For the past few weeks, it seems there has been alot of grumbling about Tom Daschle (albeit with good reason) and his leadership as minority leader. He's facing a tough re-election fight in a conservative state, so I can definetly understand why he had to vote for the Medicare legislation and the abortion ban. It's a no brainer.
But, when the party leadership in the Senate can't oppose malfeasant legislation because of purely electoral reasons, it's time for a change. Tom Daschle has done a fairly decent job, and I harbor no ill will toward the man. But we simply can't have the most powerful Democrats in the Senate chained to the GOP because their states are full of stupid voters.
So, the question presents itself, who should we replace Daschle and Reid with?
I think Russ Feingold. He'd be an excellent choice.
He's the junior senator from my state, Wisconsin, and despite a pretty balanced electorate, he's incredibly popular. He isn't viewed as being overly partisan, and even some of my strongest conservative friends think he's absolutely great. He fights the good fight, sticks up for what he believes... He and McCain are IMHO the two most honest senators.
(Yes, McCain has a Republican Label. Yes, I think he's really a Democrat, and I'm still waiting for him to switch parties.)
While he's never been elected by a huge margin, no one is in Wisconsin. That's just the way things are. But I don't think that his hands would be tied during tough battles in the Senate because of election concerns, and furthermore, even if he would lose support because of a position, I don't think he would change. It's not his style. We need our leadership to be able to do that.
But on the flip side, I don't think we can afford to have our leadership be from ultra-Democratic states (like NY or CA- no offense to Boxer, Feinstein, Schumer or Clinton :D), because I think it's to easy for the GOP Smear Machine to attack the leadership as being out of touch with the mainstream. We need to find them from moderately Democratic states.
Fuss Feingold is the only man who voted against the Patriot Act. He's the one who helped pioneer Campaign Finace Reform (which, as we know, did indeed hurt Democrats suprisingly, and overall is a failed system- At least he tried).
I think he's well respected, well spoken, and well liked by many senators across the aisle, and despite the GOP's bloodthirsty craving for partisan battles, I think he could stand up to them and their attacks wouldn't do them any good. It seems to me that he has a coat of Teflon.
Anyway, That's just a thought. What are your ideas for the a new leader? Or do you think we need a new one at all?