The move by Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold to censure President Bush has put the rest of the Senate Democrats in the very interesting position of distancing themselves as much from their left-wing base as they possibly can.
For months the Democrats have resisted calls from their liberal base to more aggressively challenge President Bush. Now a maverick Democratic senator from Wisconsin has forced his party and Congress to confront head-on the question of whether Bush should somehow be punished for secretly ordering warrantless wiretaps of U.S. citizens.
Sen. Russell Feingold’s call this week to formally censure Bush for what some say was a clear violation of a federal statute regulating domestic surveillance has touched off a fierce debate on Capitol Hill that is likely to persist throughout the congressional campaign season.
GOP leaders who had been reeling from the impact of Republican political scandals, an unpopular war and Bush’s mishandling of the port-security issue sensed that Feingold overplayed his hand and denounced the censure resolution as a political stunt by an ambitious lawmaker positioning himself to run for president in 2008. Many Democrats, while sympathetic to Feingold’s maneuver, appeared to be distancing themselves from his resolution yesterday, wary of polls showing that a majority of Americans side with the president on wiretapping tactics.
I’ve often thought that the one thing that could save the GOP from electoral disaster in the 2006 elections would be the Democrats doing something stupid. They’ve had plenty of opportunities lately, but Feingold’s resolution is perhaps the biggest “something stupid” there could be. Say what you will about the wiretapping controversy, but its pretty clear that most of the public does not view it the same way that the left does. Bush and the Republicans did a masterful job in December and January of framing the issue in a way that benefit them — “if an Al Qaeda member overseas is calling someone in the United States, we need to know who it is and what they’re saying” — and the American public generally supports the program. Trying to turn it into the next Watergate, which is effectively what Feingold and his supporters suggest, would be a massive mistake.
Of course, this is only the latest example of the Democratic Party’s base pushing them to do something stupid:
In the past two years, liberal groups have urged Congress to take action against Bush for various alleged misdeeds in the waging of war in Iraq and efforts to combat terrorism. In February 2004, MoveOn.org and other liberal groups called for Bush’s censure because he used what proved to be false intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in justifying the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Last December, Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) called for an investigation of the administration’s prewar use of intelligence and offered motions to censure Bush and Vice President Cheney for failing to respond to Democratic inquiries about the planning and execution of the war. Feingold’s censure motion specifically addresses the issue of illegal wiretaps.
The Iraq War may be a political issue, but it is not an impeachable offense and, as long as the left keeps treating it like that, they will continue to lose.
Perhaps this is why the reaction among Democrats to Feingold’s resolution has been muted at best:
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) dismissed the proposed censure as “getting way down the road on this issue.” When asked on NBC’s “Today” show yesterday morning whether Feingold was “grandstanding for 2008,” Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), himself a 2008 prospect and a leading Democratic voice on foreign policy, replied: “No, I think it’s more of an intense frustration. Do any of you in the news media or any of us have any idea what the president is doing?”
Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said he hoped the Feingold measure would spur the intelligence committee to complete an investigation of the wiretapping program, to determine whether Bush broke the law. “Senator Feingold is a man of principle,” said Reid. “I think that people should cool their jets and let the process takes its course.”
And the rest of the Democrats ? They are running as fast they can.
Democratic senators, filing in for their weekly caucus lunch yesterday, looked as if they’d seen a ghost.
“I haven’t read it,” demurred Barack Obama (Ill.).
“I just don’t have enough information,” protested Ben Nelson (Neb.). “I really can’t right now,” John Kerry (Mass.) said as he hurried past a knot of reporters — an excuse that fell apart when Kerry was forced into an awkward wait as Capitol Police stopped an aide at the magnetometer.
Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) brushed past the press pack, shaking her head and waving her hand over her shoulder. When an errant food cart blocked her entrance to the meeting room, she tried to hide from reporters behind the 4-foot-11 Barbara Mikulski (Md.).
“Ask her after lunch,” offered Clinton’s spokesman, Philippe Reines. But Clinton, with most of her colleagues, fled the lunch out a back door as if escaping a fire.
(…)
So nonplused were Democrats that even Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), known for his near-daily news conferences, made history by declaring, “I’m not going to comment.” Would he have a comment later? “I dunno,” the suddenly shy senator said.
(…)
“Was it a good idea for Senator Feingold to bring up this resolution?” came the first question, from CNN’s Ed Henry.
“He brings up some very important issues,” Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) ventured.
Henry was unsatisfied. “So do you support censure, or not?
Stabenow took another stab. “It needs to have hearings,” she said.
Mary Landrieu (La.) pursed her lips. “Senator Feingold has a point that he wants to make,” she said. “We have a point that we want to make, talking about the budget.”
“Senators,” an aide interrupted, “we need to go.”
(…)
“I haven’t made any judgment,” said Jeff Bingaman (N.M.). Two minutes later, he reappeared. “I will support an alternative that would call for an investigation,” he amended.
If it weren’t all so pathetic, it would be pretty amusing. Oh heck, its funny as hell.
Of course, there are some who are happy about what’s happening in the Senate:
The left wing of the party has greeted Feingold’s censure call ecstatically. He was the front-runner in a Jan. 31 survey of 2008 presidential candidates by the liberal blog Daily Kos. Feingold garnered 30 percent support among the more than 11,000 respondents, eclipsing retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark, who dropped to second place after leading in the previous five bimonthly polls.
Well, as long as the Kossacks are happy that’s all that matters.
Ann Althouse puts it this wayl:
Someone has to stake out the left wing of the Democratic Party. I’m glad it’s someone as decent and smart as Russ Feingold.
The fact that he’s going forward with this despite the fact that its foredoomed to failure makes me think that those rumors about a Feingold in `08 candidacy may well come true.
Meanwhile, Senator Feingold is getting frustrated with his fellow Democrats:
WASHINGTON — Wisconsin Sen. Russell Feingold accused fellow Democrats on Tuesday of cowering rather than joining him on trying to censure President Bush over domestic spying.
“Democrats run and hide” when the administration invokes the war on terrorism, Feingold told reporters.
(…)
“I’m amazed at Democrats … cowering with this president’s numbers so low,” Feingold said
Poor guy. Nobody wants to play with him.
More on this issue at Crazy Politicos Rantings, Michelle Malkin, and Don Surber
Technorati Tags: Bush, Russ Feingold, War On Terror, Censure
