Wisconsin Is Trending Democratic This Year

Two news polls have been taken recently of voters in Wisconsin. And they both show Hillary Clinton is leading Donald Trump in that state -- by 3 points in one poll and by 5 points in the other (top chart).

The Senate race looks even better for Democrats.  Former Senator Russ Fiengold is leading current Senator Ron Johnson in both polls. Feingold lost the seat to Johnson in 2010 -- when teabaggers flocked to the polls on election day, and too many Democrats stayed at home (because it was an off-year election).

But this is an election year, and the outcome looks to be very different. Feingold is leading by 3 points in one poll and by 13 points in the other. This senate seat is almost sure to flip this year.

The presidential and senate polls are from RealClearPolitics, and they are:

Monmouth University Poll -- 8/27-30, 404 likely voters (4.9 point moe)

Marquette University Poll -- 8/25-28, 650 likely voters (5 point moe)

Great News! Feingold Is Running For Senate!

Liberals all over the country got some great news this week. It had been hoped that Russ Feingold would run for the U.S. Senate again, and on Thursday he ended the speculation by announcing he would be a candidate for his old seat. he said he wants to "bring back to the U.S. Senate strong independence, bipartisanship, and honesty", and he would be traveling Wisconsin this summer "listening carefully to my fellow Wisconsinites talk about their concerns, especially when it comes to their economic well-being".

Feingold had served 18 years in the Senate before he lost to right-wing Republican Ron Johnson in 2010 -- an off-year election that saw teabaggers flock to the polls while too many others stayed home (comfortable with how the 2008 election had turned out). There shouldn't be a repeat of that in 2016, since it's a presidential election and many more people will go to the polls to vote. The few polls that have been taken on this senate race show Feingold has a significant lead over Johnson.

If you are a progressive who loves senators like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders (like me), then you are going to love Russ Feingold. Feingold is a strong progressive. He was the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act, voted against Obama's expansion of the war in Afghanistan, and was the first to demand a timetable for withdrawal from that country. He is also a strong defender of worker rights, minority rights, women's rights, and LGBT rights.

Both Clinton And Feingold Look Strong In Wisconsin

Wisconsin Republicans like their governor, and about 40% of them would vote for him in their primary if he chooses to run, but his popularity has fallen drastically among the general population of that state. In fact, if Walker was the GOP nominee (and the election was held today), he would lose his home state badly to Hillary Clinton (by about 12 points). That's pretty embarrassing for a sitting governor.

And Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson is in even worse shape. He was elected in the low-turnout off-year of 2010, but this time he must run for re-election in a presidential year (when far greater numbers of people will vote). And he is badly trailing former Senator Russ Feingold (54% to 38% -- a whopping 16 point margin).

Feingold has not officially declared as a candidate for his old senate seat, but most in Wisconsin do expect him to run. I really hope he does. He was a great senator in the past, and I'm sure he'll be just as good when re-elected. The best thing the voters of Wisconsin could do for this country is to send Russ Feingold back to the U.S. Senate.

These charts were all made from a new Marquette Law School Poll -- done between April 7th and 10th of a random sample of 803 registered Wisconsin voters, and has a margin of error of 3.5 points.

Walker Would Lose To Clinton In His Home State

Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, has recently been growing in popularity among Republicans across the country. Now many consider him to be a viable candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. And it's no different in Wisconsin. If Walker does run, he would have the support of a majority of Wisconsin Republicans.

But that wouldn't help him in a general election. In fact, a recent poll shows he would lose his own home state to Hillary Clinton. He's not alone though. That same poll shows all the other GOP hopefuls would also lose to Clinton, and by about the same margin.

That poll is a recent survey by Public Policy Policy. It was done between March 6th and 8th of a random sample of 1,071 registered Wisconsin voters, and has a margin of error of 3 points.

