Feingold: A New Democratic Party

A Democratic Senator who proposed censure for Bush's shredding of the Constitution. The rest "crawfished" for fear of being labelled "soft on terrorism". Feingold's was the ONLY Senate vote against the PATRIOT Act & the only Democratic vote against the Iraq invasion. He was also the only one of the Senate sponsors of the Campaign Finance Reform Act (known as McCain-Feingold) to continually argue against "soft money" and refuse it in his campaigns (McCain weaseled out in the 2008 campaign). I admire the guy's Progressive ideas and principles. I wish more of our elected officials were like him.

This book is a simple biography of Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold. It starts with a brief genealogical sketch, including where the Feingold's immigrated from and how they settled in Janesville,WI. The Senator had a fascination with politics at a young age and the author explains the influence of Wisconsin's iconic,political hero "Fighting Bob" LaFollett. While Senator Feingold's opposition to the Patriot Act is well-known, his Constitutionally-based view of the Second Amendment may not get as much publicity. This biography traces his college days and his improbable selection as a Rhodes scholar. Some of the state senate battles were explored. His victory with the BGH milk labeling bill is one. The interstate banking bill was a fight that he lost and a quote on page 107 sums up the effect that loss had on him. "It sort of was the beginning of my enormous resentment of the power of money to corrupt the political process..that experience of seeing the raw power of the special interests over both parties." The Senator went against conventional politics in his campaign strategies also, utilizing the old fashioned tradition of "citizen participation." Mr. Horwitt describes the difference in the way the Feingold office conducts business in Washington. They follow strict ethics rules. "I didn't come to Washington to be popular" is a quote from Senator Feingold. Another amazing rarity is that he returns any pay raises in keeping another campaign promise. On page 163 Senator Feingold had a stinging criticism of the Democratic Leadership Council after the passage of NAFTA. "I see the DLC as, to some extent, taking the soul from the Democratic Party. And I see the DLC as having sold American workers down the river." The author followed that up with some remarks of his own- "In practice, however, the developed countries of the world do not engage in anything that ordinary citizens would think of as 'free' trade, according to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz." Some of the places mentioned for the Senator's listening sessions are local for me. Russ Feingold visits the sparsely populated rural areas as well as the voter-heavy cities. As far as biographies go, this is not a complicated or a very detailed account of the Senator's life-story. It appears to be the only one available and I think that the author produced a good book. It captures the highlights of Russ Feingold's career in both academics and politics.

Horwitt portrays Senator Russ Feingold as a principled guy with a passion for progressive politics who worked his way to the top all the way from the bottom rung by connecting with and listening to people. That's exactly who Russ Feingold is and that's exactly what a Senator should be. The first half of the book includes a short biography of Russ's life with special emphasis on the events that encouraged him to enter national politics. The second half of the book focuses on the events that define Russ Feingold. Whether the instances concern campaign financing, the vote on the Patriot Act or the vote on Bill Clinton's impeachment, Russ proves that he is not a panderer or a partisan but ultimately he supports what's in the best interest of his beloved state, Wisconsin, and his beloved country, the United States of America.

I've always been proud that Russ Feingold represents me in the Senate and this book enhanced my knowledge of his story and made me even prouder to call him My Senator. In such a mobile society, it is good to know that Feingold's roots run deep in Wisconsin. It was fascinating to learn some of the decision making process behind the principled stands he has taken through the years. He is a politician who considers The Constitution to be the touch stone of our government and as relevant today as ever in our history. I think many Wisconsinites would find the historical references to local names and places stories fascinating. But I also highly recommend this book to anyone who thinks there is no one still willing to stand up against the big money interests for Constitutional principled government. Russ Feingold is one of the real people our founders were hoping would govern us. I agree with the previous reviewer that young people would benefit from reading this book to give them hope and an ethical guide, we sorely need heroes.

Many reviews have noted the simplicity of Horwitt's book about Senator Feingold, all for the good I say. Horwitt brings a clarity to the life of a rare individual and politician, similiar to his book on the father of community organizing, Saul Alinsky. The author takes us through the life of Feingold, from small town Wisconsin youth to brilliant academic achiever to ever thoughtful and ethical politician. You have a front row seat through all the elections that Feingold has won, and understand that he did it on principle, even though many times he was seen as the likely loser because he wouldn't play ball the old (unethical) way. Feingold and his staff often had to use creativity, instead of lots of money, to win campaigns. Media watchers will love reading about the hilarious shoe-string television commercials that were created for Feingold's astounding wins. Political junkies will love the analysis of Feingold's most important senate work in Wisconsin and in the U.S. Senate. From BGH (bovine growth hormone), Campaign finance reform, the Patriot Act, the Iraq war, and much of his work in regard to civil liberties. If you want to know about any of these things: Wisconsin, the U.S. Senate, ethics, politics, the Progressive movement in history, the constitution, where we go from here - you will want to read this book. And then if you have a young child or even a college age child, interested in politics or upset with the lawlessness of our times, give them this book. People like Russ Feingold are our hope for the future. Give your child hope and maybe they can change the world too.