Discussion for article #233568
Feingold was probably the worst casualty of the Great Sad of 2010. Having Elizabeth Warren win a seat 2 years later was a nice consolation in the meantime, but can we pleeeeeeeease have him back?
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So whatās Russās plan for how heās going to deal with the giant wave of Koch money that will come piling into Wisconsin like a shit tsunami without getting his principles tarnished?
Itās a real question. Johnson is one of the Kochās favorite meat puppets. In North Carolina, Kay Hagan started out way ahead and Tom Tillis was about as popular as antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea after his role leading a truly despicable General Assembly session to North Carolinaās new place as a province of the Kochtopus Empire. Then came the shit tsunami of Koch money, with a lot of concern-trolling ads that dragged her numbers down to the low fifties, from whence they only degraded.
Kay had a lot of money, but she ignored the early ads, following the CW that you need conserve resources for the general. It was a huge mistake. She should have spent as much as she needed to, hitting hard at those ads, and exposing their source, and then done what it took to raise more later if she needed to. Instead, she let the Kochs buy her seat for Tillis.
Russ, however, wonāt have any money because he thinks he can wish McCain-Feingold back into existence by living as if it was still in effect. And Iām very much afraid that in his head, heās still living in the Wisconsin where he is a beloved figure and union-busting thuggish felons arenāt getting elected and then reelected governor.
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What youāre saying is unfortunately too true. I remember John Nichols saying some years ago during an informal chat on a Nation cruise that Russ Feingold was so steadfastly true to his ideals that he would break your heart.
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āStartingā? A large number of us attempted to draft Russ to run against Walker in the recall campaign a few years back because we knew that only he had the statewide base to defeat the governor. Russ refused. Why? The insiders all said he had his eyes set on a 2016 rematch with Johnson. There was a less insistent draft Russ campaign last year to take on Walker, but we didnāt push as hard because we already knew the answer.
Russ running for his old seat is an open secret. Every liberal in the state has known about his plan since he got beat back in 2010.
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I donāt really care what metric you used, Mr Strauss, but if Senator Johnson is one of the most conservative Conservatives, than this current crop of legislators (both parties, both houses) is far worse and less qualified than any in my lifetime. He should be booted out by Wisconsinites, tout suite.
Mr Feingoldās loss was a kick in the ass. The only Senator to vote against the Patriot Act, one of the Dems to vote against the 2002 AUMF, he was in a small group of Dems who opposed the nomination of TreasSec Geithner, and he returned > $3m to the US Treasury. I liked his style.
Heās on his third wife and maybe he needs a little distance. Other than that, Mr Feingold deserves that seat more than anybody.
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Iām not generally a betting man, but my money would be on Feingold winning this rematch in a Presidential election year.
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Yes, I agree that Feingoldās greatest weakness it that he has the naivetĆ© of someone whose heart is pure. But while the Koch brothers have proved that they can buy Senate seats in places like North Carolina and Iowa, the situations there were somewhat different. First, Ron Johnson is defending his seat and he has been such a doofus and embarrassment to Wisconsin for the past six years that itās questionable whether any amount of money can save his ass seat. Besides, it is a presidential election year and in the current situation that will give Democratic challengers a big advantage.
Iād liken it to the matchup between Joe Walsh and Tammy Duckworth in 2012. In 2010, Walsh, like Johnson, had ridden the Tea Party wave into Congress. narrowly defeating his Democratic opponent by 291 votes. Duckworth had lost her last run for the House in 2006, but in 2012 she squared off against Walsh in IL-08. Despite the fact that Walsh got over $6 million in outside funding and outspent Duckworth $7 million to $4.7 million, Duckworth won 54-45. Walsh, like Johnson, was such an abysmal specimen that no amount of outside money could keep him in office.
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Hope so.
āāHeās got a record of being fully supportive of a big, intrusive, controlling federal government and I would say right now that doesnāt sell very well,ā Johnson told the conservative magazine, National Review.ā
Oh, please. Russ Feingold was the one and only single Senator to vote against the USA Patriot Act. I am really a fan of Russ Feingold. I only wish he were running for POTUS!
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Feingold will have the benefit of it being a presidential year (which will only help him if Walkerās not the nominee and the Democrats win nationally). But Tillisās approval ratings here were in the twentiesāand not because no one knew who he was.
Nine hundred million. Thatās how much the Americans for Neofeudalism are putting together. Thatās exclusive of Roveās outfit and all the other little grifthouses.
itās about time. The people of āOutsconsonā have been up a river of another kind without someone like him.
He should run. And we should support him with every available means.