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Feingold Re-election in Peril

Wisconsin State Journal
Sunday, October 11, 1998

Feingold in re-election peril by practicing what he preaches
By Thomas W. Still
Still is associate editor of the State Journal

If U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold loses his bid for re-election - which is a
possibility, according to just about everyone's polls - it will come down to
a little-noticed promise he made last winter. If he wins, the rules of
engagement for congressional campaigns from Maine to California may be
forever changed.

In February, the first-term Democrat from Middleton was in the middle of a
highly visible fight to force a Senate vote on the "McCain-Feingold"
campaign reform bill. He had some Republican backers, most notably John
McCain of Arizona, but he needed to show faith in a way that could attract
enough GOP votes to overcome the objections of Senate Majority Leader Trent
Lott, R-Miss.

Feingold decided to practice in his upcoming campaign against Republican
Mark Neumann what he was preaching on the Senate floor.

He promised to spend no more than $1 for every eligible voter in Wisconsin -
about $3.85 million - and to refuse "soft money" help from partisan groups
working in his behalf. In addition, he decided not to take part in the
"tally sheet' program, under which Democratic candidates raise money from
their own contributors for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee,
with the informal understanding that the money will be spent in their own
states. Finally, he asked the DSCC not to run "issue-advocacy" ads promoting
him or attacking Neumann.

Feingold never did find enough votes to pass the McCain-Feingold reform bill
(it peaked at 52 when 60 votes were needed), but he stood by his campaign
pledge. When he challenged Neumann to do the same, the second-term
congressman from Janesville agreed only to the direct spending limits.

Some Democrats are fuming that Feingold unilaterally disarmed himself before
beginning a fight with an opponent who is known for taking no prisoners.
While Feingold is refusing outside help from Democrat soft money machines,
political-action committees and the Senate campaign committee, Neumann is
whacking him over the head with a blitz of television ads financed in large
part by Republican soft money, campaign committees and other sources.

In August, when Feingold's ads were nowhere to be seen on Wisconsin
television, Neumann or his Republican friends were running commercial after
commercial in an effort to better introduce himself to state voters.

Feingold got on air shortly after the Sept. 8 primary, but by then the huge
gap he enjoyed in early polls was beginning to shrink. Today, the race is
considered a dead heat.  With no more than 15 percent of the state's likely
voters undecided about how they will vote on Nov. 3.

As political analyst Charlie Cook wrote in the National Journal, Feingold's
race "is a reform experiment. Can you run like this and still win?"

Most political insiders would say "no."  The traditional incumbent strategy
is to raise and spend a lot of money early.  Which often keeps even a
well-financed challenger off-balance.  Feingold is betting the answer is
"yes."  He thinks Wisconsin voters will ultimately rally around him for
sticking to his principles and trying to reform the campaign finance system
by example, not just by legislation.

"He would rather stick to his principles and stay on the high road than win
ugly," said Mike Wittenwyler, Feingold's campaign manager.

It's a calculated risk built around Feingold's decision to respond to
Neumann's ads as they pop up, then counter with his own television campaign
down the stretch run when he can afford to stay on air for the duration.

But will it be too late for Feingold? While he was holding his fire, Neumann
or his Republican allies were churning out one ad after another on Social
Security, federal spending, education, partial birth abortion, the
flag-burning amendment and more. Some of those ads were funny; some were
hard-hitting. Feingold has responded to most, but the impression is that
he's on the defensive while Neumann is on a relentless attack.

The pro-Neumann ads also have a steady theme. They portray the former math
teacher-turned-developer as a fiscal conservative who is so devoted to
erasing the federal deficit that he even voted against his own party's
tax-cutting plan.

"When people find out who Mark Neumann is and what he stands for, the race
tightens," said R.J. Johnson, Neumann's campaign manager.

It appears that Feingold is being outspent by 2 ½ - or even 3-to-l, counting
the outside money from Republican campaign committees and independent
groups. If Feingold wins, a lot of people in Washington will suddenly get
religion about campaign-finance reform.  But if Neumann wins, it will prove
that voters care a lot more about meat-and-potatoes issues than who's buying
the ads.

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