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Op-Ed Columnist

Elections: Oshkosh Shrugged

By GAIL COLLINS

Published: October 22, 2010

[SNIP]

It’s ironic that Feingold, who is possibly the most independent member of the Senate, a Mr. Clean who votes against his party regularly, is among the incumbents in the most danger from an anti-Washington voter rebellion. Especially since Johnson is not all that impressive. Unless you like Ayn Rand and are yearning to see the country run just like a plastics business.

“My opponent never even refers to Wisconsin,” said Feingold, 57, a twice-divorced policy wonk who thinks the election is being hijacked by big money conservative forces outside the state. He loves to talk about Wisconsin’s “great progressive tradition,” as well as “the rich tradition of clean government.” Still, you have to acknowledge that the state that gave America Fighting Bob LaFollette also created Senator Joe McCarthy.

“Well, there are other traditions,” Feingold conceded.

I’ve gotten sort of tired of independent spirits in the U.S. Senate, and when Feingold decided to vote against the financial reform bill because he just felt it should have been better, I felt an unexpected surge of sympathy for the majority leader, Harry Reid. But there are two things about Feingold’s campaign that won my heart.

First, unlike the majority of Democrats running for re-election in Middle America, he is not trying to pretend that he didn’t vote for the health care bill, or that he voted for it with his fingers crossed, planning to completely overhaul it in 2011. “You bet I voted for that bill! I’m proud I did it!” he hollered during a campaign stop with Michelle Obama. He keeps pointing out all the good and popular things the law contains. In debates, he asks Johnson — who’s promising to repeal Obamacare — if he really wants to reopen the hated “doughnut hole” in the Medicare prescription drug program or go back to allowing insurers to refuse to cover children with pre-existing medical conditions.

Second, Feingold is actually sticking to his principles even though it could cost him the race.

This is the Lone Ranger year in American politics, when big money donors have been able to buy campaign TV ads without revealing their identities, laundering the money through groups like the United States Chamber of Commerce or blandly named newbies like the American Action Network. The Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit group for government transparency, says there’s been more than $2.7 million spent by these outside groups in the Senate race in Wisconsin. About $2.67 million of that went for ads to praise Johnson or attack Feingold. Less than $40,000 was spent on Feingold’s behalf. This is because the senator told outside groups, including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, to stay away.

“He lives by his rules,” said Fred Wertheimer, the guru of campaign finance reform and chief of Democracy 21, a nonprofit organization. “He’s true to his school, which makes him a freak of nature in Washington.”

This is not the first time Feingold has risked his seat to hang onto his convictions about the proper way to finance political campaigns.

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Russ Feingold is a good guy, a real moderate, a true bipartisan. I hope he wins.. but it's not looking good for Russ.