A Democratic dark horse poised to emerge

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Exploited in Alabama?
He portrayed Alabama voters as exploited by the Republican Party which “asks them to be concerned about homosexuality but not about the security of their own health, about abortion but not about the economic futures of their own children.”

One advantage Feingold enjoys is his proximity, as a Wisconsin neighbor, to Iowa, where, if Democratic Party rules remain as they were last year, the party will stage its first presidential contest with caucuses in January of 2008.

“Among activists, he is indeed viewed as a progressive, especially regarding campaign finance, but also on the war in Iraq and the Patriot Act,” said Iowa Democratic Party activist David Loebsack. “He is seen as someone who has the courage to stand up for principles.”

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But Loebsack added, “I think that while he is on the radar screen for '08, he will have to spend some significant time here to consolidate and build upon that reputation. I do believe there is the potential for him to capture a significant share of the Dean supporters.”

“I very much want him to run for president,” said Dr. Gary Weiss, a Florida neurologist and a distant relative of Feingold, who has given $5,000 to the Progressive Patriots Fund.

Weiss called Feingold “the most ethical, honest guy in Washington.” Referring to Feingold’s vote against the Patriot Act, Weiss said, “even if it seems politically unwise at the time, he votes to uphold the Constitution.”

If he ran and won the nomination, Feingold would give the Democrats a Midwesterner at the top of the 2008 ticket, which could make a difference in a region where the party’s candidates have struggled in the last two elections.

Democrats' Midwestern woes
In 2004, Kerry lost Iowa, the first Democratic presidential candidate to lose that state in 20 years. Kerry barely won Wisconsin and had only a 3.5 percentage point margin in Minnesota.

While Kerry eked out a three-tenths of one percent win in Wisconsin, Feingold scored a solid triumph, amassing a 330,000 vote margin over his Republican adversary, Tim Michels.

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Michels made the Patriot Act a centerpiece of his campaign against Feingold, saying “all of the other senators got it right ... we haven't had a terrorist attack in this country in over three years.'' He accused Feingold of being “AWOL in this war on terrorism.”

He also assailed Feingold for voting against military spending bills, calling those votes “an insult” to U.S. troops.

Feingold seemed to thrive on such attacks: his margin of victory last November was nine points bigger than in his 1998 election.

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