I have that much more respect for Senator Feingold for speaking his mind and not drinking the Democratic Kool-aid.
Posted by SeaMBA at August 12, 2008 08:04 PMFeingold is beyond regular politics because he calls it as he sees them. That's why I admire him.
Posted by prabhata at August 12, 2008 08:41 PMA "maverick by nature" Senator who hasn't shown up to the Senate since April 8th!
How effective!
that's just Feingold being Feingold.
I lost all respect for him when he vigorously defended Israel's right to murder all the Lebanese civilians it wanted to in response to Hizbollah abducting a couple of IDF soldiers.
But hey, Obama also an AIPAC fellator so I can't really defend him eithert.
Posted by ran at August 12, 2008 10:51 PM
Well, McCain is a moderate and has worked with (and sided with) Democrats in the past. Including Russ.
Posted by Muck at August 12, 2008 11:01 PMSounds like McCain would be a loose cannon, to me.
Posted by Duckman GR at August 12, 2008 11:06 PMUh, maybe you're upset because Feingold may actually know what he's talking about and you can't handle it... Has that occurred to you?
I, like many others, view McCain's change to hard-core conservative values in a similar vein as Obama pretending to be a Constitution, Right-s-for-all liberal. And certainly, the fact that he looks physically uncomfortable cozying up to the neocons and right-wingers, tends to reinforce that observation.
As for Obama, why should he be immune to those Bush clone comparisons. McCain is 95
% Bush will Obama is 90% and doesn't, despite the hype, show progressive values.
We've now found out Obama doesn't care about the 1st & 4th Amendments. He's never stood up to anybody on the right. He did nothing to stop the war. He's anti-gay-marriage. He's FOR some limits on abortion and has not been a staunch defender of women's rights.
And while the "team mentality" of the electoral process will likely get him elected because the Republican brand is so damaged by decades of corruption and incompetence, Obama is just a pandering, bought-and-paid-for-politician, too.
Let's face it, the campaign finance analysis clearly indicates that he's deeper into the pockets of special interests than McCain. Even if the "left" doesn't want to talk about it. And whines incessantly about McCain's ties to lobbyists and corporatists.
Posted by Moses at August 13, 2008 04:36 AMAnd whines incessantly about McCain's ties to lobbyists and corporatists.
Speaking of whining...
Posted by iamcoyote at August 13, 2008 07:23 AMFeingold simply points out what makes McCain run 16 points better than the "generic" republican candidate, he's not an idealouge, he's bi-partisan, he has no real ties to neo-cons, or evangelicals. He is basically the GOP version of what Barack Obama has been trying for two months now to become for Democrats. Trying to paint him as an extension of the Bush administration is going to be a lot harder to accomplish I think than most people believe. I aint defending him here either, just trying to point out some of why he remains a formidable candidate, rather than being buried by 8 disastrous years of GWB.
Posted by JB64 at August 13, 2008 08:02 AMWhere the hell is the 'Hugging Picture?'
Posted by Judith at August 13, 2008 09:47 AMFeingold must know what an empty suit Obama is.
McCain run 16 points better than the "generic" republican candidate, he's not an idealouge, he's bi-partisan, he has no real ties to neo-cons, or evangelicals.
JB64,
John McCain isn't running strong right now because he is a real maverick, he's running strong because that is how he is perceived. In reality he voted with Bush 95% of the time in the past 7 years and was one of the biggest supporters of the war. I think he is a small step in the right direction when it comes to campaign finance and the environment, but other than that, he is just as bad as Bush. And after his response to Russia, I say that he is actually more of a neo-con than Bush in some ways.
For the past 10 years he has been promoting himself as a maverick by breaking with Republicans when it was really politically safe (ex. with Rumsfeld) or by being intentionally vague and changing his positions on the issues (like with abortion). The media has helped him promote that image. And the problem is the Democrats like Feingold didn't even argue with the idea that he was a maverick or that his character was incredible, and this allowed him to build up a super-image that doesn't go along with reality.
Posted by rjarnold at August 13, 2008 11:42 AMI love this one Eri. We traded a spent former Congressman from Iowa who forgot to run a campaign in 2006 for an influential sitting senator from Wisconsin. I like that trade. You can keep that Jim Leach guy, I like Russ. JB64 is correct, McOld is running that much better than the generic party ID and Barry Obama's running below his.
Posted by peter at August 13, 2008 01:50 PMCondolences to the family of Bill Gwatney, who died of his wounds today in Arkansas.
Posted by peter at August 13, 2008 02:31 PM