I think Feingold's right. They had low turnout for the gubernatorial, and I have to think the people who want Walker gone are a lot more fired up than the people who still like Walker. Barrett's internal polling shows a dead heat and that means he's got the momentum:

MILWAUKEE -- Former Wisconsin Democratic Senator Russ Feingold is confident Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) is going to unseat Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) on Tuesday.

"Let me say this: I believe, that in a stunning upset, Barrett is going to win this thing. I think Barrett's going to win," said Feingold in an interview with The Huffington Post at a Starbucks in downtown Milwaukee on Thursday.

Feingold said he wasn't deterred by the recent Marquette University poll showing Walker with a seven-percentage point lead, noting that other internal polls had the race significantly closer.

Both Democrats and Republicans say the key at this point is turning out the most number of voters, since there are very few undecided Wisconsinites left to persuade.

Barrett lost to Walker in the 2010 gubernatorial race, and Feingold lost his seat to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who was heavily backed by the Tea Party. That election saw sweeping wins for Republicans nationwide.

Feingold said it's important for Democrats to make sure that turnout is higher than in 2010, predicting it will help Barrett.

"He didn't win by an overwhelming margin in 2010, and we know that by all estimates, it's going to be a higher turnout than 2010. It won't be as great as 2008," he said. "But we also know that those people that will be voting are going to be tilted heavily to Barrett. You know, the other side maxed out with their people in 2010. They had extremely good turnout."

On the heels of the announcement that Democrats gathered 1 million signatures toward the recall of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, activists have launched a campaign to draft Russ Feingold to run against Walker. Feingold is a former United States senator from Wisconsin who lost his last re-election campaign in 2010, but is still widely popular among progressives in the state and across the country. Feingold supporters can sign the petition:

The former Senator from Wisconsin is widely considered to be not only one of the most principled senators in recent history, but also the standard bearer for the progressive tradition started in Wisconsin over a century ago.

He led the fight against the USA Patriot Act and the TARP bailout which saw Wall Street bankers get off scott-free for crashing the American economy. He also was a co-drafter of the McCain-Feingold Campaign finance reform act which has since been negated by the Citizens United ruling.

Now, in the winter of our discontent, Wisconsin needs him again.

In only the short space of one year, Governor Walker's radical agenda has eliminated the collective bargaining rights of Wisconsites, while trampling on the voting rights of citizens by trampling on their right to vote. He promised opening the state for business but instead we have seen only more pain with the loss of more jobs.

A recent PPP poll shows Feingold leading Walker 52 percent to 45, although such a poll this early and before Feingold has talked about running should be taken with a grain of salt. Without Feingold in the poll, Wisconsin voters generally oppose the recall of Walker 50-47 percent.

I wonder if this will work. Democrats seem almost congenitally incapable of holding the line on Democratic values, so maybe a big push on this will work:

Former Sen. Russ Feingold and his new group Progressives United are petitioning the six House and Senate Democrats serving on the joint deficit Super Committee to walk away if Republicans don't budge on tax increases, and insist on cutting entitlement benefits.

"If we don't get our policy priorities, Democrats need to be ready to walk away from the deal," Feingold emailed his supporters. "You can guarantee extremists on the other side will continue to push relentlessly to give even more to corporations and put even more of the burden on the middle class. We have to fight harder than they will."

He lists the bright lines:

1. Ensure millionaires, billionaires, and big corporations pay their fair share of debt reduction,
2. No cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits,
3. No giveaways to corporate interests,
4. Or no deal.

His concern -- which progressives widely share -- is that Republicans will refuse to raise a penny of revenue, particularly from wealthy Americans, and leave the Committee's Democrats to pick between significant entitlement cuts or the trigger penalty, which would fall most heavily on Medicare providers and national defense.The effort is aimed at Democrats so that they don't lose their spine at that key moment. "We can have leverage with the Democrats on the super committee, but we need to build it," Feingold said.

