Wow, I'm bad at this!

I just can't seem to get back into this! Daily posting is the goal, but I've gotten out of the habit...and tomorrow I go on another mini-vacation, so I doubt I'll get much done until next week. But, I just had to post this stuff. Kind of a long excerpt from an Washington Post article, but so much good stuff!

"What people are looking for is a general approach that is not necessarily confrontational but one that shows that we are strong, that we've got bold ideas," said Feingold. "It is saying, 'Look, if we took over Congress or took over the White House we would do a better, more strategic job of fighting terrorism,' for example. So it's not just negative. It's not just raising hell."

Maybe not JUST raising hell, but that's part of the fun!

Feingold, one could say, is Dean 2.0 -- more substance, less growling.

Feingold's political career began with his 31-vote upset victory over state Sen. Cy Bidwell (R) in 1982. In the legislature, Feingold drew attention for his fight to ban the use of bovine growth hormone. He launched a seemingly quixotic bid for the U.S. Senate in 1992. Defying conventional wisdom with the use of wacky television ads (one featured Elvis Presley offering an endorsement), Feingold won a three-way Democratic primary with 70 percent of the vote and went on to defeat two-term incumbent Bob Kasten.

Check out some of his early ads at Progressive Patriots Fund (link on the sidebar), they are fabulous!

Looking for an analogy to describe Democrats' positioning on Iraq, Feingold reaches back to the early 1990s when then First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton began a push for universal health care, a campaign that ultimately collapsed amid attempts at compromise. "It came in with strong language but by the end there were so many compromises," recalls Feingold. "We didn't want anybody mad at us."

Feingold doesn't have that problem -- as evidenced by a recent altercation with Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (Pa.) over a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage.

God, I wish I could find video of that encounter!

Feingold is well aware that he is not (and never will be) the frontrunner for the nomination, but he said his own political career shows that the conventional wisdom is often wrong. He will not, however, run for president solely to prove a point. "I would have to feel that I could actually win it for Democrats," said Feingold. "I sure don't want to get the nomination and not win."
It's that mix of passion and pragmatism that Feingold hopes will appeal to Democratic voters looking for a fresh-faced truth-teller come 2008. Feingold's career has been defined by his crusader nature, but it's his skills as a conciliator -- with conviction -- that may be most important for his hopes of capturing his party's nomination.

Check out the whole thing

From the comments on the above article, GREAT titles for the parties in this comment:

A sincere libertarian progressive with a backbone. No-one in the Deadocratic or the Repungelical party comes close to being this authentic. Maybe Chuck Hagel. I would vote for this guy in a second.
Posted by: math nerd | June 5, 2006 08:57 AM

That's it for now! But it's still early....