizens; to those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty; my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists." -- John Ashcroft, December 10 2001

[thebigidea]

49. of course - but I'd still prefer a fucking loon wasting time singing

than a cockroach like Gonzales who knows how to lurk in the shadows and do his master's bidding. Ashcroft was a liability and a national joke, when the rubble clears, we'll find out what Gonzales has really been up to.

[robbedvoter]

52. OK, thank you Feingold for Ashcroft! I am sure the Gitmo detainees

appreciate your sense of priorities. How is Gonzalez's malevolence make voting for Ashcroft acceptable, beats me.

[thebigidea]

54. i'm obviously being tongue in cheek, but feel free to use your hammer

like quibbling over if one wants gonorrhea or herpes.

[Name removed]

63. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ClassWarrior]

93. That's not true.

He may have voted Ashcroft out of committee, but he sure didn't "push him through the committee." And he voted Ashcroft out of committee after much serious deliberation, from what I understand. I'm guessing you haven't bothered to read Feingold's statement on the vote? Jackpine's post at #34 sums it up pretty well. Or I'm sure you could find it on Feingold's site.

NGU.

[ClassWarrior]

95. Any luck?

NGU.

[ClassWarrior]

113. Hmmm... Not interested in facts, perhaps?

NGU.

[Fridays Child]

16. I'm starting to really love this guy!

[SammyWinstonJack]

18. Wow, a man of integrity and honor, who is willing to put his politics

aside for the greater good of humanity! Amazing in this day and age.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. A politician is always looking over his shoulder to see what everyone else

thinks. A statesman does what he thinks is best, no matter what the consequences for his career.

[Zech Marquis]

21. Feingold...

It's still kind of early, but based on his track record of questioning and being a constant critic of the Patriot Act and the other BFEE evil doings, has made himself a very viable candidate for the 2008 election :bounce:

[Onlooker]

22. He has my vote ...

... if he gets some traction. If not, I'm voting for Hillary, since I think a woman President (even a moderate like Hillary) will change the face of politics with advantage to liberals.

[peacetalksforall]

24. Though we know that he is thinking of running, he performs the way a

U.S.-American Senator should perform:

. For his State and the country.
. Saying the right thing at the the right time instead of dancing around or avoiding what should be said until it's a year or two too late.

We need him. We need more Feingold's.

Keep feeding me stories about what he has said and done.

[RazzleDazzle]

25. He just got my vote

unless Howard Dean gets free to run again.

And that's going some, because I haven't been all that happy with him since his vote for Ashcroft and one other highly questionable vote.

[bpilgrim]

26. Good Answer - conventional wisdom tells the DLC we aren't right enough

and look how far that got'em.

i think folks are ready for someone who will speak out for weTHEpeople and stand up to the MACHINE.



peace

[LaurenG]

27. I think I have been waiting for him my entire

voting life. OMG what a man, what a man what a mighty fine man! If he runs I'm at his campaign service!

[iconoclastNYC]

28. I worry about him. Paul Welstone comes to mind.

Call me a nutjob, but he seems to be the dream liberal candidate for us in 2008, and therefore I think he should hire some former Secret Service type people.

[UrbScotty]

39. I'm worried about him, Conyers, and Dean (nt)

[cascadiance]

73. He and Wellstone were one of only 5 senators to vote no on Telecomm bill

He, McCain, Wellstone, Paul Simon, and Patrick Leahy were the only senators that had the wisdom to vote against the 1996 Telecomm Bill that Clinton didn't see fit to veto, even though it had the unconstitutional Communications Decency Act in it, as well as a lot of the crap that has given us the Clear Channel, Newscorp, and Sinclair monsters we have today through it's deregulation of the media then.

http://www.wave-guide.org/library/tca_hist.html

[LuCifer]

85. I think he should NOT fly!!!!!!!!!

And would anyone for the love of HELL care to explain why it's not :tinfoilhat: to buy off on all the shit we know like 9/11 MIHOP/LIHOP and the election rigging, but DO NOT even DARE to THINK that Paul Wellstone and his family and friends were MURDERED! GimmeamuthafukinBREAK!!!!!!! These BU$Hitler Oil Crime Cretins can pull off goddamn near ANYTHING...so don't let your guard down, ever.

