Feingold lately has been calling himself a penny-pincher because he opposed earmarks. A Democratic pol explained to me that Feingold is reluctant to appear near a president who is to his left. This is the measure of Obama's fall: Even senators who define the Democrats' leftward edge act like he's got cooties. A spokesman said Feingold asked the White House to change its schedule, but you know how these things go.Īsk yourself: If you were an embattled senator, famously progressive and customarily elected by students, unions, peaceniks and others who dig giant protest puppets, and your state was going to be visited by a president who two years ago drew swooning arena-sized crowds of just such voters, do you think you could rearrange your schedule to absorb his magic? By afternoon, he'll have scampered far from Obama, to a parade in his hometown, Janesville, where the General Motors bailout didn't save the truck plant and unemployment is now double-digit. Pity, then, that Russ Feingold, the incumbent Democratic senator in a neck-and-neck race, can't hang out with the president.īut Obama and puppetry just aren't the right atmospherics these days, are they?įeingold, three terms in office and now tied with a plastics manufacturer no one heard of five months ago, will be at Laborfest earlier in the day. It's quite a party: Parade organizers were still looking for volunteers to help carry the giant protest puppets of the Earth Goddess and such. President Barack Obama's spending Labor Day afternoon in Milwaukee at an annual union festival. Russ Feingold and his president, whom he flees.' Patrick McIlheran has written an essay on RealClearPolitics 'about Wisconsin Sen. The president is coming to Feingold's home state and Feingold won't be there to bask in his glow and popularity. But he's not going to be appearing with Obama. Obama is in Wisconsin today speaking at Milwaukee's Laborfest.įeingold is campaigning in Wisconsin on Labor Day, too. Russ! Russ Feingold! Come on out, come out, wherever you are!

When did the movie cooties come out