Feingold Under Attack Already

It sure didn’t take long for the gloves to come off. Within minutes of former Wisconsin U.S. Senator Russ Feingold announcing his plans to run for his old seat, his political rivals began spewing their vitriol. One could even suspect the news release and talking points were hammered out well in advance, awaiting Feingold’s announcement so they could pounce. And pounce the did. For example the Wisconsin Republican Party issued a news release with the headline, “Washington Insider Russ Feingold announces plan to regain lost power,” followed by “Feingold’s radical agenda already rejected by voters for good reason.” The release continued it demeaning tone saying Feingold dedicated his career to expanding the size and scope of the federal government, increasing our nation’s debt and increasing the tax burden on hard-working American families. And it boldly states that Feingold’s only accomplishment during his 18 years in the U.S. Senate is legislation that “made it harder to achieve the American Dream.” That is all he accomplished? Feingold’s opponent, incumbent Senator Ron Johnson, issued a statement that began with a positive tone, saying “I welcome Russ Feingold into the Senate race.” He quickly followed the lead of his party bosses as he went on to say “While I was creating jobs, Russ was building Washington into the gigantic, debt-ridden, tax-eating, unresponsive and freedom-squashing government we had today.” Apparently before Feingold began in politics, our government was small, debt free and responsive? Yes, the gloves have come off early, and this one looks to get even uglier before it’s over.