Lu

[leeroysphitz]

30. We've been BEGGING for this for years now....

Dems standing on principle and seemingly putting career goals aside and surprise surprise we finally get it in the months running up to the mid terms and next presidential race! What a coincedence... Don't flame me tho... I appreciate it whenever and however I can get it.

[ClassWarrior]

31. We've had it in Wisconsin for a long, long time. And now we're glad...

...to share it with you.

NGU.

[leeroysphitz]

33. Must have missed that the last few years....

But in anycase, thanks for sharing.

[FogerRox]

35. mighty liberal of you-- sharing that is

LOL

Russ rocks. If it was Russ and Hillary in a primary-- frigg hillary-- Russ all the way

[ClassWarrior]

45. Our Progressive pleasure.

B-):thumbsup:

NGU.

[renaissanceguy]

58. I hope he's the next Dean-esque candidate in '08.

That's exactly what we need...someone who stands on PRINCIPLE.

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/673159

[Jokinomx]

32. The more I see the more I like him.....

I have seen him on Meet the Press and the McNeil News Hour recently and in my opinion, he showed intelligence and was very articulate. Something we haven't had in the WH since Clinton left.

If he runs he has my vote.

Feingold/Clark in "08"

:toast:

[FuriousMNDem]

37. Why don't we have more like him nowadays? n-t

[UrbScotty]

38. He or Clark in 2008? I can't decide between the two

Oh well. We still have two years before the caucuses.

[robbedvoter]

42. Clark.

[MoonRiver]

89. Clark is my first choice. But if he doesn't run, then it's Feingold

all the way. A big :kick: for both these wonderful men! And how awesome would it be to have a Clark/Feingold ticket?!
:loveya:

[UrbScotty]

94. I think both will run

A Clark/Feingold ticket or Feingold/Clark ticket would excite me like crazy.

[usregimechange]

43. Now that would be a Christmas present

[mzmolly]

44. Gosh he reminds me of Wellstone.

:toast: to the good Senator!

[BuyingThyme]

46. Thank God!

[The Witch]

47. Oh. Russ. Be still my beating heart.

:loveya: :loveya: :loveya:

[cascadiance]

74. One of you ladies marry him! Please!

We don't want to have him have the monkey that Kucinich had in the last election. Well, with any luck, the Rethugs will nominate Gingrich, and his marital status will look more "honorable" by comparison!

[sandyd921]

50. I'm loving him!

Conventional political thinking and the DLC be damned!

[me b zola]

51. Wowzers!

What DLCers like Sabato either realize or don't want to admit, is that Feingold's response is EXACTLY what will draw moderate Dems & independents. Hell, there are so many pissed-off repubs right now that a person of integrity like Russ would likely get a percentage of repub votes as well. :)


Feingold For President 2008!!

[jackpan1260]

53. Nice! eom

[Clarkie1]

55. Bravo for Senator Feingold. n/t

[understandinglife]

56. Real leadership is easy to detect. Senator Feingold, like Rep Conyers ...

... and a few others, display exactly what this Nation needs, 24/7/365/ for the next 10,000 years, and beyond ...


Peace.

[ClassWarrior]

88. Amen.

Peace.

NGU.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

57. this message is an early Christmas present...

You Go Russ!!! and thanks bunches for the news kpete... I've been praying for him to toss his hat into the big ring since I first learned how he voted not long after 9/11. All through the Kerry debate I was thinking, yeah sh#t-head say that to Russ. He didn't "do it too" which isn't really much of an excuse for his actions. Well this posting makes my Christmas Merry. Can I say Merry Christmas or is it Happy Christmas... it's all so confusing with the chimp-based confusion going on these days...

anyhow, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

[Bushfire]

59. As a Cheesehead, I'll withhold my endorsement

for someone who supports voting reform. Without leadership in the certification process, Feingold is shooting himself in the foot if he puts his name into the ring for president. He has done absolutely nothing for voting reform, even with proven evidence from a whistleblower handed to him personally. This refers to the Georgia whistleblower when Sonny Perdue got elected, and the Salon article related to it handed to him by yours truly over a couple years ago now. He still has to earn my respect.

