COLUMN: Loss of incumbent Wisconsin Senator Feingold a loss for principled government
On Tuesday, Republicans won a sweeping victory over Democrats in Congress, taking control of the House of Representatives, and narrowing the Democrats’ control in the Senate.
One of the Democratic casualties of Tuesday’s election was Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, who was defeated by Ron Johnson. As a Republican, I am happy that Johnson was able to win my party another seat in the Senate, but this was a bittersweet victory.
When Johnson takes the oath of office in January, America will have lost one of the most principled Senators we have ever had.
While I have disagreed with Senator Feingold on nearly every issue, I will always admire him for never backing down from what he believes. While most Democrats who had supported the health care bill were trying to minimize the issue of health care in the election season, Senator Feingold not only championed his vote for the bill, he put out ads about his support for the bill.
When the impeachment against President Bill Clinton started, Feingold was the lone Senator to vote against immediately dismissing the charges, saying that doing so would “improperly ‘short-circuit’ this trial,” and that prosecutors should have “every reasonable opportunity” to make their case.
Senator Feingold bucked his party leadership again in 2001 by voting to confirm John Ashcroft for Attorney General, saying that “we have to hold the line and not use ideology alone in making decisions about cabinet appointments. I fear if we keep going, more and more areas of our government are going to fall into the Great Divide and be engulfed in a culture war.”
Perhaps the most principled vote Feingold ever cast was his lone vote against the USA PATRIOT Act, which was passed in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Feingold defended his vote, pointing out that after the attacks, he cautioned the Senate to “continue to respect our Constitution and protect our civil liberties in the wake of the attacks.”
Senator Feingold is a liberal — there is no debate in that. But Feingold, throughout his career, realized that towing the liberal line was not the most important thing to do as a United States Senator.
Simply arguing that your side is right will not move the country forward — on the contrary — it will move the country backward.
Senator Feingold once said, “We have an obligation to our nation to be bipartisan when we can.” If politicians on both sides of the aisle would merely heed these wise words, they would be able to move forward to make this country better.
While Russ Feingold will soon no longer be in the Senate, his legacy as a principled politician will always live on, and history will look back at him as one of the greatest Senators to grace the chambers of the Capitol.
