Free Republic

Well-known through his car dealerships but a newcomer to the political scene, Russ Darrow has been crisscrossing the state to show voters what "The Darrow Difference" is all about in his bid for a seat in the United States Senate. A longtime resident of Big Cedar Lake and the owner of 19 car dealerships and related leasing and financing companies, the 63-year-old Republican has decided to transfer his business over to his children and follow the campaign trail. That move is attracting the attention of some high-powered political talent along the way, including former U.S. Sen. Robert Kasten, R-Wis., who...

Washington - Amid a lot of bitter venting on both sides, Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter defended last week's marathon Senate debate on the blocking of a handful of Bush judicial nominees. "We're trying to make C-SPAN the channel of choice," said Specter, who called the round-the-clock speech-a-thon "even more interesting than the soaps." North Dakota Democrat Byron Dorgan suggested C-SPAN watchers were having a different reaction - that we're "just a bunch of windbags in blue suits." When it comes to the war over federal judges, there's virtually nothing the two parties agree on. Not who's right and who's wrong....

Wisconsin car dealer Russ Darrow made his Republican U.S. Senate bid official Thursday, saying he hopes to bump off two-term Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold, whom he labeled as too liberal and out of step with Wisconsin residents. Darrow, 63, will first have to face two other Republicans who also have announced their U.S. Senate bids: state Sen. Bob Welch, 45, and Brownsville businessman Tim Michels, 41. In an interview, Darrow called himself "a grounded kind of guy, a real person who takes care of real people" and touted his business experience as a plus for the Senate job he hopes...

A provision in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law aimed at helping candidates compete against self-funding millionaires could help one of the bill's sponsors, Sen. Russ Feingold, in next year's Senate race. The "millionaire's amendment" raises contribution limits for candidates whose opponents finance their own campaigns and outpace them in spending. Two of the three candidates who have filed in Wisconsin's GOP primary, Tim Michels and Russ Darrow, are millionaires. The law could allow Feingold, D-Wis., hold off a barrage of funding if either of them wins the primary and challenges the senator next year. Feingold campaign manager George Aldrich...