[Peace Patriot]

60. "I still think that the Senator can be President in 2008." Even though he

cares about our civil liberties and "Americans risking their lives overseas"?

Naw, it's not possible. "Moderate" Democrats and "conservatives" don't give jack shit for anybody's civil liberties, OR for Bush cannon fodder.* That's why they're called "moderate" and "conservative." You see, your "moderate Democrat" is someone who doesn't care if our government attaches electrodes to peoples' testicles, to get them to confess to whatever we want them to be guilty of, as long as they're Arabs--or at least some shade of brown. But if they start getting into white people, especially white people who are U.S. consumers or Christians, then it's not "moderate" torture any more, and they might push that touchscreen for Feingold. And your "conservative" is someone with his gun in your face, saying, "Give me all your money, and your parents and grandparents pensions, and I'll invest it for you." They would just as soon attach electrodes to your granddad's testicles, if it would keep the terrorism of true Christian charity from ever polluting the land of the free. So he's not going to vote for a name like "Feingold" anyway. Why talk about him?

I wonder what this "professor' thinks about Bushite corporations counting all our votes with "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY programming code, and virtually no audit/recount controls. He probably thinks that "moderate Democrats" would think that's okay, as long as Terry McAuliffe says so. That's what "moderate" means. It means you're an idiot, or insane. It's much too radical to not want Bushites counting your votes in secret.--if he's thought about it at all--and how Bushite corporations counting all the votes with "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY programming code, and virtually no audit/recount controls, might tend to TOTALLY SCREW UP the political spectrum, turning "conservatives" into TRILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT SPENDERS and hogs for mass killing and torture, and burning the Constitution, and turning "moderate Democrats" into a conservative echo chamber except that they "care about" your parents and grandparents' pensions and would invest them wisely.

Frankly, I think this "professor" ought to get out on the street more.

As for Feingold saying, "I don't care." He seems like a pretty good fellow, Russ--more than a couple of cuts above "moderate Democrat" (idiot, insane), and cosmic distances above "conservative" (bloodthirsty fascist who would eat your grandmother if it would make geriatric drug stocks go up). I think he may mean "I don't care" about a political spectrum that leaves out most Americans--the people who love civil liberty and hate unjust war. He doesn't mean he doesn't want peoples' votes. He's saying he doesn't think most people are "moderate Democrats" ('just don't torture white people'), or Bush ghoul "conservatives" ('turn on the juice! heh, heh, heh'). Most people are way to the left of that--that is (stay with me here), TRULY "moderate" (don't want to incinerate the Constitution), and TRULY "conservative" (abhor trillion dollar deficits, unlawfulness, unjust war, waste, greed, "spending your capital," and throwing over ten centuries of social progress). Russ is betting that "moderate" and "conservative"--if they mean anything at all-- have "red-shifted" way off the deep end, and that most Americans are leftists (center).

I don't know what Russ's position is on Bushite corporations counting all our votes with "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY programming code, and virtually no audit/recount controls. I hope he's not a "moderate Democrat" on that (idiot, insane), and that he realizes that the vast leftist majority is having its votes 'disappeared' much like the anonymous prisoners on black flights to torture dungeons in eastern Europe. (Is that where they're outsourcing the vote 'tabulation' to? Poland?). And I hope he won't be disappointed when we can't make him president, no matter how much we might want him to be, no matter how much money we raise (matching Bushite fatcats dollar for dollar, as we did in 2004), no matter how many new Democrats we register (60/40 Dem/Repub in 2004!), no matter what the real exit polls say (2004--Kerry won), and no matter how badly he may be needed by our dying Republic (as Kerry was in 2004). I'm afraid the only way Feingold could become president is if Diebold and ES&S (Howard Ahmanson & co.) decide they need a "liberal" in the White House to blame for all of Bush's financial and foreign policy disasters, so they can trash him for four years, stir up civil disorder, and install Der Fuehrer in '12.

Ah, me. It's the wee hours of Christmas Day in my time zone--and I'm very, very worried tonight that we will never have "peace on earth" in our world ever again.

