A Perfect Candidate

And Feingold's MTP grade? Drumrollllll please…

FEINGOLD EARNS AN APC A+.

There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it, Russ Feingold turned in a near-perfect performance on Meet the Press this morning. I have always been a big Feingold fan (mostly because of CFR, no, not because of the PATRIOT act vote) but have been unsure about his ability to be viable as a Pres. candidate given the fact that he is a twice-divorced maverick.

But today led me to second-guess that presupposition. Sen. Russ's answers to Big Russ's questions on everything from Iraq to Lieberman/Lamont were clear, persuasive, and measured. His delivery was smooth, and his answers regarding his presidential aspirations didn't seem canned, a remarkable feat that other would-be contenders simply can't achieve. For evidence, please change the channel to C-SPAN's Road to the White House, where George Allen's "let's pretend I'm in Iowa for any other reason" shtick should make even reasonable R's vomit on cue. Ughhhh.

So, here are two of my dream "subway series" matchups for 2008:

1) (Duh) Allen (R) v. Warner (D)

2) (NEW) McCain (R) v. Feingold (D)

Look, I know Feingold will not win the Dem. presidential nominee, but I can now confidently predict that he will be the Howard Dean of 2008. If you, like me, are a Dem campaign rat with flexible candidate preferences, Russ Feingold will be the most fun candidate to work for in '08, mark my words.

Regardless of my crush on Russ Feingold (and general desire to work for him), this does not change my 2008 presidential endorsement…

DASCHLE 2008, BABY! WOOOOOOOO! GET EXCITED. (…judy feder style)