Senator Russ Feingold Innovates Again, This Time in the Blogosphere

The liberal blogosphere officially came of age last week when US Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) posted a blog entry to all readers at myDD and then DailyKos, both top blogs with over 200,000 daily visitors. It may have been the first time a group blog was used by a Senator to communicate his message.

Senator Feingold has a rep for thinking outside the box. He was the lone Senator to vote against the USA Patriot Act in 2001. Pressure was intense to make the vote unanimous, but he refused, saying that "certain provisions of the Act represent a very dangerous infringement of our civil liberties." At the time, most thought his vote spelled the end of his career. Now, many consider his vote to be visionary.

He champions civil rights, education, protecting American jobs and most of all, ethics and responsibility in federal fiscal affairs. He's received accolades from the Concord Coaliton and Taxpayers for Common Sense for his work in reducing the deficit and controlling wasteful federal spending.

He's a gentlemanly maverick with impeccable manners who invariably votes the courage of his convictions, no matter the cost. And he has a penchant for colorful quotes and impassioned speeches.

But what intrigues me most about Senator Feingold is that despite likely being the poorest member of the Senate (often dubbed a millonaires club), the Senator has returned more than $50,000 in pay raises back to the Senate. He has vowed to take no pay raises during his Senate term.

Read much more about Senator Russ Feingold, who may throw his hat in the ring for the 2008 Democratic nomination for the presidency.