----------------

*(--and no one seems to care about the hundred thousand dead Iraqis, so we won't talk about them).

[Jokinomx]

71. Peace Patriot....

"Ah, me. It's the wee hours of Christmas Day in my time zone--and I'm very, very worried tonight that we will never have "peace on earth" in our world ever again."

You said "again"....has there ever been a time on this planet that there was "peace on earth"? I don't think so. It seems to part of human nature to be violent. World Peace is a nice concept..but it won't happen in our lifetime. Not unless there was a MAJOR shift in the consciousness of humankind and I don't see that happening without some type of outside influence.


Merry Christmas Peace Patriot....:toast:

[PATRICK]

61. So

electability means not having the guts or principles or brains to be qualified for the real task of presidential leadership? Anything or anyone that subscribes to such a double fault constriction on presidential candidates betrays everything and everyone that is worth anything.

Feingold's stand rings as sincere as it is eminently what one should EXPECT of any national official or aspirant to higher office. The bean counting calculations of ever-wrong media pundits and querulous adviser luminaries of dubious distinction with their noses to ill winds they think perfumed adequately with respect, fame and money are stupid, wrong in a million points of darkness, and out of touch with real people and real needs.

Making duty as a chip to bargain away in the election game means the game itself is false crooked and the death of democracy. These courtiers of tyrants pose as the wise. They sniff from their snuff boxes and preach against the man of conviction doing his duty against the reigning power of the day.

I still thought Feingold in his bi-partisan attempts had been conned too easily in his legislative battles for reform. If he can fight from here on in as well as he can keep his principled footing then he is way ahead of many rivals who are failed stars of a much higher magnitude.

And that pernicious assumption that only seems to affect the likes of Lieberman: "may hurt you with moderates and Conservatives".

Moderates and Conservatives back Bush and draw back from justice? Why do they get away with making that outdated stretch based on the shallow buffer of support granted Bush as a sitting duck President(now lame duck) for the Madison Avenue War on terror? It ain't there anymore, clueless freeps, only in the panicky imagination of GOP shills.

[Douglas Carpenter]

62. that's why Reagan lost in 1980 by such a wide margin -

That's why nothing ever became of the Goldwater supporters in 1964 and there movement died.

America only elect moderates.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

65. this board was such a good present....

I thought I'd re-open it, this morning... Merry Chanukah to Russ

[Cookie wookie]

66. His voting record looks really impressive.

He's won my heart and my vote (if Diebold wasn't voting for me) as the next president of the US.

It's hard to imagine why he voted for Ashcroft, but I remember at the time that Ashcroft looked and seemed creepy crawly, but his appointment was before most of us had any idea of how quickly our democratic nation could deteriorate into a fascist state. So I guess for myself I could give him the benefit of the doubt for that one. Voting for Roberts, why? I don't get why any Democrat of conscience would do that, so it seems a black mark on his record, but other than that, he's extrememly impressive. The comment, "Give me liberty or give me death" will go down in my history as the most inspiring and patriotic position that I've seen any politician in Washington take since I can't remember when, maybe since Bobby Kennedy or Franklin Roosevelt.

Actually, if this were a perfect world, and this was the kind of nation that it's imagined to be by jingoists programmed like robots by the bloody corporate media's marketing fantasies, and if this was the nation that our Constitution and Bill of Rights make it if we had principled, moral leaders, then John Conyers would be elected president and Feingold, Boxer, or Dean would be vice president.

Hey, what can I say, it's almost New Years and a time that should allow for some idealistic binging.

[Time for change]

67. I admire Feingold a great deal

I think that Sabato is correct that Feingold is not a very viable candidate for President, though I would love to see him as President. I also think that Feingold is of great value to our party. But I think we will have to accept a candidate for President who does not present himself as such a target.

[ClassWarrior]

75. You don't get change by declaring the agents of it inviable.

And as your handle so aptly puts it, it is "Time for change."

NGU.

[Time for change]

80. Yes, but sometimes you have to be ready to accept less change than you

would ideally like --
if you want to have much chance of getting any at all.

