U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., announced plans Thursday to introduce an amendment requiring that all U.S. troops leave Iraq by Dec. 31, 2006, a move in line with past efforts to undercut the Bush Administration's current policies.
The amendment would be attached to a bill both increasing emergency spending for Iraq and hurricane relief.
With active speculation on the possibility of Feingold running for president, experts weighed in on whether or not this policy will further distinguish him from other presidential hopefuls or if it is simply consistent with past efforts.
Charles Franklin, a UW-Madison political science professor, said that in terms of Feingold building a base for himself and the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, the amendment has the potential to be politically advantageous for him in the future.
What this does for him is further strengthen his position as the leading progressive Democrat who is thinking about 2008,\ Franklin said. ""It really has helped distinguish him from the rest of the crowd.""
However, Franklin added that Feingold could risk alienating moderate Democrats.
""I think the danger Feingold runs is that he ends up appealing to the strongly liberal, [the] strongly progressive part of the party,"" Franklin said. ""That might not be enough for him to win.""
Others see Feingold's latest maneuver as unwavering from past political stances, namely his aversion toward the PATRIOT Act and attempt to censure the president over domestic wiretapping.
""Russ Feingold has had a history of being where there are controversial issues—the person who doesn't end up being moved by the crowd in the Senate,"" said UW-Madison political science professor Charles Jones. ""He is very independent and the only person who voted against the PATRIOT Act in the fall of 2001. More recently, he tried to lead a filibuster against the revision of the PATRIOT Act, consistent of how he viewed it when it was put forward.""
Feingold's effort to dispel troops from Iraq has received criticism from the Republican Party of Wisconsin, with spokesperson Bob Delaporte citing him as being out of touch with both Wisconsin and Americans alike.
""It is interesting that his platform for national defense is to surrender,"" Delaporte said. ""I don't think that is going to lay well with people, in or out of Wisconsin because we need a strong defense, and we need people willing to take the war on terrorism seriously. Russ Feingold is just not that guy.""
However, Jones said Feingold is consistent with past Wisconsin senators, making reference to William Proxmier and ""Fighting Bob"" LaFollette.
""Wisconsin folks obviously get used to what other people call ‘mavericks,'"" he said.
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