And that's not the only good news for Democrats. That same poll showed if Russ Feingold ran for senate again (and it is believed that he will), he would beat incumbent Republican Ron Johnson by 9 points. Last time Johnson won in an off-year election, when many Democrats and Independents stayed home. But 2016 is a presidential election year, when voter participation is high. Each candidate would do well in their own party (with Feingold getting 86% of Democrats and Johnson getting 83% of Republicans), but Feingold does much better with Independents (holding a 14 point margin).

Some Good News For Democrats

The National Journal is reporting that people close to Russ Feingold (pictured) are saying he's going to run for the Senate again in Wisconsin. That's wonderful news, because he was one of the most progressive senators in Washington before he lost to Ron Johnson in the 2010 election.

2010 was the year that Republicans took the House, and several Senate seats. Sadly, too many Democrats and Independents stayed home in that off-year election, while unhappy Republicans flocked to the polls. But 2016 will be different. It's a presidential election year, and we can expect Democrats and Independents to turn out in much larger numbers -- especially if Hillary Clinton is at the top of the ticket.

Feingold is currently employed as a State Department Special Envoy to central Africa, but he is expected to resign that position soon. Both Democratic and Republican consultants in Wisconsin are expecting Feingold to run in 2016. One Republican strategist said, "If he didn't run, there would be greater surprise than if he did."

I hope he does run. He could then take his place beside Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders as the best senators in Washington.

Feingold Establishes "Progressive United"

The 2010 elections saw a massive influx of corporate money (including money from foreign corporations funneled through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce) thanks to the misguided Supreme Court Decision in the Citizens United case. This has resulted in the right-wing having a lot more power in our federal government and progressives having much less power. With the severe cuts proposed by the Republicans -- cuts that will severely hurt ordinary Americans while the corporations and the rich get more tax cuts and subsidies. This is not only unfair, but will result in further damage to the U.S. economy.

Fortunately, some progressives are beginning to fight back for ordinary Americans and oppose the encroaching corporatocracy. Russ Feingold, who lost his own bid for re-election to the Senate, has established an organization of progressives, called Progressives United, to speak out against the right-wing lies and to support true progressive candidates for public office across the country.

Personally, I am very glad to see this. Feingold is not a blue dog conservative or even a wimpy liberal. He is a true progressive who has never been afraid to stand up for progressive values and beliefs. He can be trusted to support only the real progressives. Here is what Feingold said in establishing this much needed organization:

"As you know, I spent much of my career in the Senate fighting that corruptive power. I am no longer in the Senate tp represent Wisconsin, but I have no intention of giving up that fight -- or giving up on you and all the people who have fought it with me.


Together we will empower Americans to fight back against corporate influence and corruption in Washington, D.C., and demand democratic reforms to our election system. We will support candidates who will work for the people, not the corporations. We will call out the media when they hide from the real story.


After the Supreme Court’s egregious Citizens United decision last year, which opened the floodgates for corporations to influence our elections, we saw hundreds of millions of dollars from corporate special interests drown out the voices of average Americans and obstruct the democratic principles established by our nation’s Founders.


That flood of corporate money began to make an impact in last fall's elections. But our real fight is ahead, when special interests will try to buy their way to victory in 2012.


Progressives have long fought for clean elections and good government, because that's what makes our nation work best. Now we’re uniting to continue that fight.


Will you stand with me?"


If you are a progressive like me, I urge you to go to this website and check out the video of Feingold talking about Progressives United, and if you have a few extra dollars (something that's difficult in this Republican-devasted economy, I know), you might consider giving to this worthy organization and cause.

