The Veepstakes
The possibility that an '08 Democratic ticket will have Senator Feingold on it is still open.
Obviously I would welcome this eventuality, and it might revive this and other Feingold blogs. But I've refrained from discussing or speculating about this because this is/was a Feingold for PRESIDENT blog. I wasn't interested in second banana.
But since the good senator has left us no choice, now I suppose it can be open season on all the bananas.
For many, myself included, Senator Feingold would be the perfect balancing choice for VP, given that the presidential nominee will be some mushy faux-centrist type. On the issue of Iraq (which may loom as the issue of the day) the Democratic nominee will almost certainly have voted to allow President Bush to start this war (Clinton, Kerry, Edwards, Biden, etc.) or at least supported the war in principle (Vilsack). Edwards at least has admitted he made a mistake, while the others now pretend they weren't really for it before they were against it.
Unfortunately Feingold is unlikely to be selected, even though there are good reasons to pick him. Why? Well there are a number of reasons that anyone could point to (twice divorced, too liberal), but I'm pretty sure the one major reason will be his vote against dismissing the impeachment charges against President Clinton. It was a vintage Feingold move, showing his independence of Democratic orthodoxy and his willingness to let the Republicans make fools out of themselves if they wanted to. But the Democratic Party is very much in love with President Clinton, and Feingold's vote may have shown too much independence for the party establishment to forgive and forget.
Regardless, it gives those of us in Feingold land something to be cheerful about!
Obviously I would welcome this eventuality, and it might revive this and other Feingold blogs. But I've refrained from discussing or speculating about this because this is/was a Feingold for PRESIDENT blog. I wasn't interested in second banana.
But since the good senator has left us no choice, now I suppose it can be open season on all the bananas.
For many, myself included, Senator Feingold would be the perfect balancing choice for VP, given that the presidential nominee will be some mushy faux-centrist type. On the issue of Iraq (which may loom as the issue of the day) the Democratic nominee will almost certainly have voted to allow President Bush to start this war (Clinton, Kerry, Edwards, Biden, etc.) or at least supported the war in principle (Vilsack). Edwards at least has admitted he made a mistake, while the others now pretend they weren't really for it before they were against it.
Unfortunately Feingold is unlikely to be selected, even though there are good reasons to pick him. Why? Well there are a number of reasons that anyone could point to (twice divorced, too liberal), but I'm pretty sure the one major reason will be his vote against dismissing the impeachment charges against President Clinton. It was a vintage Feingold move, showing his independence of Democratic orthodoxy and his willingness to let the Republicans make fools out of themselves if they wanted to. But the Democratic Party is very much in love with President Clinton, and Feingold's vote may have shown too much independence for the party establishment to forgive and forget.
Regardless, it gives those of us in Feingold land something to be cheerful about!
posted by Kumar at 10:27 PM
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