Disclosure: the only contact I have with Russ Feingold’s office is from his media guy, who sends me emails to let me know when Russ is going to speak on the Senate floor. This is not unique, I get the same notices from several other Senate offices. I have no financial or any other relationship with Senator Feingold.
There are a lot of people that are known to be considering a run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President. Here is a partial list: John Kerry, John Edwards, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Evan Bayh, Tom Vilsack, Mark Warner, Wesley Clark and…Russ Feingold.
If anyone of these politicians secures the nomination I would be willing to support them over any conceivable Republican opponent. But, right now, only one of these politicians is standing up for me.
And that politician is Russ Feingold. We know that the NSA controversy is just the tip of the iceberg. We now have evidence that the FBI is spying on anti-war groups, we know the Defense Intelligence Agency has spied on anti-war groups and even classified them as terrorist threats. We know that that the National Security Agency has been spying on American citizens without judicial oversight and that the administration will go to any lengths to prevent the people from knowing the true targets of that illegal surveilliance. Despite these facts, the Democratic leadership seems to be content with the current situation that shows a 55%-39% advantage in generic congressional polls.
Things are going so well in the polls that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi seem to not want to rock the boat by pointing out that the President has been brazenly violating the law and intends to continue breaking the law.
Whatever the merits of their strategy, Russ Feingold is telling the truth about the President. And if the Dems don’t back him up, they are just as bad as the President. Russ Feingold is standing up when his leadership would prefer that he sit down. We asked the Dems to fight to preserve our rights, and Russ took up the challenge.
For this blogger, Russ’s stand will be remembered. And anyone who fails to back him up is my enemy. When it comes time to decide who to support for the Democratic nomination, I will be looking at the courage and principle of Russ Feingold, and I will be looking at the lukewarm support he is getting from the other contenders today.
