Posted on 01/10/2005 8:42:41 AM PST by RockinRight
Why Russ Feingold?
Shortly after the 2004 elections it became apparent that the Democratic party needed a new leader and a new direction. We believed - and continue to believe - that the Democratic party needs Russ Feingold in particular.
Senator Feingold has been a member of the United States Senate since 1992. He currently serves on the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on the Budget, the Special Committee on Aging, and he is a ranking member of the Constitution Subcommittee and the Africa Subcommittee. In particular, it is worthy to note that Senator Feingold knows the inner workings of the U.S.' foreign relations and that he is well known as a staunch advocate of balanced budgets.
Senator Feingold is a man of principle and reform; of this there can be no doubt. He was the only member of the United States Senate to vote against the USA PATRIOT Act. And with good reason. In fact, before the PATRIOT Act was passed, Feingold called former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to express his concerns about why the PATRIOT Act might overstep sensable boundaries. Ashcroft agreed with Senator Feingold, but was ultimately overruled by the rest of President Bush's cabinet. Senator Feingold also voted against the war in Iraq because he didn't believe that the war was necessary or wise, but then he voted for the $87 billion to support the troops once the war was underway. Simply put, his votes make sense.
Feingold is also well known for his advocacy of reform. Working with Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Feingold was able to pass the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform. While we - and Senator Feingold - readily admit that this bill was only the first of many steps which must be taken to clean up politics in the United States of America, no one can claim that this was not a step in the right direction and a clear signal of the future of campaign finance laws.
Senator Russ Feingold is also against the death penalty for a number of reasons. He has introduced legislation that would issue a moratorium on the death penalty until the system that administers the death penalty can be closely reviewed by an independent commission.
Every single time that Congress authorizes another pay raise for itself, Russ Feingold votes against the raise. When these votes pass, Feingold is the only senator who returns his raise to the national treasury.
Perhaps most importantly, Senator Russ Feingold believes that every single American deserves health coverage that is as good or better than the plans that every member of Congress enjoys. Americans are paying the highest costs in the world for prescription drugs and health care coverage. Why is this? As we are the world's only superpower, we cannot treat our citizens with anything less than the utmost respect. We owe it to ourselves to make universal health care coverage a reality. With Senator Feingold's plan, each state would create its own plan to cover all of its citizens, and each state would then retain local control of its implementations if it decided to do so.
Time and time again, Senator Feingold has proven that he is a man of passion, principle and common sense. And he is a man of his word. As much as any man or woman in the United States of America, Russ Feingold deserves the highest office in the land. We intend to get him there.
But wouldn't a Sanford vs. Feingold race be interesting? Sanford would win by Reaganesque proportions, methinks.
We'll see a lot of this as the democratic party tests the waters with various candidates for 2008. There's lots of hype with Clinton, Kerry, and even Gore for 2008. But, truth be told, the democrats don't have a lot of faith for success in any of them. They need alternatives ... badly ... bad enough to even consider Feingold :-)
He's off to a great start in Alabama. END SARCASM!!
After last Thursday, the buzz on DU is draft Boxer.
GO FOR IT!!! Boxer would get whipped like a red-headed step child.
I don't think so...check this out:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/nat/apr05/317534.asp
LOL!! Evidently Feingold is no better at marriages than he is campaign finance reform.
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