This is a very easy endorsement to make. Democrat Russ Feingold deserves your vote for U.S. Senate.
Feingold has a long history in public office, and he’s been a principled, trustworthy and independent public servant throughout his career. We need more elected officials like Feingold to restore the public’s faith in government.
Throughout his career, Feingold has taken stands on issues that are controversial at first but then are viewed as heroic in hindsight. He has a way of seeing how issues will play out and is quite aware of some dangers ahead. For example, Feingold voted against the USA Patriot Act because it threatened our civil liberties; he also voted against the Iraq War because it was a terrible mistake that would destabilize an entire region. Those votes were at odds with the Bush administration and public opinion at the time. Now, however, the public broadly supports Feingold’s votes on those matters. Taking the hard and unpopular votes which you strongly believe are the right votes is what courage and leadership are all about.
As Feingold explained in our Q&A with him in last week’s issue, during his visits to all 72 counties, Wisconsinites have told him their most pressing concerns are pocketbook issues. He’s taken that to heart and is advocating for progressive, common-sense policies that will give working and middle-class families some relief and not put any small business out of business. Feingold is a strong supporter of raising the minimum wage to $15, enacting paid family leave, reducing income inequality and allowing those with student debt to refinance their high-interest loans at a much lower rate. These are precisely the policies we need to ensure that average families have some financial security and a chance to live out their version of the American dream. We want Feingold back in the Senate to fight for these goals.
In addition, Feingold is by far the superior candidate in this race. Sen. Ron Johnson, a tea party Republican, has been driven by ideological pettiness during his six years in the Senate. Johnson has voted against the interests of the vast majority of Wisconsinites, wants to privatize public assets and programs, filed a frivolous lawsuit over Obamacare, conducted a witch hunt against Hillary Clinton over Benghazi and continually embarrasses himself—and the state—when he reveals his ignorance on big issues, including climate change. Johnson, just like Donald Trump, is a lucky, wealthy businessman who simply props up the agenda of wealthy corporate executives, not the average Wisconsinite. Trump was born into a very wealthy family and Johnson married into one. If Johnson is re-elected to the Senate, he will do everything he can to obstruct Hillary Clinton’s agenda if she is elected and play partisan games with Supreme Court appointments.
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We are asking our readers to vote for Russ Feingold on Nov. 8. Feingold has proven through the years that you can count on him to do the right thing. Feingold was viewed as one of the most ethical members of Congress who was also very willing work across the aisle without compromising his integrity. He and Arizona Sen. John McCain showed the world that by working together they could begin the process of campaign finance reform. That’s just one of the many reasons we are endorsing Russ Feingold for U.S. Senate.
