I've not been very optimistic about Russ Feingold's chances for the Democratic presidential nomination. With heavy hitters like Senator Hillary Clinton and others standing in his way, it seemed unlikely that the Wisconsin Democrat had a chance to win the party's top spot, much less the presidency itself. But after watching Sen. Feingold Sunday on "Meet the Press," I'm willing to backtrack a little bit. I still don't know if Feingold has a chance to win, but I'm more convinced than ever that he should run.
Feingold came across Sunday as an intelligent, articulate, forceful voice for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. In an era when most Democrats are busy taking polls and trying to sound like Republicans, Feingold is the rare straight shooter who comes out and says what he really believes.
- It's time to withdraw the troops from Iraq.
- The Congress is out of touch with the American public on Iraq.
- President Bush should be censured.
- We need real campaign finance reform.
Despite tough questioning from Tim Russert, Feingold did not back down on any of those positions and did not attempt to hedge his views. That was refreshing. Of all the potential candidates for president, Feingold is now my favorite.
Below are some excerpts of the positions Feingold took in his interview on Sunday. Every Democrat in Congress should read these quotes and use them as talking points in responding to the Republican spin and smear machine.
In fact, if you're looking for a real Democrat to stand up to the Republican Party nonsense, then you owe it to yourself to check out this interview. Read the full transcript here or watch the interview here.
On His Proposal For An American Withdrawl from Iraq
"Well, first, on the timeline, it appears to me that the American people understand it’s time for a timeline to withdraw the troops from Iraq. The Iraqi people and the Iraqi government understand it. It seems like it’s only here in Washington that people don’t understand it’s time to end this mistake, to end our military involvement there. And the votes in Washington don’t show it, but the people in this country and the people of Iraq want us to stop it."
On General George Casey's Plan for Troop Withdrawal
"Not only does it make sense, but it short—sort of shows that all this talk about a timetable being unreasonable or ridiculous is just wrong. Even General Casey is talking about how realistic it is to bring the troops home, and our timetable that we proposed last week had to do with bringing the troops home within one year. I mean, how is this different? And of course, the claim is, if you tell the terrorists that you’re going to leave, that somehow they’re going to be able to wait us out. Well, apparently General Casey and the administration is allowing us to tell them this."
In Response To Vice President Cheney's Cut-And-Run Charges
"The worst thing we could possibly do is what Vice President Cheney and President Bush did, which was take us into an unnecessary war that had nothing to do with 9/11 on false pretenses. They have done the worst thing that’s ever been done in this regard. The question is, do we just keep making the same mistake over and over again? Do we just stay in Iraq so that Cheney and Bush can say that, that they were right? That appears to be why we’re there. That appears to be the only logical reason to stay in a situation that is draining our military, that is hurting our recruiting, that is allowing Osama bin Laden to have us exactly where he wants us."
On The Charge That Things Will Get Worse If We Leave Iraq
"But, Tim, that’s what’s going on right now. This parade of horribles about things that might happen? What’s happening right now in Iraq is chaos. I’ve been there twice—two years in a row with Senator McCain and on one occasion with Senator Clinton. What’s happening right now is chaotic. What’s happening right now is that terrorists are using Iraq as a training ground. So this idea that if we leave, things will get worse, is not clear. What we know is that what’s happening now is really awful and is depleting America’s strength."
How Iraq Affects the War on Terror
"We’re on the defensive in many of the places in the world. We’re on the defensive in Afghanistan right now in some ways. And President Karzai said that he’s very concerned. He said it just yesterday, apparently. He’s very concerned that our strategy in the fight against terrorism isn’t working. He’s concerned that we’re not dealing with the financing of terrorists. We’re not dealing with the—with the recruitment of terrorists. So even in Afghanistan, which was, of course, an intervention that I supported, we don’t have our eye on the ball, and we need to win that battle. You notice I’ve never called for leaving Afghanistan. I’ve never called for a timetable to leave Afghanistan. That is a situation that we have got to prevail in, and we have lost ground in Afghanistan because our resources have been diverted to Iraq."
On Whether Democrats Need to Oppose the War To Win the Nomination
"I think people should say what they truly believe. If they truly believe it was a good idea and that their vote was right, they should say so. If they think they made a mistake, they should say so. People are looking for a candidate, whether it’s a Democrat or a Republican, who they perceive as being honest and straightforward."
On The Defeat of His Proposal to Withdraw Troops From Iraq
MR. RUSSERT: So the majority of the Democratic Senate is out of touch with the American people?
SEN. FEINGOLD: Yes, it is at this point. Those who vote against bringing the troops home don’t get it. They’re not out there enough. They’re not listening to the people. Frankly, they’re not even looking at the polls. I saw two or three polls, Tim, in the last week that showed that a majority of the American people favor a timetable. So it is to our—you know, we lost in 2000, we lost in 2002, we lost in 2004. Why don’t we try something different, like listening to the American people?
Posted by David at June 29, 2006 03:49 AM
