Feingold's Follies

Sen. Russ Feingold clearly has decided that his personal interests in regards to the 2008 election are far superior to the interests of his party. Why else would he conduct the kangaroo hearings that he conducted today featuring none other than Watergate perjurist John Dean.

The speculation that I'm hearing from Dem strategists is that Feingold feels he needs a long run-up to '08 to build up support among the wacky left (in an effort to hold off Hillary), and would be better positioned if the Dems continued to be a frustrated minority following the '06 midterms. In other words, Feingold needs to sabotage his own party in '06 in order to better position himself as the leader of the wacky left parade in '08.

This can't help but backfire on him. If he persists in his quixotic attempt to censure Bush, the GOP will be able to beat the Dems over the head on national security all the way through the election, and not only will the wacky left be mad at losing the Congress once again, I wouldn't be surprised if they took their anger out on Feingold for giving the GOP the ammunition with which they could keep the Dems in the minority.