When I vote in the primaries I vote not only based on who I would most like to see as President - but on who I think has a reasonably good chance of being President. Three quarters of a loaf is better than none.

Anyhow, I'm not ready to say for sure that I wouldn't vote for Feingold because I think he's inviable. I haven't even seen any polls on the subject yet.

[cascadiance]

87. It's really how he's "marketed"...

Russ Feingold to many people in this country is still an "unknown quantity". Yes, some could destructively market him as a "liberal" and destroy him, and in the past, when the DLC was the silent but destructive force that pushed people up or down the ladder with their control over the Democratic party, Feingold might have been pushed by the wayside. But we now have Howard Dean in charge of the DNC, which though it isn't a complete shift yet, is a shift in the right direction to loosen the reigns of the destructive DLC that put John Kerry in as the nominee last time.

There are a lot of things that Feingold has actually done and stood on the side of *people*, not corporations, which makes him a threat to both the RNC and the DLC, but not the American people (IF they are given the right information to help them know this). It's really a lot dependent on how he's sold to the American people once he puts his hat into the race. I'd like to remain confident that we can do it right this time. There is a lot of sentiment that is asking for a better answer from either party now, asking BOTH of them to change their gears to get out of the messes that have been created and building for the last decade or so. If someone can send out that they are a positive shift in the right direction with substantive positions on issues and we push aside the simplistic "liberal"/"wingnut" labeling wars, I think someone like Feingold can get it done. He can stand up with someone like John McCain across the aisle like he's done on many other issues (both against the 1996 Telecomm bill, both sponsoring the McCain/Feingold Campaign finance reform bill, both for getting rid of torture in Iraq, etc.), he can show himself as MORE than just a "liberal" and someone who cares about the people and the future of our country.

Hillary Clinton is not an agent of change away from this cabal between the elites of our government and corporate worlds. She has more baggage to bear that will not be overcome by getting new info out on her with certain voters. But she HAS been marketed a lot. She is a recipe for another loss like we had with John Kerry. She can still be a great senator for New York. Let's keep her there! We need to STOP making the same mistakes over and over again and get someone in that will help us change at the top level of our government.

[NewJeffCT]

112. Clinton was a big huge target with a bullseye painted on his back

He seemed to do okay, though his character is still being assassinated today.

Not only Bill Clinton, but his wife went through the meat grinder as well.

[Triana]

68. Well now...THAT is who I want for President, then.

K & R

[Beam Me Up]

69. He does care -- about all the right things.

Somehow a lot of people have gotten the idea that IDEALS don't matter. Who would want us to believe that lie? They DO matter and they ARE worth fighting for.

Thank you Senator Feingold. You'd get my vote!

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

77. Wow. Feingold is impressing me more daily. That is a perfect quote.

I'm liking him more and more. I don't think I could've phrased his response any better than that!

[DemonFighterLives]

78. Rock the Boat Russ!

Feingold voted against the IWR as did Wellstone. He gained much respect then and with these comments.
Bring the troops home Russ!

[goforit]

79. Challange those a**hole moderates and conservatives.

Show them the two faces they really are.

[BjohnsonMN]

81. Screw those who say he needs to appeal to conservatives

Nobody tells the Repukes that they have to appeal to liberals. The right-wingers will vote for the GOP candidate, we want a candidate that will stand up against the war and for our civil liberties. The majority of Americans oppose the war in Iraq and oppose the Patriot act, why should our candidate pander to a minority that is already being pandered by the other side? This Sabato guy is either not a serious political analyst, or he is a GOP propaganda tool.

[savemefromdumbya]

91. tired of conservatives!

hopefully there won't be too many left by then? I think the independents/mod repugs?

[welshTerrier2]

92. and though it's been said many times, many ways ...

the best policies make the best politics !!

kudos to Feingold ... we need more of that ...

[Jeffersons Ghost]

96. Hang on a aec...

I don't want my up to the minute Russ-news thread to slip away... kick!

[Rainscents]

97. Thank you, Senator, Feingold!

You speak for me!!! :toast:

[nolabels]

98. Liberty cannot be purchased, it must be taken

Many bad ideas were once plans by others with good intentions. Personal and public protection in past centuries was relegated to normal necessities. It is in this last century these supposed paranoia's that have been promoted to a national obsession. The manufacture of weapons and implementation of war has become the premier issue and export from these United States.

