Russ Feingold: 'I Strongly Disagree With Ralph Nader' On A Primary Challenge To Obama

WASHINGTON -- There has been no shortage of liberal discontent with the path pursued by President Barack Obama during his first few years in office. But when the discontent manifests itself (as it occasionally does) in talk of a primary challenge in 2012, the chatter usually succumbs to political reality. For all the Democratic base's tiffs with Obama, there is little sustained appetite to find or back someone else.

Last week a group of liberal activists and academics, led by consumer advocate Ralph Nader and scholar Cornel West, announced that they were looking for six "recognizable, articulate" candidates to launch a primary bid -- not to rip the nomination from Obama's grasp but to keep him honest on issues like civil rights, consumer protections, labor and foreign policy.

Soon thereafter, one of the politicians most likely to fill that niche explained once again that he wasn't interested, both in challenging the president and in backing the idea Obama needed that type of challenge.

"I strongly disagree with Ralph Nader. As I've said many times before, I believe that re-electing President Obama is an absolute imperative for our economy, our judicial system, for progressives and for our country," said former Sen. Russ Feingold, who announced recently that he was not running for Wisconsin's open Senate seat. The Wisconsin Democrat added the following:

President Obama took office in a time of historic challenge for the country. He passed the Recovery Act to bring our economy back from the brink, implemented historic health insurance reform to make health care more affordable and accessible, repealed the discriminatory Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, and rejected the conventional wisdom in Washington to offer a life-saving loan to the auto industry, saving 1.4 million jobs.

Now, facing Republican candidates that are bought-and-sold by corporate money, and who want to give more tax breaks to the wealthiest and attack the rights of working Americans, the President is fighting to create jobs and provide economic security for middle class families. 2012 will be a close and competitive election, and in an environment after the lawless Citizens United decision, where corporate special interests will be out there fighting for Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, progressives must unite to ensure that the President is reelected.

Comments

[Chuck Burnes]

02:05 PM on 10/05/2011

I was a loyal Huff post reader since day one and now I am Banned from commenting, wow, way to provide a place for free expression, so American of you. So I am a liberal who disagrees on gay issues, so I get banned. I wonder how many got banned for Racism=0.
Thank you Huff Post, I know you want Obama relected more than anything, but this will hurt his chances, if there is no primary choice, I will chose to sit out the next general election Congratulations. Occupy Huffpost

[Mr Hankey]

02:35 AM on 09/23/2011

It's unlikely to happen.

[maslin]

12:58 PM on 09/23/2011

Good.

[Hysterian68]

02:23 AM on 09/23/2011

Run Ralph run!!!

[maslin]

12:58 PM on 09/23/2011

Completely disagree.

[stick7]

12:23 AM on 09/23/2011

Ralph Nader is the Sarah Palin of the Democratic party. Irrelevant and past it.

[maslin]

12:59 PM on 09/23/2011

No, Ralph has a good brain and a functioning moral center. The Twittering Quitter has neither.

[Vic22]

08:38 PM on 09/22/2011

And this is why the Big Tent approach is failing us. When we get the republicans against the roe, and have a chance to come together, beat them, and enact some real change, the different ideologues in the democratic party cannibalize each other.

We are the party of herding kittens

[maslin]

01:00 PM on 09/23/2011

Kittens are cute.

[Paulhaider74]

09:41 AM on 09/22/2011

Actually, there has been a sustained appetite and effort to back someone else for the 2012 Democratic primary; it is the same person who, in hindsight, should have been selected in the 2008 Democratic primary. Hillary Clinton deserved the nomination in 2008, and she was the victim of ageism and sexism. The corporate, conservative media doomed her campaign in the same manner that it attempted to make Dr. Howard Dean look crazy ("Dean scream") in the Iowa state primary in 2004. We have the chance to redeem ourselves as a political party and as a nation with Clinton/Dean(VP) in 2012. www.draftHillary.com. Run, Hillary, run!
Paul Haider, Chicago

[premenos57]

06:31 PM on 09/22/2011

It won't happen. Bill Clinton pretty much said that. She is not going to undermine our President. Maybe 2016, but not 2012.

[Hysterian68]

02:27 AM on 09/23/2011

Sec. Clinton couldn't begin to "undermine" Barack Obama any more than he's undermined his own re-election chances. Note how Bill Clinton keeps popping up like a Jack-in-the-Box almost as often as Obama's daily East Room or Rose Garden bloviations.

The more Bill talks, the more he looks like a candidate himself.

[maslin]

01:02 PM on 09/23/2011

Hillary did not deserve the nomination in 08, will not run in 12, and may not deserve the nod in 16 either. It depends on whether she answers for her craven vote in support of the invasion of Iraq.

There are times that people need to stand up for what is right, even if gets them nothing, even in a tough environment, even if it ends their career.

She failed.

