Q&A: Sen. Russ Feingold

The Hill sat down with Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) for the first in a series of interviews with Senate power brokers outside of leadership.

Q:You’re now in the majority. … Can you describe the emotions of Ds right now?

{mosads}A: There’s a sense of excitement; there’s a sense of impatience that some of it’s not happening as fast as we would like. … We passed a lobbying and ethics bill here in the Senate right away. Senator [Barack] Obama (D-Ill.) and I were leaders on that. It’s taken too long for the House to get that done. … There have been some disappointing votes. That vote on [weakening the ability to import] prescription medicines from Canada was, again, a failure of Democrats to live up to their rhetoric.

Q:There are some Democrats, especially a lot in  [the blogosphere], who wanted you to run for president. Do you look at the debates now and say, “Wow, that would have been fun?”

A: Well, I look at the debates and say, “Thank God I’m not there.” … I see my colleagues who I greatly respect — not just from the Democratic side — it’s very hard for them to do their work. I know they try. That would be terribly frustrating for me. …

Q: Are you concerned [by] the “Senate curse” on presidential candidates? … Do you think that’s going to be a major issue [in 2008] with all the votes that can be used against [the four Democratic senators who are running]?

A: No, I really don’t. … The whole idea of having a governor has become not as important as someone who is ready to handle the international situation. … I think everything’s changed [since Sept. 11, 2001]. I don’t think [former President] Bill Clinton, coming directly as governor of Arkansas without foreign policy experience … my guess is, in this environment, he wouldn’t have been elected.