I went to a Feingold gathering tonight

[Jackpine Radical]

in the home of a local Egyptian physician. Pretty much the entire local Arab community was there, as well as a good many of the local Dem activists. Somehow I don't think the Repugs are gonna get the Arab vote this time.

Russ was his usual genuine, down-to-earth self. He discussed a lot of things, but here are a few highlights I remember afterwards.

He spoke in tribute to Paul Wellstone, noting the anniversary of his death.

In response to a question about Generallisimo Boykin's comments Russ of course labelled them outrageous and intolerable, and indicated that steps are being taken behind to scenes to remove him from a position of power.

Russ also pretty explicitly said he thought Kerry is an old and wise political thinker knew better than to vote for the war but did so for self-interested political reasons, and was now paying the price by having to weave and dodge on the issue.

Russ was pretty disdainful of all the Bush-enabling Democrats who voted for the war, for the Patriot act, etc. & said (not exactly in so many words) maybe some of them are starting to figure out that it's safe to be critical of Bushco now.

He also called for a single-payer health care plan.

Russ steered clear of endorsing anyone, but I got a "between-the-lines" sense that he would not be unhappy to see Dean pick up the nomination.

At the end, I got a chance to exchange a word or two while shaking his hand and asked if he was aware of BBV. He knows about it. When I said "Max Cleland" he said he thought "something funny may have happened there." He also said that _________ (didn't get the name) from New Jersey was "looking into it."

[Gloria]

1. He was probably referring to Rush Holt...

My former Congressman (I moved). He represents an area that includes Princeton. He barely one his first race, but seems to have won with a larger margin last time out.

He's trying to push legislation to ensure a paper trail for computer voting...

[Jackpine Radical]

8. Thanks--you're probably right about

Rush Holt.

[Bushfire]

15. Russ knows about BBV

and the Rush Holt bill. His aides won't return my phone calls on the issue, but I've had the chance to put into Russ's hand a copy of Rush Holt's bill personally on two occasions. I've also asked Russ to introduce identical legislation into the Senate, as well as Herb Kohl. Kohl at least had an aide return my call, and sent a letter if legislation identical to Rush Holt's bill he would give it serious consideration. I will publicly embarass Russ if need be. I don't care how "progressive" a candidate is if they don't listen to there constituents. They work for us, not the other way around. If he has a reason not to sponsor this legislation in the Senate, I need to hear back from him. Russ should hop on board this train now IMHO. I will not forgive him if he doesn't. The facts are out there regarding what happened in Georgia during Nov 2002. He cannot deny it any longer. There needs to be sweeping legislation before Nov 2004 if the Dems have any hope of beating back the GOP. Any other issue is secondary.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. thanks that is good to knoqw

The other day my hubby asked about Boykin from Denis Kucinich
and we got a similar answer... I get the feeling
Boykin will be spending more time with his family... I just
hope VERY SOON.

[KharmaTrain]

3. Russ Needs To Speak Up!

Bless the senator from my neighbor to the north...along with our own Dick Durbin and Tom Harkin, the Progressive spirit still speaks from the heartland.


Russ is a rare man of true conviction and enbodies the values we need to present to a larger and larger audience. It's a shame he shares these gems behind closed doors and not in an open forum.

[bluestateguy]

4. Has he admitted yet that voting to confirm Ashcroft was wrong?

Nobody's perfect. Otherwise Feingold is a fine senator.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. That specific question was not addressed in so many words--

but he did go on a long rant about how Bush is using Ashcroft as a "lightning rod" for things like the Patriot act, that Ashcroft is essentially carrying out Bush's plans & permitting Bush to maintain a cosmetic distance from the dirt. He went through a fair-sized list of Ashcroft's most egregious and illegal actions such as the post-9-11 detentions, profiling of middle easterners, etc.--quite a long rant--and concluded "The way to get rid of Ashcroft as Attorney General is to get rid of Bush as President."

Personally I've never held that vote against Russ--I think he had his reasons for doing it. First, I think he was trying to do a little logrolling in order to get McCain-Feingold passed; second, his was by no means the deciding vote--Ashcroft was going through, Feingold or no; and third, Russ is a gentleman and was trying to extend Bush the courtesy of letting him have the Cabinet of his choice. Russ said that is the right of every new President, unless the appointments are incredibly, unacceptably bad.

[returnable]

24. "unless the appointments are incredibly, unacceptably bad."

Um, wouldn't Ashcroft fall into this category? :hi:

Seriously, I like Feingold. A lot.

But it's hypocritical to call Kerry voting for IRW as "self-interested political reasons", and then give Feingold a pass for Ashcroft.

Let's look at the justification you posted:

"First, I think he was trying to do a little logrolling in order to get McCain-Feingold passed"

That's not acting in one's political self-interest?

"second, his was by no means the deciding vote--Ashcroft was going through, Feingold or no;"

IRW was gonna pass with or without Kerry.

"and third, Russ is a gentleman and was trying to extend Bush the courtesy of letting him have the Cabinet of his choice."

Hopefully Russ learned a valuable lesson on that one :hi:

[Jackpine Radical]

26. Ashcroft sure looks a lot worse post-hoc

than he did a priori.

And Feingold said as much.

