The Daily Background
| Progressive Hero Russ Feingold: “I voted for Barack”
by Arlen Parsa
The Nation reports that Senator Russ Feingold was one of the 646,000 cheeseheads who voted for Obama last Tuesday:
Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, a progressive icon who briefly considered seeking the Democratic presidential nomination himself, said he voted in Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary for Barack Obama.
Asked directly about his choice, Feingold answered directly.
“I voted for Barack Obama,” said the senator, who indicated that he was “extremely likely” to cast his superdelegate vote at the Democratic National Convention for his colleague from Illinois.
[…]
“I really do think that, at the gut level, this is a chance to do something special,” Feingold said of the Obama campaign and the potential of an Obama presidency, which he said has “enormous historical opportunities for America and for our relationship with the world.”Feingold expressed high regard for New York Senator Hillary Clinton, with whom he has clashed in the past. But he spoke at great length about having worked with Obama on ethics legislation in the Senate, and hailed the Illinois senator’s ability to judge people and hold firm against pressure from interest groups and party insiders.
And the anti-war senator said that Obama’s opposition to authorizing President Bush to attack Iraq had to be seen as a great strength in the race for the Democratic nomination and an eventual race with Arizona Senator John McCain.
As a Wisconsinite who was disappointed by Russ Feingold’s support of our former governor’s policies against the poor, and his lack of interest in a range of issues including the expanded use of subminimum wage jobs, I’ve wondered how Sen. Feingold acquired a reputation as a progressive. Aside from his regressive stand on such social issues as poverty, he as been quite consistently “middle of the road”. Opposition to this war, for example, is entirely mainstream, with the majority of Americans opposing it. By this point, supporting Obama is certainly a safe stand. I’ve seen that Feingold addresses issues very cautiously, expressing disagreement only when it is clear that the great majority disagree as well. I’m not necessarily saying that’s bad. I’m simply saying that I don’t see where Feingold is actually progressive.