The Atlantic: Comparing Hillary Clinton to Russ Feingold, Whose Record Is Better?

[Scuba]

http://m.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/06/hillary-clinton-vs-russ-feingold-a-wake-up-call-for-democrats/372553/

Imagine for a moment that it's October 2016. If you're a liberal or progressive, what would you say, during the last days of the campaign, if the Republican nominee for president was a big Iraq War supporter; voted for the Patriot Act; opposed gay marriage for years, reversing course only in 2013; and took hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from the Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs? Meanwhile, your candidate opposed the Iraq War, just like Barack Obama; voted against the Patriot Act; was an early supporter of gay marriage; and credibly decried the insidious influence that Big Finance has on politics?

...

Without reading a key intelligence report, Clinton favored the invasion of Iraq, and trusted George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Don Rumsfeld to wage that war. As a result, 5,000 American soldiers lost their lives. Many thousands more were (and remain) seriously wounded. The war will ultimately cost $6 trillion. Feingold opposed the Iraq War, arguing that Bush must "do better than the shoddy piecing together of flimsy evidence that contradicts the very briefings we've received by various agencies ..." He also worried about an occupation:

Mr. President, we need an honest assessment of the commitment required of America. If the right way to address this threat is through internationally-supported military action in Iraq ... we will need to take action to ensure stability in Iraq. This could be very costly and time consuming, could involve the occupation—the occupation, Mr. President, of a Middle Eastern country .... Consider the regional implications of that scenario, the unrest in moderate states, calls for action against American interests, the difficulty of bringing stability to Iraq so we can extricate ourselves in the midst of regional turmoil. Mr. President, we need much more information about how we propose to proceed so that we can weigh the costs and benefits to our national security.

...

The Death Penalty. Hillary Clinton favors it. In fact, when she ran for Senate in 2000, "She went out of her way to note her support for the death penalty, welfare restrictions and a balanced budget." That same year, Feingold was calling for a national moratorium on the death penalty as part of his longtime crusade to abolish the practice. Texas most likely executed an innocent man in 2004.

[cali]

1. Disgusting. What the fuck does Hill believe in- aside from Hill and her divine right to the

Presidency.

Craven. Opportunistic. Hawk. Corporate Crony.

Just what we need in a President.

Ugh.

[yeoman6987]

2. One think Hillary believes in is Woman's rights

She is a big time champion for World Women. Her tireless efforts should be applauded. I can't wait for her to be called Madam President. I know you and I disagree on that. Have a good one!

[cali]

3. thanks. I will. It's sunny, gorgeous. Love the summer.

Maybe I'll even work up enough nerve to dunk myself in the lake. brrr.

That's the one area where I applaud Hillary, BUT: Her championing the TPP is NOT good for women. Her hawkishness is Not good for women and children. Until recently she wouldn't even admit she got Iraq wrong and all her remarks about it are couched in dishonesty.

Hope you also have a great day.

[yeoman6987]

4. Thanks!

In Maryland, we are finally done with the daily rain. It is a nice crisp Summer day. I wish I didn't have to go to work.....lol.

[moriah]

6. Children's health care? n/t

[cali]

7. The TPP, which she helped craft, kind of diminishes her work on that issue

and as far as I know, it's been a long time since she was involved in that.

[moriah]

8. Obama supports it too, wants to fast-track it.

Of course, he's not running in 2016.

Take care of you

[McCamy Taylor]

11. I think it's Bill who wants her to be president. It's his Cause. She's his Trilby.

He's the Svengali. He knows he is a pragmatist and that was his strength while in office, but he admires the idealists like Gore and Hillary. He wants to put one of them in the Whitehouse. He is gonna triangulate her all the way to Pennsylvania Avenue and then turn her loose and call her his greatest achievement.

However, if she is smart, she will not let him triangulate her. She needs to get out there and be a firebrand. I know she has it in her. We saw glimpses of it in the last campaign when it became clear she could not win and Bill let her off the leash.

[malaise]

5. Feingold voted against that illegal invasion of Iraq n/t

[Oilwellian]

9. I hope he runs

Most Dems rejected Hillary in 2008 and they'll do it again.

[IronLionZion]

10. I hope Russ runs for something

it was good to have his voice in politics.

[brooklynite]

12. Russ Feingold replaces Elizabeth Warren as the fantasy candidate du jour?

Honestly, I have no objection if he wants to run, but he's shown no interest in running, and nobody seems willing to do the hard work of convincing him.

[Scuba]

13. Russ isn't running, and I'm not aware of anyone fantasizing about him running. Russ, however ....

... is a progressive, and his positions are a good benchmark to compare the progressiveness of others.

As you can see here, those who think Hillary is a progressive are deluding themselves.