Yes, Feingold Jumps

He tests the waters, but will he jump in?
Feingold may want presidency, but desire alone won't win it
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I’m no Democrat insider, but I have been a staffer to a presidential exploratory committee and the ensuing presidential campaign, and one thing is near certain, Russ Feingold is running for President.

Pointy-headed academics who court the political media aside, presidential politics is all about the future, not the past, so remove losers John Edwards, John Kerry, Joe Biden and Al Gore from the list of top tier Democrats.

The last nominee retread to win successive nominations was Adlai Stevenson. Mass communications and the professionalization of political campaigns simply will not enable any nominee a next time.

For that reason, Gore and Kerry are not Feingold’s competitors for the Democrat nomination.

At this point in the marathon, Feingold’s only competition is himself. He occupies space in the race that no one else can grab as their own. Campaign finance reform? War opposition? He’s a liberal’s rock star and yet, in Wisconsin particularly, he’s perceived more maverick-ish, anti-establishment, libertarian than George McGovern-esque.

Wisconsin loves a maverick -- GOPers Lee Dreyfus in 1978, Bob Kasten in 1980 and Tommy Thompson in 1986 – Feingold holds the US Senate seat once held by Good Night and Good Luck movie target Joe McCarthy.

My former employer, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), really blew it during Feingold’s reelection. Bailing on Tim Michels they way they did, and then allowing the VFW-PAC to endorse Russ Feingold – a treasonous political move – guaranteed a Feingold Presidential campaign.

Every time Russ Feingold smacks the Bush Administration in Iowa or New Hampshire, the subsequent national news coverage will remind independent, non-aligned suburban voters that come the general election campaign in just over a year, we Republicans have had our opportunity.

In campaigns, 14 months is measured in dog years. But by not helping to end Feingold’s 12-year run here in Wisconsin, the NRSC gave the country a liberal wolf in sheep camouflage.