Re: McCain-Feingold--that may not have been so much for the personal political gain (3 years til his next election contest) as for the social benefit of cleaning up campaign financing a little. I think Russ had more than self-interest at heart on that one.

[returnable]

27. Hey, I agree...

Like I said, I like Russ.

I'm just not gonna cut him any slack on the Ashcroft vote. You can try and argue the "20/20 hindsight" angle with Ashcroft, but some of us saw this freak coming from a mile away. His reactionary views were not a well-guarded secret.

So my point was, trying to spin Feingold's Ashcroft vote while villifying Kerry's IRW vote smells of a double standard.

Both men had their reasons for voting the way they did; both votes, in my opinion, were wrong.

[ScreamingMeemie]

5. I was very happy to see that he voted against the pay

increase. Good to know there are those speaking for us who know a slam on constituents when they see one.

[Jackpine Radical]

7. I think Russ is still turning back the money from all of the

pay increases that have occurred since his first term.

[Girlfriday]

11. He introduced the amendment against the pay raise

n/t

[genius]

9. At attorney who was presenting a seminar on USA PATRIOT

at the bar convention this year was really impressed that the lone vote against the bill in the Senate came from a Jew. I haven't agreed with a number of Feingold's votes but for voting against that, he'll forever be a hero to me.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Classical_Liberal]

12. The Greens endorced Wellstone rather than the green candidate thank god

so this is just flamebait.

[Loyal]

13. True,

but the Greens still had a candidate. And it's funny that you of all people, Classical_Liberal, would accuse another DUer of flamebait.

[Pastiche423]

14. Your post was flame bait

The topic of this thread is Russ Feingold. You tried to hijack it by introducing the Green Party into it.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

28. That's true of almost everything he posts n/t

[Terwilliger]

20. Funny...political parties...candidates...

It's a BIG CONSPIRACY!!

[Clark Can WIN]

16. kick

[Jackpine Radical]

17. Thanks

for the kick.

[blm]

18. Why would Feingold speak ill of Wellstone who voted for the Patriot Act

when he was there to speak in his memory?

Did Feingold know that Dean was publicly suggesting the terms of the Patriot Act three days after 9-11?

I wonder what some people know and don't know about their own Dem party.

And isn't it Feingold who enabled Ashcroft to become Attorney General? Other Dems were fighting against Ashcroft. Does Russ have "disdain" for his enabling of Ashcroft? I like Russ, but, he shouldn't throw stones.

[Bushfire]

19. Two seperate subjects

It is reasonable to believe Russ' tribute to Paul Wellstone was seperate of the Patriot Act comment. The vote on the Patriot Act was in the week following 911, thus I'm sure Paul felt it was probably the right thing to do at the time. It sucks that Russ was the sole person who stood his ground, but let's not tarnish Wellstone's memory over one vote.

At the end, I got a chance to exchange a word or two while shaking his hand and asked if he was aware of BBV. He knows about it. When I said "Max Cleland" he said he thought "something funny may have happened there." He also said that _________ (didn't get the name) from New Jersey was "looking into it."

To the best of my knowledge, Rush Holt doesn't have anybody looking into Georgia (ie Cleland). Researchers, and activists are keeping his office up to date though. Enough evidence is there regarding Georgia for someone with clout to file a lawsuit to put Diebold under supoena. I'm pretty sure "Federal" election laws were broken, thus Holt's office may be able to intervene. There is no reason Feingold cannot introduce Rush Holt's bill into the Senate though. I will keep the pressure on Kohl, Feingold, and my rep until they agree that a VVPB is the only way to go.

[Jackpine Radical]

21. I see I was confusing in what I wrote here.

"Looking into it" referred to BBV, not specifically Cleland.

And I think Wellstone was outspoken and forthright enough in general to qualify as one of the "good guys" regardless of any specific vote. Obviously, if Russ was the only one to vote against Patriot, then you're not going to find a lot of senators who can pass that litmus test. And yes, the tribute was separate from the comment about the Repug Lite crowd.

This battering around on the basis of isolated factoids gets really tiring. You can always find something about anyone to pee your pants about, but it's not helpful and I'm not impressed. I know what both Russ and Paul stand/stood for, and these niggling little irritants serve no useful function when we need to be looking at larger pictures.

[blm]

25. Yes, we do need to look at the larger picture, and here's where

Russ was not doing so. If, as you say, he characterized Kerry's vote as political calculation, then what political calculation was Kerry making in 1997 when he was crafting a military and post Saddam plan for Iraq with Bill Clinton?

[UrbScotty]

22. Glad to hear it.

Now, why would anyone NOT want this guy in the Senate?

[Bushfire]

23. What good is getting one Dem senator re-elected if

we cannot get several others elected because of what happened with Max Cleland? We need fair elections accross the country.

[Lady President]

29. Arab vote

I was talking a week or so ago with the owner of my apartment complex who is now an American citizen, but had to flee with his family after Isreal was formed. (Very interesting and informed man) I think receiving the Arab vote will depend on the candidate. The booing of Lieberman at the Arab American Institute recently is a fairly strong indicator of how much success he would have. This seems to be policy based, not because of his religion. It appears that the Arab vote might go to Bush, unless one of the candidates who oppose the Isreali wall/fence gets the nomination.

[imhotep]

30. He will be a great Attorney General.

imagine having someone who is not afraid to believe in something in such a position.