Yesterday on "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace" Senator Russ Feingold demonstrated once again why he is our best possible candidate for President in 2008. Everytime Wallace asked what he thought would be a "gotcha" question, Feingold responded by calmly slamming it back in his face.
http://www.foxnews.com/...
In each instance he directly answered the question and then followed up in simple language with the information and perspective he wanted to impart on the views. There was no back tracking on principles, and no "mispeaks" that would need clarification the next day. some examples follow:
WALLACE: "Senator, in a hearing this week, you said that the president's wiretap program is, and I quote, "one of the greatest attempts to dismantle our system of government in history." And you called John Dean as a witness, who said that this is worse than Watergate. Senator, do you really believe there is any comparison?"
FEINGOLD: "Actually, I do think this is worse. Not in terms of personal misconduct. Our greatest priority in this country is fighting the terrorist elements that attacked us on 9/11. But when the president breaks the law and doesn't admit that he's broken the law, and then advances theories about being able to override the law on torture, and having a preemptive doctrine of war, what he's trying to do is change the nature of our government."
WALLACE: "But wait, wait, wait. That's not -- but Senator, I mean the fact is, President Bush briefed the congressional leaders, both House and Senate, Republican and Democrat, also the leaders of the Intelligence Committee, Republican and Democrat, both House and Senate, more than a dozen times before and during this NSA wiretap program. Isn't that a big difference?"
FEINGOLD: "Chris, Chris, where I come from here in Wisconsin, if you break the law and you go tell people you're breaking the law, that doesn't make it OK. If you're breaking the law, you're breaking the law. In this case, the president does not have a legal leg to stand on."
WALLACE: "Let me explore that Watergate comparison a little bit more. Has President Bush created an enemies list? Has he used the federal government to punish his political opponents? Has he authorized break-ins of his political enemies?"
FEINGOLD: "Well, again, Chris, this is not a criticism of the president as some sort of criminal law, day-to-day problem, like President Nixon had. This is really a much bigger deal. As George Will has said, this was the very reason for the revolution that we had in this country, is that we did not want a monarchical president...
So this is actually, even though in terms of the president's personal conduct not as serious, much more dangerous to our system of government, to our republic, and frankly, Chris, it weakens us in the fight against terrorism, to have a president who's thumbing his nose at the laws of this country."
and finally when Wallace tried to throw back at him a critical quote from a fellow Democrat, Feingold came back with a response that I can imagine him saying over and over during a winning campaign for the Presidency.
WALLACE: .... "Democratic Senator Mark Dayton said about you recently, "It's an overreaching step by someone who is grandstanding and running for president at the expense of his own party and his own country."
FEINGOLD: "But here's the main point. Chris, you know very well that I was the only senator to vote, the only Democratic senator to vote to hear the evidence in the Clinton impeachment trial. That I was the only -- the first Democratic senator to call for a special counsel when it came to campaign finance violations of President Clinton."
"I am one of the least partisan members of the United States Senate by all accounts. I call them as I see them. And if this were a Democratic president, I think you know and everybody else knows I'd be doing the very same thing. This has nothing to do with political ambition. Believe it or not, it's because I believe in my heart that this is a threat to our system of government, and I will say that on a Bible."