I love him, but Russ Feingold is wrong

[scheming daemons]

Russ Feingold is upset that President Obama is now accepting the help of a superpac.

The fact of the matter is this: we don't like the Citizens United ruling and what it does to politics in this country and neither does the President.
But it is the law of the land.

We will work to change it. The President will work to change it.

But we cannot unilaterally disarm in the meantime, or we will be out of office and have no ability to change it.

The enemy has a dozen big guns pointed at the President's head (figuratively). Now is not the time to decry the use of such guns and not fight back by creating a big gun of our own.

We can stay "principled" and lose... And be out of power for a generation because our ability to overturn Citizens United would be gone... Or we can fight fire with fire... Then have the ability to work to change things.

Russ is asking the President to bring a knife to a gun fight, on the principle that guns are bad.

That's a recipe for electoral slaughter.

Wise up, Russ.

[wyldwolf]

1. It's easy to make that call from the sidelines

[Major Hogwash]

6. Yeah, I agree.

I don't know why Russ even worries about it.

[JI7]

22. he does it when he is at front also and of course he lost

and wisconson while not deep blue is more blue than purple.

[LiberalFighter]

2. Russ should also be reminded that SuperPacs

don't need permission from candidates for their help.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

12. He should know this all too well because those same PACs that he's upset about

destroyed his political career.

Russ is too principled for politics. We need more like him IN politics, but until we can change the rules, we have to live by them.

[dennis4868]

3. Agree with you 100%

Thanks for your post! Very well thought out

[jenmito]

4. Yup-he's wrong on this. Obama can't "unilaterally disarm" the way the Repubs.

would like him to do.

[Tarheel_Dem]

15. Sadly, it's not just the Repubs. Look around......

[JaneQPublic]

5. Russ is very principled. He is also out of office.

If he actually won his last election while sticking to these principles, his argument would pack more punch.

But as a principled defeated former senator, he is simply challenging Obama to follow him off the cliff... you know, like lemmings.

[DevonRex]

8. Exactly. Look where RF is now. He's reduced to sidelines snark. Nt

[Tarheel_Dem]

16. Best post of the day!

[JaneQPublic]

28. Thanks, Tarheel

[DCKit]

7. "Russ is asking the President to bring a knife to a gun fight..."

Cut to the chase much?

[GoCubsGo]

9. Russ wants the President to fight a nuclear war with a fly swatter?

Is this a joke? Did he miss the Koch brothers stating that they were going to put up $100 million in PAC money against the President? And, that's just the Koch brothers. That doesn't count the untold others will be putting up hundreds of millions of dollars, too.

[Obama3_16]

10. I agree 100% and said as much in LBN thread

Feingold should hp the president get re-elected.

[WI_DEM]

11. If Russ really wanted to make a difference this year--he'd run for Governor

vs. Walker, so he could make a powerful statement and begin cleaning up our once great state.

[WCGreen]

23. Exactly!

[Whisp]

13. that's just common sense.

what the heck is up with people, and Russ too - what a disappointment he turns out to be in the common sense department too. But I guess he's getting his momentary spotlight that saying anything remotely anti-Obama will get the kleegs on you.

Do they want Obama to just lay down, play dead and give up? - yeh, CU is horrible but letting the Koch brothers and their other richies run this election is , is... well it's the principal of the thing dammit! he said! he said! - the senseless will chime in chorus!

crazy people all over, no sense at all.

[dsc]

14. that is such utter crap

for better or worse Feingold has lived by his principles throughout his entire career. It is nothing short of character assassination to claim he is only saying this to get his name in the news.

[Whisp]

19. thats such a minor point, isn't it?

the main point is funding for the election and winning.

Character assassination. you must be kidding - there are stabs and wounds and burn marks all over Obama's internet presence from the assassination attempts here so I can't get too worked up about what I just said. You've blown it out of proportion just a wee bit, don't you think?

You wouldn't have spare some pom poms that you use for Feingold now, would you? My Obama ones are wearing out a bit and thought I could borrow yours for a bit until I replace them.

[graham4anything]

17. winning in 2012 is the only thing

a winner does what a loser won't

Russ lost and is out of the game

I myself would rather win and be the game and get the SCOTUS back

only a winner can do that

[Tarheel_Dem]

18. Thank You. And the "former" Senator should know better. "Look at me! Look at me! I'm irrelevant"!

It'll be interesting to see where the Democratic Party lines up. Behind the "former" Senator who lost? Or the sitting president and leader of the Democratic Party? I hope you get back to relevance soon Russ, but don't use this president in your weak attempt.

[babylonsister]

24. I don't quite buy the 'look at me' deal, but I agree with you and the President.

Last edited Wed Feb 8, 2012, 12:07 AM - Edit history (1)

Fight fire with fire; we have to, and until something is done to change this deplorable course, I think we have no choice but to jump on board.

I still like Russ and his idealism.

[Tarheel_Dem]

25. Don't get me wrong, I like Russ too, but as far as campaign advice? Ummm...No!

You can have all the "principles" in the world, but if you can't get elected, you're pretty much useless. And you're right, "we have no choice" here. Unfortunately, until folks like Russ can get back to the Senate, CU is the law of the land & the hand we've been dealt.

[babylonsister]

26. Where do you live?

I just want to squish you with a hug, because we always agree and could wag our tongues for hours on how to fix this thing, as long as President O is at the helm!

[Tarheel_Dem]

27. I'm in High Point, NC. We turned this sucker blue in '08, and hopefully we can do it again.

And right back atcha, babylonsis.

[frazzled]

20. We'll never get rid of Citizen's United if we don't win in 2012

A Romney (or other Republican du jour) presidency would only further solidify the practice of billionaire/corporate funding. Especially if he gets to appoint another Supreme Court Justice.

[FrenchieCat]

21. Poor Russ....

Seems he still just doesn't get that ideological principle and harsh political reality sometimes just don't mix....

[JNelson6563]

29. K&R

[Texas Lawyer]

30. I also love Russ, but he's far from flawless, and when he's wrong, he's loud and adamant about it.

I vividly recall Russ's support of the nomination of Chief Justice Roberts to the Supreme Court.

Russ went beyond supporting Roberts; Russ was critical of those Democrats who appropriately questioned the Roberts nomination in light of the abundance of evidence that Roberts was far out of the mainstream in his right-wing judicial activism (just look at Roberts's pre-Supreme Court opinions on the commerce clause, for example, and you will see that Roberts has always been a judge who will happily ignore over a half-century of well-accepted jurisprudence to achieve the right-wing goals of his result-oriented judicial activism).

I really love Russ, and he's dead right on 90% of the issues, but on the 10% of the issues where he's wrong, he's officious and unrelenting about it.

[zipplewrath]

31. Win at all costs?

I mean, that's basically what we're all saying. Yeah, I understand the logic, and I agree with it to a great degree. It's actually the basis of some other slightly more radical points of view I have, even for DU. But it can be framed as basically winning at all costs or "the ends justify the means". Are there no limits to what we'll do to win, even though the "other side does it too"? Should we race bait? Should we throw the gays under the bus (oh, wait...)? Should we work to suppress GOP votes? Maybe we should make up our own facts. Maybe we should make videos where we take our opponents words way out of context, even use clips where they are stating someone ELSES point of view.

At some point don't the tactics make you lose who you are, even as you win?

[Obama3_16]

32. superPacs aren't genocide. I think Americans will retain their honor

even if more money is injected into the political realm in the short term.