Feingold connects at home - Rural listeners applaud senator's resolution

This story comes from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as they sent a reporter to one of Sen. Feingold's listening sessions (in my old stomping grounds of Shawano and Menomoniee counties) It just goes to show that the Powers that Be in Washington are completly clueless when it comes to how Sen. Feingold's censure motion plays in rural Wisconsin. Menomoniee, which is also home to the Menomoniee Indian reservation, is a solid Democratic county while Shawano is usually reliably Republican (a lot of "soft" Republicans here). If the Democrats had the courage to say what they think like Feingold, perhaps few would dismiss them as a worthless opposition party.

---Sean Scallon


Feingold connects at home
Rural listeners applaud senator's resolution
By BILL GLAUBER
bglauber@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Mar. 20, 2006

Belle Plaine - Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold wants to make one thing perfectly clear - he's for wiretapping terrorists.

He just wants it done legally.

That was the message Feingold carried to this corner of rural Wisconsin Monday during two listening sessions with constituents. The meetings came days after Feingold rattled Washington and the White House with his resolution to censure President Bush over a domestic wiretapping program.

While Feingold's censure bid caused a commotion inside the Washington Beltway and on the ever-expanding blogosphere, it was just one of many issues brought up by his constituents, who deal with real-life concerns such as farming, education, health care and Social Security.

But when Feingold made his case to censure the president, he received sustained applause from a crowd of nearly 100 people at the Belle Plaine Community Center in Shawano County.

"If you were on the phone with an al-Qaida person, I support your being wiretapped, all the time, for a long time," he told the audience. "We have laws already that allow the president to wiretap your line for 72 hours without a warrant. All he has to do is apply for that warrant. . . . The whole thing they're saying about how Senator Feingold doesn't want us to be able to wiretap. That's absolute nonsense. I support wiretapping every single person who is working with a terrorist. Just do it within the law. That's all we ask."

In an interview, Feingold said letters to his office were running 3 to 1 in favor of his censure position. He said "people are coming around," although only two Democratic senators have become co-sponsors of the resolution: Tom Harkin of Iowa and Barbara Boxer of California.

"We cannot allow the president of the United States to break the law," he said. "Censure is a quick way to solve the problem. Pass a resolution. It's over. We can get back to the work of fighting terrorism, dealing with health care issues."

Feingold received a favorable hearing in Belle Plaine and at a later session at the Menominee County Highway Department.

"When he called for the censure, it pleased me enormously. The issue is not a safe issue because so much of the public seems to be in support of wiretapping," said Joan Hoffman, 69, who lives in Menominee County.

There were a few lighthearted moments and a bizarre one at the meeting in Belle Plaine.

The first questioner lauded Feingold, got on one knee, and then prayed that the senator become president. Feingold, clearly embarrassed, gently told the man, "Oh, don't do that."

Tina Mullen, 40, said she had two questions. "Are you running for president," she asked.

Feingold quickly replied: "What's the other question?"

Mullen asked if a woman or minority could be elected president. Feingold agreed that such a groundbreaking event might occur and said that America is poised for dramatic change.

In an interview, he fielded inevitable questions about his presidential prospects and stuck with his stock answer that he'll review his options after the mid-term elections in November. He said he wasn't using the censure issue to boost his presidential prospects.

"Let's face it, did I vote against the USA Patriot act so that I could run for president? Did I vote to hear the evidence in the (Bill) Clinton (impeachment) trial so that I could run for president? I'm a Wisconsin independent. I call them as I see them. I do what I think is right. If that means people want me to be a senator, great. If they don't, fine. If it means that I might run for president, we'll see. But I don't make my decisions based on that kind of thing."