9.30.2005
Feingold Stakes Claim to Democrats' Anti-war Wing (Reuters.com)
Thu Sep 29, 2005 6:04 PM ET164
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Potential 2008 Democratic presidential contender Sen. Russ Feingold has made an early appeal to anti-war activists and set himself apart from possible rivals by calling for a pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of next year.
No other Democrat pondering a run for the White House, nor any of the party's congressional leaders or prominent foreign policy voices, has broken with Republican President George W. Bush and endorsed a timetable for Iraq withdrawal.
The lack of strong opposition on Iraq from a deeply divided Democratic Party, even as polls show growing public unhappiness with the war, has frustrated anti-war activists and created an opening for a dark-horse candidate like Feingold.
"There is a huge political vacuum waiting to be filled," said Tom Andrews, national director of the anti-war group Win Without War and a former Democratic House of Representatives member from Maine.
"People are very disappointed in the Democrats," he said. "Where is the leadership?"
(More ... Politics News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 17:48
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Potential 2008 Democratic presidential contender Sen. Russ Feingold has made an early appeal to anti-war activists and set himself apart from possible rivals by calling for a pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of next year.
No other Democrat pondering a run for the White House, nor any of the party's congressional leaders or prominent foreign policy voices, has broken with Republican President George W. Bush and endorsed a timetable for Iraq withdrawal.
The lack of strong opposition on Iraq from a deeply divided Democratic Party, even as polls show growing public unhappiness with the war, has frustrated anti-war activists and created an opening for a dark-horse candidate like Feingold.
"There is a huge political vacuum waiting to be filled," said Tom Andrews, national director of the anti-war group Win Without War and a former Democratic House of Representatives member from Maine.
"People are very disappointed in the Democrats," he said. "Where is the leadership?"
(More ... Politics News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 17:48
