Republican U.S. Senate candidate Russ Darrow spoke at the College Republicans meeting Tuesday night in an effort to boost support for the upcoming Republican primary September 14.
\It's exciting to see good, conservative, Republican thinkers on a campus like this,"" Darrow said.
Darrow began his speech with an attack on U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, saying he has not done anything significant for the state of Wisconsin during his two terms in office.
Darrow added he is in favor of voting to extend the USA Patriot Act saying, ""our ideals and dreams are threatened by terrorism and the world is changing because of it.""
Darrow said he feels the act increases homeland security and does not take away from civil liberties.
Darrow also said he would control spending by prioritizing appropriations and cutting international spending. He added the skills he developed as a car salesman give him the ability to be a good senator and he wants to give back to the community because the community has given him so much.
Ryan Grady, College Democrats chair, said those points show the ignorance of Darrow's candidacy because Feingold has done a lot of positive things for Wisconsin.
""Campaign finance reform is one of the biggest bills in the past four years, and Feingold's entire platform is pro-student,"" Grady said.
Feingold was also the only senator in the Senate to vote against the controversial Patriot Act because he said he felt there were a lot of good points in the act, but many of bad points were quickly pushed through legislation by the Bush administration as well.
""Feingold is a true liberal from Madison,"" Darrow said. ""He loves being the radical Madison independent.""
Grady said the bold moves Feingold has made strike a favorable chord with the voters of Wisconsin.
""Feingold stands up for what he believes in and I think people respect that even if they don't agree with what he stands for,"" Grady said.
Darrow is running against state Sen. Bob Welch, R-Town of Marion, Tim Wells and Robert Lorge in September as the Republican challenger to Feingold.
""Whoever comes out is going to have a tough task because Feingold has been there for 12 years,"" Grady said.
