FEINGOLD GETS IT

“The Senate has nearly uniformly sought to avoid disapproving nominees because of their philosophy alone, and I believe we should not begin to do so now,” – Senator Russell Feingold. Amen, brother. The point here is not whether Ashcroft is a bad pick for AG. He is. The point is whether a new president should be allowed lee-way in picking who will be in his cabinet. Yes, the Senate can and has barred candidates for cronyism, corruption, scandal or drink. But only ideology stood in the way of Ashcroft. Russ Feingold is proof that someone on the Democratic side has the smarts to see where the wind is blowing. It makes sense for Democrats to respond to Bush in good faith and with restraint. The public will flush out divisive partisanship quickly enough. My prediction: more Dems will follow the Feingold approach. And they’ll benefit from it.