Hot out of the editing studio, here's Feingold's closing ad in the race:

Great ad that emphasizes Russ' years of working for Wisconsin natives. And as I've written before, I've always thought the straight-to-camera type of ad- which Russ has used going back to 1992, as well as others like Ron Johnson and Michael Steele- is the freshest and best.

And this ad is paid for in part by you, by the way. Courtesy of our Crooks and Liars/Blue America contest, we jumped from 82 donors on our Blue America page for Russ to 193, raising several thousand additional dollars to re-elect Russ in the process- money that went to producing this ad. That's something we all should be proud of.

Which brings me to the contest winner, who is Lee Carrick of Fort Collins, CO. Lee won a rare, numbered Neil Young print (only a dozen were ever made). Congrats to Lee! (Lee, drop me a line at adambink at gmail dot com to exchange information so we can get the prize to you)

And don't forget that Blue America does an easy to win contest with giveaways every night at 9:30PM (PT) over at DownWithTyranny!. More two-fers to help our strongest champions and win some great stuff.

Have a nice weekend, all.

Here's Camp Feingold's latest ad on what we need less- and more- of in Washington:

It reminds me of something I read yesterady. I want to pull out a comment from Working Joe on yesterday's post:

One of my long time friends is a Fox News drone. A few months ago, he informed me that he just hates Russ Feingold. He couldn't give me any specifics. As a conservative, he should have been happy that Feingold cast the only vote against the Patriot Act, which contains clear constitutional violations. He should have been happy that Feingold voted against TARP. He doesn't even know those things.

Johnson is running ads that he'd be the only manufacturer in the Senate. Johnson got into manufacturing the old fashioned way - he married into a manufacturing family. Johnson is an accountant who married the business owner's sister. I knew Johnson must be quite vapid when the Green Bay Press Gazette, which I've only ever seen endorse one Democratic candidate at any political level, endorsed Feingold and blasted Johnson.

But that information won't drift down to voters like my friend who fits into the angry white male category. My friend is very angry when he drives his concrete truck into Milwaukee and sees a "ghetto rodent" (his comment) sitting on the front stoop drinking a beer at 9:30 a.m. and it infuriates him that these people are sucking off his tax dollars. Yet, when I pointed out that his concrete truck driving is seasonal and that he draws unemployment compensation in the winter months, which is sucking off my tax dollars as a business owner, he asks why I am personally attacking him. He doesn't see the contradiction in his views. He accuses Obama of vast overspending but ignores the OMB chart I sent him that shows the greatest costs to the deficits are two unfunded wars and the unfunded Bush tax cuts.

It's all emotional with my rightwing friends. This emotion is immune to facts and reasoning. And this emotion, these angry white people, will take down one of the best senators Wisconsin has had and will put a lesser man in his place.

My colleague at OpenLeft, Mike Lux, who served in the Clinton White House, once told me Tea Partiers were this decade's media's hype version of "angry white males". I certainly don't want to put all the anti-Feingold folks into one racial/gender category, but I'm with Workin' Joe that a whole lot of misdirected anger from teabaggers can take down one of the best Senators Wisconsin- and this nation- has. That's unacceptable to me. I hope it is to you, too.

If you didn't get to enter the contest yesterday, we're giving away a rare, numbered Neil Young print (only a dozen were ever made).

How do you enter? Simple. Chip in to Russ on our Blue America page and your name goes in the hat. It's a two-fer: you could win a cool piece of memorabilia, and you'll feel better on November 3rd- trust me.

Here's Ron Johnson at the Green Bay Press-Gazette editorial board meeting on his plan, or lack thereof, to create jobs:

The disastrous meeting overall is, it's said, likely to have thrown the Press-Gazette endorsement to Feingold- along with, as of this past Sunday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Capital Times in Madison, the Oshkosh Northwestern, and the La Crosse Tribune.

