Gore/Feingold

Don't Count Russ Feingold Out Yet

(US News) The Democrats' maverick senator, Wisconsin's Russ Feingold, surprised many when he finished a national listening tour by pulling his hat from the ring of 2008 presidential candidates, claiming he lacked the fire in the belly.

Well, don't count him out yet,--at least as a provocative vice presidential candidate. That's because a new biography paints the coauthor of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law as one of the leaders of the progressive movement spreading in the nation as activists look for lawmakers who don't play politics safe.

Feingold, out next week, opens with a gripping clash between the leading character and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as she looked for loopholes around the McCain-Feingold law. In a closed-door meeting in 2002, Feingold objected to her efforts.

"You're not living in the real world," shouts Clinton. "Senator, I do live in the real world, and I'm doing just fine by it," responds Feingold,...continued