Russ Feingold announced his decision not to run for president in 2008 via an e-mail to his supporters this weekend. That's Russ in a nutshell. His borderline obsession with constituent service transformed him from upset Senate winner to legitimate presidential contender. I must admit to being among the recipients of this email, but to be fair, I am a constituent.
Sen. Feingold made the right decision on many levels. From a strategic standpoint, this is not the right time for a candidate who is best known for defiant liberalism. His lone opposition to the Patriot Act and proposal to censure president Bush over warrant-less wiretaps were good policies. However, the mid-term elections show us that Democrats must field moderate candidates to be successful. I'm not saying Sen. Feingold is a radical liberal, but perception is everything. Just ask Howard Dean how hard it is to promote your fiscally conservative laurels when you've gained publicity for liberal accomplishments. By 2008, fielding a liberal candidate could be the catalyst for a backlash against this Democratic congress.
From a practical standpoint, Feingold's work in the Senate has just begun. Despite the McCain-Feingold bill, government still needs stricter campaign finance and ethics reforms to ensure it is accountable to the people, not donors and lobbyists. Who better to ensure Democrats don't become a corrupt arm of special interests and partisan strategists than Feingold?
His decision to remain in the U.S. Senate proves the biggest dilemma facing our country can't be solved through the presidency. We must change the way we conduct government on a fundamental level. It will take years and more than a slim Democratic majority to effect this sort of radical transformation. But institutional upheaval begins from within, and Feingold seems up to the task.
The next two years could change our generation by teaching us the virtue of shared government and the pressure it puts on each party to accomplish something. In the aftermath of this political tumult, it is easy to forget that the Democrats are on thin ice. If they falter here, the rise of a viable third party may leave them dead in the water. Dems can only hope their new breed of pragmatic moderates will keep them from the corruption that has eroded the Republican Party.
In 1994's Republican revolution, it was the "Dixiecrats," or socially conservative southern Democrats, who disappeared en masse. Ironically, their influence on the party caused the GOP to lose their famous fiscal restraint and gave moralists the numbers to steer Republican policy into the gutter of hypocritical self-righteousness. This time around, moderate Republicans like Rep. Nancy Johnson in Connecticut and Sen. Lincoln Chafee in Rhode Island have been ousted. Chafee is now reconsidering his party affiliation in the same way many Democrats turned Republican in the mid-1990s.
The Rove strategy accelerated the downfall of the Republican majorities and added a new layer of slime to our politics. Yet in the end his political calculations may be a good thing for our society. Now we see the consequences of a government dominated by ideologues, bent on achieving policy with a theocratic fervor that cannot accept compromise by its very nature. Now we see that government's primary task should be to get things done — to work together as a team to solve America's problems.
However, the American public will only connect the dots if the Democrats prove good government is possible. The guidance and leadership of Sen. Feingold will be crucial to this end. Progressives shouldn't despair over losing their candidate of choice, and likewise the passage of the gay marriage amendment shouldn't demoralize liberals. Government is a constant progression and activists should be proud to live in a time when this battle can be fought. It may not seem like it now, but our society is inching toward tolerance and government is becoming more transparent.
Russ Feingold doesn't want to be distracted from this unique moment in history by diverting his intellectual resources to a presidential bid. Plus, now we get to keep him for ourselves.
Bassey Etim ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism and political science.