It, along with several other refusals to detail his plans, have resulted in this fantastic TV ad from Camp Feingold out yesterday:

The ad is a simple yet brilliant mockery of Johnson's much-praised ads using whiteboards (an example of which can be found here). I've always thought taking a candidate's own words or images and using them against him/her- as we saw in Jerry Brown's devastating new ad demonstrating how Whitman is an "echo" of Schwarzenegger- hit the right buttons. And the closing line about who will stand up for Wisconsin is excellent. I'm not trying to play you or exaggerate when I say I really think this could be the game-changing ad of the campaign.

A few weeks ago I wrote a piece titled "The line between a mild headache and a severe hangover on November 3rd". As we approach the elections and forecasts are increasingly bleak, it may come down to- yes, a whiteboard. And so it's ever more important that Russ Feingold returns to stand tall. We're still 18 folks short of 100 supporters for Russ on our C&L ActBlue page. Surely we can do better. I've put mine in. Let's hit that goal and then some to make this ad the "closing argument" in Wisconsin.

Everyone who donates has their name put in a hat and the lucky winner gets a rare numbered Neil Young print (only a dozen were ever made).

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Russ Feingold has been in an inexplicably tough race with Ron Johnson for the Wisconsin junior Senate seat. But the more Ron Johnson opens his mouth, the clearer it is that Johnson's campaign is built on a single idea and it isn't benefiting most Wisconsin citizens.

Wisconsin residents are exceptionally lucky that the statewide unemployment rate is lower than the national average, so perhaps it wasn't as high a priority for Republican challenger Ron Johnson to form a coherent jobs plan. In this meeting with the editorial board of the Green Bay Press Gazette, Johnson was asked about his plan to bring more jobs to Wisconsin and he shifted to the standard talking points of cutting spending. When it was pointed out to him that he had yet to speak to jobs specifically, Johnson's response was to merely shrug it off, an ironic gesture from a man whose self-styled campaign was to insist as a successful business man, he knew how to create jobs.

As Steve Benen says, Johnson is extremely lucky he's being overshadowed by other extremist candidates. That's why his casual dismissal of his lack of jobs and his rather frightening plans for America don't get noticed.

In a typical year, Johnson's bizarre, misguided worldview would be a pretty major national story. The chattering class would marvel at questions like, "Would Wisconsin really elect a far-right radical to the U.S. Senate?" But this isn't a typical year, and unhinged candidates like Angle, Paul, O'Donnell, Miller, and Buck have garnered enough attention that Johnson can run in relative anonymity outside his home state.

This week, Politico's Jim VandeHei reported from Wisconsin on the significance of the Senate race pitting Johnson against Sen. Russ Feingold (D), and the GOP candidate reflected a bit on his future plans.

[...][H]e watches his words, ignoring the fact that he's already making the trade-offs conventional politicians make to win office. It will be different once and if he wins, he promises. Then, his true feelings can take voice. [emphasis added]

Is that so. Vote for Johnson in November and then voters will get to see what he's all about. Call me old fashioned, but that sounds backwards.

Elsewhere in the Politico piece, VandeHei asked what kind of innovative ideas Johnson might pursue as a U.S. senator. Johnson skipped right past substantive issues, and committed himself to a "re-education of America."

Are you kidding me? Can you even imagine what the response would be if a liberal Democrat vowed to pursue a "re-education of America" if elected to the U.S. Senate?

After trailing the big money-backed Johnson for much of the race, Feingold has tied it up recently. Russ is too good a progressive candidate to lose to such an empty suit. You can still donate and help his campaign in these last two critical weeks and keep the momentum going.

So I've been endeavoring of late to learn more about the past history of elected officials, often through books on my nightstand or browsing through past blog posts by colleagues. For example, at my home blog, OpenLeft.com, where we do some Senate race rankings, I noted recently then-Rep. Barbara Boxer's work in the 1980s to obtain federal funding to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic when no one would touch "gay cancer", as it was often called at the time, or when she marched on the Senate to protest the Judiciary Committee's treatment of Anita Hill. It's not that "what have you done for me lately" doesn't matter, but I like to look at a body of work to determine how valuable someone is.