The "I don't care," is an sign of willful ignorance and not of a principal and least of all practicality.

[MisterP]

100. the "doesn't care" applies to an "analysis" which says we must be

MORE Republican and ignore the people--their appeal and their needs.

[nolabels]

102. It was an attempt to depict the line in the sand as too far a reach

It's like telling a pack of elephants not to eat the bag of peanuts you just put in front of them. Words are good for warnings and learning and just a few other things, but they never stop a determined opponent from getting to their lunch

Idealism for the sake humanity is a good place to shoot for in attempted goals but in the compromise that is politics they often take a back seat in the priorities.

[Raydawg1234]

99. this Larry Sabato must not be a very good analyst, because

watching what you say to please moderates and republicans, are tactics of defeat and retreat. Thats not how you win an election. I'm sorry but Kerry might have won, even with Ohio and Florida being rigged, if he had went on the attack more. He was just to passive, he tried to appease people too much. We need someone like Feingold to stand up for what they really believe in.

[ClassWarrior]

101. Either that or Sabato's a RW whore.

NGU.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

103. I hope Russ will forgive me but...

He reminds me of a Republican. It might be more accurate to write, he reminds the image of long-dead Republican who was a real straight shooter, named Lincoln. He also comes from one of those mid-western cow states. What kind of special milk do you people in the mid-west give these leaders as babies? Are you guys hoarding all the good dairy products for yourselves? If you aren't willing to export the good stuff, just keep up the steady flow of products like Feingold. It's like mother's milk to me.

[ClassWarrior]

106. And you should taste the cream puffs at our State Fair!

Since we've gone off on a dairy track here. B-)

NGU.

[cascadiance]

110. I forgive you for thinking he's like Sensenbrenner...

since they are both from the same state of Wisconsin. Sensenbrenner and Feingold couldn't be more polar opposites though! Feingold is probably our biggest champion for civil liberties that we have on capitol hill now. I challenge anyone out there (with the possible exception of Patrick Leahy) to find someone there now with a better record of leadership there in the Senate. Sensenbrenner of course is the infamous ba$tard that shut down the hearings on the Patriot Act by contrast.

[stepnw1f]

104. Excellent!!!!

I'm liking this guy more and more. And for all you Nay Sayers... Shut the Fuck Up!

[Jeffersons Ghost]

105. Nay sayers have rights too...

Anti-Russ postings are okay with me, as long as they get the name right and hear what the man has to say.

[derby378]

107. Russ has my vote in 2008

Game, set, match!

[Jeffersons Ghost]

108. Let's face it...

Even Hillary has my vote... It's not so much who I vote for but instead, what I vote against that matters in the next few elections. Hey! how about Her running on the same ticket as Russ and becoming the first female Vice? I'm wondering if it is unethical for me to save time and finally pull the leaver that votes a straight Demo ticket?

[cascadiance]

109. Boxer works better for me as the "female voice" though...

I really think that Hillary Clinton could be a big mistake on the ticket. She's got too much negative baggage with voters out there that won't go away. Republicans and DLC'ers are championing her, because they know she will play into the wishes of the corporations of having another Rethuglican elected that will be easier for them to "control" than someone like Hillary that has more "conflicting obligations" to her constituency than a Rethuglican would.

Barbara Boxer would work better for me on the presidential ticket. Perhaps not with Feingold. I could see either her or Feingold paired with Clark to make a good ticket that has a lot for many different people to like. Either Feingold/Clark or Clark/Boxer for me would probably be good combinations.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

114. too much baggage?

Russ has baggage too... I bet he has an NSA file a mile deep! Talk about baggage; how about those guys who follow Feingold around? I bet they cary enough surveillance equipment to break a mule's back.

[tlsmith1963]

115. We Need More People Like Feingold

If more politicians would stop worrying about their careers so much, we might actually start solving some of America's problems. They are so useless because they are into the perks too much. We elect them to solve problems, not to get off on their own power.

Tammy