As the dust settles after the Nov. 7 election, one prominent Wisconsin senator is already looking toward 2008, but is ruling out his candidacy for president.
Though political buzz favored Democrat U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold as a potential candidate in 2008, he formally dismissed these rumors Friday in a letter to Progressive Patriots, a group with the mission statement of getting progressives elected across the nation. Feingold serves the group as a chairperson.
Feingold said he cannot ""muster the same enthusiasm for a race for president"" while trying to advance his positions on the Iraq war and the Patriot act in the Senate.
""While I've certainly enjoyed the repeated comments or buttons saying, ‘Run Russ Run,' or ‘Russ in ‘08,' I often felt that if a piece of Wisconsin Swiss cheese had taken the same positions I've taken, it would have elicited the same standing ovations,"" Feingold said. ""This is because the hunger for progressive change we feel is obviously not about me but about the desire for a genuinely different Democratic Party.""
However, voters should not rule Feingold out of the entire ticket. UW-Madison political science professor Donald Downs said Feingold might be positioning himself for vice president candidacy.
Downs said Feingold's ""name recognition is not as strong as some of the other leading candidates like Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards,"" but he could counterbalance the ticket.
With the buzz surrounding both Clinton and Obama and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who already announced his intention to run in 2008, Feingold denies this had any effect on his decision.
""If I really wanted to run for president, regardless of the odds or other possible candidates, I would do so,"" he said.
Feingold likely chose not to run not only because of his comparative popularity to other possible candidates, but because he holds more liberal views than the average voter and is twice divorced, according to Downs.
Several weeks ago, Feingold attended a rally on campus for Gov. Jim Doyle sponsored by the UW-Madison College Democrats. The organization's chairperson, Eli Lewien, hinted about a possible presidential run at the rally and said he was shocked to hear the senator's decision.
""We [College Democrats] would have loved to see a Feingold bid for presidency in 2008,"" he said. ""But we respect his decision to stay in the Senate and are excited to see what he is going to be able to do now that we have a Democratic-led Congress and Senate.""
While one Wisconsinite bowed out of the race, former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson said he was ""seriously considering"" a presidential run at a press conference in Iowa Friday.
Feingold, who has served in the Senate for 14 years, said he is excited to have the Democrats in charge of Congress, and hopes to ""advance progressive solutions.""
Instead, Feingold said he will push his progressive views by serving ""with significant seniority"" on Foreign Relations, Intelligence, Judiciary and Budget committees.