And so I came across this piece of nostalgia from Russ Feingold, posted by my fellow OpenLefter Matt Stoller several years ago:

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Hi all, I'm happy to be starting here today. You may know me from OpenLeft.com, where I mainly cover LGBT issues and organize netroots pro-equality action, but I also write about the Obama administration and broader progressive issues. I've also been managing the Prop 8 Trial Tracker/NOM Tour Tracker blog, a project of Courage Campaign Institute, to help cover National Organization for Marriage and their "Summer for Marriage" tour, along with their current California tour to urge Latino/a voters to support Carly Fiorina for Senate. Looking forward to writing about our crop of Blue America candidates and other elections this cycle.

For my first post I want to focus on Russ Feingold and his opponent, Ron Johnson. Last night was our weekly "Glee" night with me and 10 friends, which we turned into a special "Russ Feingold Brings Me Glee" night, and raised a couple hundred for our friend from Wisconsin (the campaign even set up a special Glee URL for our 'raiser- www.russfeingold.org/glee- frankly, one of the 10 best URLs I've seen all year).

Many of us spoke about why we're supporting Russ- for me, it's because he was one of just 14 Senators to oppose the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act, one of the first few to come out in support of marriage equality, and the only to oppose the PATRIOT Act. It's one of the better examples I can name of feeling good about working on an election to support someone because they're strongly progressive instead of doing so just to keep a wingnut out of office.

Then I stopped by TPM and found this blockbuster piece today:

Johnson Testified To Protect Catholic Church From Sex Abuse Lawsuits

As a member of the finance council for the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay until he resigned to run for Senate this year, Ron Johnson served alongside a bishop named Robert Morneau who, as a Church leader, had been made aware over two decades ago of the abusive tendencies of Rev. John Feeney.

Rev. Feeney was convicted in 2003, before Johnson joined the council, for sexually assaulting two brothers in the late 1970s. But according to documents obtained by the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP), the Church sought to cover up his crimes, which one reverend called "sexually very inappropriate."

Seven years later, Johnson testified before the Wisconsin State Senate against legislation to eliminate the statute of limitations for such crimes, making it easier for victims of sexual abuse to seek damages from the Church or any other culpable institution.

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Because I'm an inherent leftist whiner, I had initially intended to write a whiny post whining about President Obama. But since he told me not to do that I decided (for one day at least) to do something constructive.

So with that in mind, I decided to remind you all that Russ Feingold still needs our help. The latest poll shows that he's still running behind Banana Republican Ron Johnson, who wants to remake America in China's image, i.e., turn it into a gigantic sweatshop for corporate interests.

Folks, do we really want to see another millionaire richy-rich elite buy himself a senate seat? Especially when said richy-rich elite is replacing one of the most honest and independent liberal voices in the United States? Oh haaaaaaail no.

Now here's the good news: Although Russ is still being outspent by a wide margin, we made significant progress in helping close the gap with the Cheddarbomb a couple of weeks ago. In fact, the combined efforts of multiple blogs helped Russ raise nearly $500,000 over the span of a day. Russ was both overwhelmed and grateful by the support a lot of you showed him. Here's the big "THANK YOU" video he made:

Now I know what you're thinking: "Dude, why bother wasting my money on politicians when both parties have made a series of colossal blunders over the past 20 years that have wrecked the country?" Well, yes they have. But Russ Feingold has been an exception to the rule. From financial deregulation to the Iraq war to civil liberties encroachments to the bank bailouts, Russ has been one of the few within the Democratic Party to boldly speak out against the insanity of our elite political class. The tragedy of it all is that Russ has had to spend so much of his career voting against horrible policies rather than in favor of helpful ones. If we had 50 Feingolds in the Senate, things might be different. But alas, we only have one. And he needs our help.

So give to Russ Feingold if you can. I'm not a rich guy -- and if I were I'd be buying myself a Senate seat like Ron Johnson -- but I just flipped Russ $50 and would love you to do the same. Give whatever you feel comfortable giving, guys. Very few Senate Democrats are worth fighting for but Russ Feingold is one of them.