The "Gilded Age On Steroids"

I have always had an immense amount of respect for ex-Senator Russ Feingold. He was one of the few politicians who understood that most of the members of Congress (in both parties) have been bought and paid for by corporate interests, and no longer worked for the good of citizens but for the interests of giant corporations. Fortunately, he is still speaking out for the common man. Here is what he told John Nichols of The Nation recently:


"I don’t know how it could be more stark or clear: this entire society is being dominated by corporate power in a way that may exceed what happened in the late nineteenth century, early twentieth century. The incredible power these institutions now have over the average person is just overwhelming: the way they can make these trade deals to ship people’s jobs overseas, the way consumers are just brutalized and consumer protection laws are marginalized, the way this town here—Washington—has become a corporate playground. Since I’ve been here, this place has gone from a government town to a giant corporate headquarters. To me, the whole face of the country—whether it be the government, the media, agriculture, what happens on Main Street—has become so corporatized that the progressive movement is as relevant as it was one hundred years ago, maybe more so. It’s the same issues. It’s just that [corporate] power, because of money, international arrangements and communications, is so overwhelming that the average person is nearly helpless unless we develop a movement that can counter that power. I know we’ve all tried over the years, but this is a critical moment. We need to regenerate progressivism and make it relevant to what’s happening right now. But there’s no lack of historical comparison to a hundred years ago. It’s so similar; the only real difference is that corporate power is even more extended. It’s the Gilded Age on steroids."

Happy Birthday To A Great Senator

Today is the 57th birthday of a great progressive senator -- Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. Feingold is not one of those pseudo-progressives who forgets what he promised voters as soon as he gets to Washington. He's the real deal. Personally, I consider him to be one of the three best legislators in the United States Senate (the other two are Senator Al Franken and Senator Bernie Sanders).

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Senator Feingold!!! I hope you have many more happy years -- both in life and in the Senate. And thank you for your service to the people of Wisconsin and the United States. Just be careful of all those candles on the cake. :-)

Feingold Amendment Should Be Approved

The filling of vacated seats in the United States Senate this year has left a lot to be desired. Frankly, it was a mess. It definitely showed the need for the Constitution to clearly delineate how vacated senate seats should be filled. Just look at what happened this year.

First, we have the nutty governor of Illinois -- Rod Blagojevich. He decides that he should be able to sell the Illinois senate seat to the highest bidder. Then he gets caught on tape trying to do just that, and is arrested by federal agents. He faces impeachment and a criminal trial, but that didn't stop him from making a senate appointment anyway. So now Illinois is saddled with a senator blemished by Blagojevich's criminal behavior, and it'll be a couple of years before they can replace him.

Then we have the weird pick of New York's governor -- David Paterson. From the very start, there were two clear favorites of the people of New York. In every poll conducted, Cuomo and Kennedy were far ahead of any other candidate. So who does Paterson choose? He ignores the wishes of the people of New York and picks his own favorite -- an virtually unknown representative from upstate. Again, it'll be a couple of years before the people can choose for themselves.

Add to this the fact that a caretaker senator was chosen in Delaware. The people will choose their real senator in a couple of years. This is OK I guess, but they have given away two years of seniority, and seniority is important in the U.S. Senate.

The states also can't seem to agree about how to vacated senate seats. Some states let the governor pick, but have a fast special election. Some states let the governor pick, and then wait a couple of years for a real election. Some states just have a quick special election and let the people choose. In some states, the governor must choose someone from the same party as the leaving senator, and in other, the governor can choose someone from either party.

Senator Russ Feingold believes it is time to fix this mess. Sen. Feingold says, "The controversies surrounding some of the recent gubernatorial appointments to vacant Senate seats make it painfully clear that such appointments are an anachronism that must end. In 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution gave the citizens of this country the power to finally elect their senators. They should have the same power in the case of unexpected mid-term vacancies, so that the Senate is as responsive as possible to the will of the people."

Feingold is proposing a new constitutional amendment. He says, "I plan to introduce a constitutional amendment this week to require special elections when a Senate seat is vacant, as the Constitution mandates for the House, and as my own state of Wisconsin already requires by statute."

This just makes sense. If a senator elected by the people vacates his/her seat, it should be the citizens of that state who choose the replacement. This is already done for House members, and there's no reason why it can't be done for senators. I think this is an excellent amendment, and I believe it has a good chance of being approved. At least, I hope so.

Once again, Russ Feingold shows us the best way to solve a problem.