Since the kickoff of recall efforts against Gov. Scott Walker on Nov. 15th, I’ve been nothing short of rock hard for the range of Democratic hopefuls looking to steer Wisconsin to port. I mean, you have What’s-her-face, Fireman Union Guy, Sen. Guy-from-near-Madison-who-went-to-Illinois-that-one-time, Rep. Kenosha-guy-who-just-kept-yelling-in-the-Assembly and U.S. Reps. Who? and Huh?

All is going according to plan – petitioners being well on their way toward the requisite 540,208 signatures required – but with the most prominent and electable Democrat “not running,” recognition of last spring’s star players could prove difficult throughout the rest of the Dairy State. Poor Russ Feingold, having to take his loss to Ron Johnson with such humility, never to enter the realm of politics again.

Wink.

Even if petitioners collect enough signatures to trigger a recall election against Walker, we’ll never have the pleasure of seeing one of Wisconsin’s great senators get back into the game, you know, seeing as he said he wink wouldn’t run wink.

To really be able to mount a viable run against Walker, he’d need a wide base of support throughout the state and a good record as an elected official to fall back on cough cough wink wink nudge wink cough. You’d need something, some event, some movement to support such a run. You’d need a foil for the candidacy, a bad guy with some serious animosity toward him. The cards are just stacked against our boy Russ.

Any rational candidate would at the very least make some appearances at mass gatherings, protests, rallies, something of that sort; these things don’t just appear out of thin air. Moreover, said candidate would need some real fundraising credibility and power. A political action committee would be ideal. An organization aimed at uniting progressives together or something to that effect, I can almost see it now. But he’s a former senator, not a goddamned time machine.

It was a sad day when I first found out Feingold claimed he would not be running. It was a sadder day still when he said the exact same thing months later. Even sadder when he did it again.

But you know something, maybe with all he has going against him, he’ll rise to the challenge. Maybe he’ll drop this whole non-candidacy shtick and give this recall election thing a whirl. Maybe … maybe … well, probably.

Not running? Staying out of politics? Focusing on family and a career? To the untrained ear these phrases sound like a man looking to stay out of the spotlight. But like many others who spent days and days lurking around the Capitol in the spring, I know better than to let someone tell me I’m misinformed or a terrible listener.

“There will be a new governor in a few months, but it won’t be me.”

Classic Russ. Almost sounds like something a candidate would say.

Jake Begun ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in history and journalism.