"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast"
-Oscar Wilde		 Brilliant at Breakfast title banner "The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself."
-- Proverbs 11:25
"...you have a choice: be a fighting liberal or sit quietly. I know what I am, what are you?" -- Steve Gilliard, 1964 - 2007

"For straight up monster-stomping goodness, nothing makes smoke shoot out my ears like Brilliant@Breakfast" -- Tata

"...the best bleacher bum since Pete Axthelm" -- Randy K.

"I came here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum." -- "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (1954-2015), They Live
Wednesday, November 30, 2005

The one Democrat I can see myself supporting at this point
Posted by Jill | 3:46 PM

It sure as hell isn't Holy Joe Lieberman OR Hillary Clinton.

MBNA Biden? Forget it.

No, the one guy who can count on me getting out on Election Day 2008 would be Russ Feingold.

Jeffrey Feldman explains why:

Kerry made a series of statements where he attempted to parse the difference between his position and President Bush's statements. According to John Kerry, the problem with the President's "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq" was that it made the claim that the U.S. military belonged to the President's policy and not to the American people (hang on, here, it's hard to explain Kerry's arguments). He then went on to explain that Democrats are not calling for a time table for leaving Iraq, but were instead calling for a time table for success in Iraq which would allow for the U.S. military to leave (See the difference? Yeah...me neither).

Kerry was confusing, he was overly patrician. He was unclear. After listening to him speak for five minutes, it was not clear what his ideas were.

Feingold was the exact opposite.

Interviewed by Nora O'Donnell on MSNBC, Feingold was asked a series of questions where he was supposed to respond to the President's attacks on his position. Rather than answer those false charges, each time he reframed the debate. Each time he did this--he was fantastic. FANTASTIC!

Feingold made several points that were crystal clear.

First, he said that the President's strategy should not be "Victory in Iraq," but "Victory Against Al Qaeda." That was a very good point. He held up the President's document and said, essentially, the title of this document is wrong. Very clear. Our goal is to stop Al Qaeda.

Second, he said that just because the President made the mistake of confusing the war in Iraq with the fight against Al Qaeda, doesn't mean that we should make that mistake over and over again. We must refocus the war on the real enemy: Al Qaeda.

Third, he said that winding down the mission in 2006 would not mean that America had 'cut and run' from Iraq, thereby giving the terrorists a victory. He explained clearly that the American presence in Iraq--our military occupation of Iraq--was the single largest factor fueling the terrorists in the world, today. He said that the President was mistaken or confused in his understanding, and that key generals and Iraqis themselves had said that the most important factor that his helping Al Qaeda is the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq.

Fourth, he used a chessboard metaphor to explain that the fight against Al Qaeda is taking place in dozens of countries around the world. Therefore, what the President is advocating, according to Feingold, is that we fight only in "one square" and not on the whole board. It was a very clear way to frame this discussion. And one that has legs, I believe.

Feingold was great and he demonstrated the importance, and the power, of his general idea that we must initiate a 'new beginning' or 'refocus' our fight for national security. This is clearly more powerful and more effective than Kerry's attempt to blame the President for Iraq.

With Kerry, we are stuck trying to out maneuver the White House on Iraq--stuck in the frame of the Iraq war as the lone key to national security.

With Feingold, we get a comprehensive vision of national security based on success and action across the board. National security is about engaging Al Qaeda everywhere and playing on our terms, not the terms that help Al Qaeda.

Feingold's frame is not perfect, but it is powerful in how distinct and clear it is. I believe we are seeing a new leader emerge in the Democratic party in Russ Feingold and we will see his frame and his positions become more refined and more articulate as he circulates more and more in the media.

Finally! A real voice of leadership emerges.


Of course Feingold doesn't have a chance in hell. First of all, he's unafraid to frame an issue in a way that isn't "We're just like Bush...only not crazy!" And second of all, this country is NOT going to elect a twice-divorced Jew. It's just not going to happen.

A damn shame, too.
0 comments
Bookmark and Share