[snide7242ca]

06:11 AM on 09/22/2011

It's a shame that Ralph Nader doesn't know when to quit. He seems to love screwing up elections. He can't run anymore but, now he's trying to use his so-called power to challenge the presidents ability to win in 2012 by throwing a wrench into the works. Nader - just go away.

[Dadzilla]

01:13 AM on 09/22/2011

I think Ralph could be far more useful by running for a House or Senate seat.

[USMCR]

12:37 AM on 09/22/2011

....an absolute imperative for our economy, our judicial system?????

ahhh...Hello? impeachment is too divisive???? Look forward not backward at the 8 of the most corrupt and criminal years in the entire history of this country..... And nobody even got a parking ticket?

14 trillion in debt and climbing much of it spend on an illegal and unnecesary war. Fraud waste and abuse on an unprecedented scale. AND NOBODY GETS INVESTIGATED.

Thanks,,, but I for one think between bush and nobama we have had about as much incompetence as this country can take.

[maslin]

01:19 AM on 09/22/2011

Obama has been competent.

Bush was not.

[USMCR]

09:21 AM on 09/22/2011

I wasn't sure you knew what competent meant.

com·pe·tent
adjective 

Having the necessary ability, knowledge, or skill to do something successfully
- a highly competent surgeon
- make sure the firm is competent to carry out the work

(of a person) Efficient and capable
- an infinitely competent mother of three

Acceptable and satisfactory, though not outstanding
- she spoke quite competent French

(chiefly of a court or other body) Accepted as having legal authority to deal with a particular matter
- the governor was not the competent authority to deal with the matter

(of a criminal defendant) Able to understand the charges and to aid in defending themselves

Capable of performing the normal function effectively

Look forward not backward and ignored the 8 of the most corrupt and criminal years in the ENTIRE history of this country.

Extended the Bush tax cuts,

Reinforced the patriot act

Nobama is completely SURROUNDED by problems, crimes and criminals and for 2 years hasn't been able to find ONE OF THEM.

[Chuck Burnes]

02:08 PM on 10/05/2011

Competent at what, he does not even know how to compromise. Stupd starts in the middle.

[J D Young]

10:59 PM on 09/21/2011

Democrats run against Obama? The hell with Nader and shame on Cornell West. What makes leftists weak is our willingness to sacrifice the good for the perfect. Man are we underwater as Democrats. Lets get what we can get instead of risking snatching total defeat from the jaws of many small victories. Go Obama! I am liking the class warfare angle and combativeness. Is that the left-wing critique? Obama is to nice? We will see. I say that what is wrong with those on the left who would dare risk a Bachman or Perry or Palen presidency is diagnostically applicable to the wack-job republican base and tea partiers..

[nannews]

11:50 PM on 09/21/2011

THANK YOU!! Fanned for your spirit and words of support for Obama....#5. Keep up the good work.

[premenos57]

06:10 PM on 09/22/2011

F & F

[CSDofNM]

12:55 AM on 09/22/2011

We need to STAND UP!

We are needed now. We are listened to now. More than we would be under any Republican.

Obama is fighting now. We are in the birch bats and brassknuckles down in the dirt era of politics.

Time to get muddy and bloody (politically speaking).

BE the change.

[premenos57]

06:12 PM on 09/22/2011

F & F. I was just contacted by the Obama for America and I am going to get more info on volunteering.

[PCMartin]

09:06 PM on 09/21/2011

I strongly AGREE with Ralph Nader on a primary challenge to Obama. Obama ran as an outspoken progressive; he has largely governed as a Blue Dog wolf in Democratic sheep's clothing.

Immediately after winning the election, Obama kicked his progressive campaign staff to the curb and hired Wall Streeters and DLC-informed Clintonistas to run his administration. In virtually every case where serious money was at issue, he has backed the solution that advances the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of the working class. The bank bailout was a handout to Big Finance and left underwater mortgage holders largely without relief. (It left the net wealth of black and Hispanic families *decimated*.) Healthcare "reform" was a handout to Big Health and will *increase* the percentage of GDP spent on healthcare (from 18% to over 20%). Financial "reform" left CDOs unregulated and banks even *more* "too big to fail." Notwithstanding the party machine's attempts to retroactively spin Obama's original campaign stances, he is *not* the man we thought we had voted for.

Admittedly, Obama appointed two centrist Supreme Court justices and he does not appear to be rabidly sectarian. That makes him the lesser of evils compared to the Republican front-runners. But small-d democrats, the working class, the middle class, and the farsighted, non-sociopathic upper class deserve a candidate who pays more than lip service to their interests and the future of the country. We can offer them one by primarying Obama.

[CSDofNM]

12:59 AM on 09/22/2011

All you can offer is the same defeat Naderites have always offered.

Thanks for George Bush, BTW. He was SO much better than Gore. 19,000 Naderite votes in Florida meant five Republicans in black robes could steal the election.

Our country tortured in his name. Our country committed war crimes in his name.

Sign up for that. That's SO Democratic and SO progressive.

