Russ Feingold has piqued my interest for '08

[Wetzelbill]

It's way too early for me to start thinking about candidates. I find it weird how all the pundits are already wondering who is going to run etc. The last election was barely over and it was Hillary this, John McCain that, Oh, how about Bill Frist, don't forget John Edwards etc etc...

But, Russ Feingold is an interesting man. He is a bit ideosyncratic, but the man votes his conscience, is thoughtful, tough and speaks his mind. His decision to come out and call for a definitive, but still flexible if need be, timetable for troops to be pulled out of Iraq was gutty, and smart, I believe.

I have no clue who I'll vote for. Almost surely I will vote in the primary for somebody who will NOT(big typo)be the final candidate. I voted for Kucinich last time. I really took hard looks at Kerry, Edwards, Clark and Dean. I liked all of them. I thought each one would have made a good candidate and a great president. I, actually, liked all of our candidates last time around. Leiberman is frustrating for sure, but he has his good points and no doubt would be better than Bush any day. I'd never vote for him, for sure.

Feingold is interesting though. I'm going to keep an eye on him even more than I already have. I think he has been a very good senator and would make an excellent president. I can't say he's my frontrunner now or anything, but if I ended up voting for him I'd have no problem with that. I'm a proud DK voter, a proud John Kerry voter and I'd be proud to vote for Senator Feingold if the time ever comes to pass.

I think we have several good options here. We have some great talent in our party, we just need to start winning elections. I'm excited about the midterms and what lies ahead for our future.

[iwantmycountryback]

I agree completely

Russ is a great man who does a great job for the people of Wisconsin. He has been my favorite candidate for 2008 for a while now, even though it is ridiculously early. He is a great candidate for several reasons, most prominently that he has broad appeal and is a Midwesterner. I truly hope he runs

[movonne]

1. Me too.

[LittleClarkie]

2. He's been backing off since the divorce

I hope he reconsiders. His PAC is called the Progressive Patriots Fund.

[Zynx]

5. Second divorce

That's a tough sell in the real world.

[LittleClarkie]

6. Which sucks out loud

Oxy can have multiple, but a Dem can barely have one, let alone two.

It is what it is, but I kind of think that if anyone could overcome, it would be Russ. If he brings along his ad agency, that is. He always has the best campaign ads. So positive.

[shraby]

3. He has what's called integrity. A rare commodity

in D.C.

[postulater]

4. Especially since he today declared

that the US should get out of Iraq by the end of 2006. This from a Washington Post article.

"The United States should set a target date of Dec. 31, 2006, to complete the military mission in Iraq and have all U.S. forces removed from the nation, U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold said Wednesday."

[Wetzelbill]

7. Here's a short AP article from yesterday too

Senator Calling for Iraq Pullout in 2006

By JAMES A. CARLSON, Associated Press Writer
Wed Aug 17,10:50 PM ET

The United States should set a target date of Dec. 31, 2006, to complete the military mission in Iraq and have all U.S. forces removed from the nation, U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold (news, bio, voting record) said Wednesday.

The Wisconsin Democrat, considered a possible candidate for president in 2008, said his proposal is based in part on what has happened when other timetables were set in Iraq, setting things in motion to transfer sovereignty, hold elections and prepare a constitution.

"I believe the same thing is true with the military mission," Feingold told The Associated Press. He said he planned to formally announce his proposal Thursday.

Setting a clear time frame could also undercut the insurgents, he said.

"Most importantly, it provides an answer to the terrorists' very effective argument when they say, `Come to Iraq and fight the American occupation'," Feingold said.


Feingold introduced a Senate resolution in June urging the Bush administration to give Congress a time frame for achieving military goals in Iraq and bringing the troops home. But the White House said a timetable could not be considered until Iraq's army was strong enough.

The Bush administration has said any withdrawal plan would encourage insurgents to wait for foreign troops to leave Iraq.

Feingold said he would release the specifics of his proposal at a town hall meetings Thursday in Marquette, in central Wisconsin. He said many people attending similar meetings had expressed concerns about the uncertain timing of the U.S. commitment in Iraq.

"I'm not proposing a hard deadline," he said. "I'm proposing a target date, with flexibility."

[Moderator]

14. WetzelBill

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source
and provide a link
to the source.


Thank you.


DU Moderator

[election_2004]

8. Feingold is my senator

And while I'd vote for him and campaign my ass off for him in a heartbeat (if he was the nominee), I am skeptical that he would be the strongest Democrat to put at the very top of the ticket.

Not only would we hate to lose him here in Wisconsin, but I think the twice-divorced factor would bring him down against the inevitably-married Republican nominee in '08. Unfortunately, Middle America cares about stupid stuff like that.

That being said, I think Feingold would make a compelling vice-presidential running mate for Blanche Lincoln.

A Lincoln/Feingold ticket would be extremely strong because it would bridge the gap between centrists/moderates and progressives.

[safi0]

9. I don't think

Middle American cares about stupid stuff like that. I think the same people who wouldn't vote for Russ because he's twice divorced and/or unmarried are the same people who wouldn't vote for Wes Clark, Mark Warner, Hillary or just about any other Presidential hopeful because there Pro-Choice.

[election_2004]

10. Well....

People thought the same thing too about Kerry (that people wouldn't believe the misrepresentations) until the "Swifties" hit.

You have to anticipate not only how the candidate would be attacked as the nominee, but to what extent the fallout could snowball in the red states.

[safi0]

12. What misrepresentations?

He's a twice divorced man who will likely be a bachelor when/if he's running for President. I believe that except for the fundies, most people won't care.

[fujiyama]

11. He's a good guy

and while he has frustrated me at times (like voting for Bush's cabinet nominees) in the end I think he has one of the most consistant and principled voting records I've seen.

He has a great sense of sincerety which is hard to beat. While I'd love to see him at the top of a ticket, I'm guessing that's unlikely and I think his getting divorced twice doesn't help. I do hope that whomever gets the nomination seriously considers him to be the VP. He'd deliver WI certainly, which has proven to be somewhat volatile and very important swing state in recent years, nearly going red in two elections. Russ won the state by ten points. He'd also have appeal in MN and IA as well.

[1932]

13. Fiengold once told a fellow senator his salary the year before entering

the senate (I believe he was a public interest lawyer making about 35,000 dollars a year).

The fellow senator (whom Feingold didn't name) said, "hell, I've spent that much in a weekend on women and alcohol!"