Stand with your friends or kneel for your enemies, if you even know who they are.

[PCMartin]

03:31 AM on 09/22/2011

You're lashing out at a straw man. I favored Nader but voted for Gore in 2000 (and urged others to do so as well) because we have a single-round, first-past-the-post voting system and I'm not an idiot. We're talking about a primary challenge, not a third-party spoiler, so direct your anger at someone who deserves it, not me.

Can a progressive win? Push-polls designed by the right supposedly indicate that only 20% of Americans are progressives, yet more reliable polls consistently show that a majority of Americans are in favor of a wide array of progressive policies, from more progressive taxation to single-payer universal healthcare to ending futile wars. "Progressive" candidate Obama got elected rather handily last time 'round, and the conservative accommodationist he morphed into is doing poorly in the polls. I say it's worth another shot and that Obama should be vigorously primaried by a bona fide progressive.

And I know who my friends are. The rival of my enemy is not necessarily my friend but sometimes nothing more than the lesser of evils. That is currently the case for Obama and the rest of the "New" Democratic Party.

[Hysterian68]

02:34 AM on 09/23/2011

Gore was a fool and deserved to lose.

[hungryaardvark]

05:25 PM on 09/21/2011

Nader didn't get W elected.

W was SELECTED by the Xtreme Court when it stopped all recounts in FL. FL never did a recount.

Nader and Feingold both make very good points.

It's Obama's election to lose. And if he continues as he has done in the past 2.5 years, he will defeat himself.

If the TPubs win, they will not be satisfied with just burning the US Constitution. They will torch the entire Library of Congress and melt the Liberty Bell into BBs.

Not the best of choices.

[Bill Swadley]

06:10 PM on 09/21/2011

There would have been no recount necessary in Florida if even a fraction of voters who went for Nader voted for Gore. Had Nader not been in the race, or if he had done the right thing and backed-out and supported Gore, Florida would have gone to Gore easily.

[zatonoichi]

09:57 PM on 09/21/2011

At least, it would have made it harder for then-governor Jeb-Shrub to rig the election in brother W's favor.
No matter how you cut it, that election was stolen.

[hungryaardvark]

10:49 PM on 09/21/2011

So you don't believe in democracy and a person's right to vote for the person of his or her choice? Kewl. Our two-party system is a total sham.

The choice is ultimately a "Morton's fork" except that the rate of descent with Perry would be far steeper than with Obama, which might give Obama time to change. Unlikely but possible. Perry is incapable of evolving at all.

[hungryaardvark]

07:38 AM on 09/22/2011

The PATRIOT Act was W Bush. Unfortunately Obama continued it instead of killing it. It is atrocious. But he made the error of keeping many of Bush's military toadies in his administration.

Individual mandates have been upheld by many federal courts.

[somewhatodd]

04:52 PM on 09/21/2011

if you can't see any substantial difference between jimmy carter and ronald reagan, or if you think barrack obama and rick perry are the effectively same, then for your own good and the sake of your parents' hard earned money you definitely need to put the bong down and go back to class.

[Cor]

04:42 PM on 09/21/2011

I stand with Feingold. Yes, I have been disappointed by Obama, but certainly not as much as by Bush and Reagan. The right would like nothing more than for the left to begin to eat their own. Let us not give them the satisfaction. Yes, I get angry at something every day. Yes, I am disappointed almost every day, but with a Republican/Tea Party Administration I would probably need to be hospitalized!!
I know you should not vote for the least of two evils, but when you look at some of the things this President has accomplished you cannot just dismiss his administration out of hand. My main issue is the lack of action when it comes to Wall Street and home owners.
I would still rather have Obama appoint the next Supreme Court Justice than Rick Perry or Willard, so right there the argument ends for me. This country is not the place of hope it was when I came here from the Netherlands but that is no reason to just give up and listen to someone like Ralph Nader. Ralph Nader is all into Ralph Nader!

[premenos57]

06:18 PM on 09/22/2011

I agree. Nader is a consumer advocate and he's trying to sell us faulty goods. I also in part blame him for the election debacle in 2000. Thanks for nothing, Ralph. All you did was cause us misery. Stay out of it.

[Hysterian68]

02:42 AM on 09/23/2011

If Feingold had won re-election in 2010, he would be challenging Obama in the Wisconsin primary. He didn't win and now has no following in the national Democratic Party. So, he can afford to be generous. What's more, Feingold figures it pays to be complimentary and supportinve just in case Obama wins and is in a position to offer him a political plumb in 2013.

[msblynne]

04:30 PM on 09/21/2011

Russ Feingold has the essential virtues: brains and a backbone, idealism, clear focus and uncompromising common sense.

I love him.

[Sharon Hunt]

04:48 PM on 09/21/2011

me too...I hope he stays around and keeps his name out there...then runs for election of POTUS in 2016.

[Olderandwiser55]

10:04 PM on 09/21/2011

Totally love Russ. Even more for speaking out.