Democracy for Tennessee Convention (Part Two)

Okay, so I promised to have some parts of Senator Feingold's keynote address in Part Two. But that'll have to come in Part Three, it seems, because I didn't want to wait to post about a couple things.

First up, RussForPresident.com has a post about an interview Senator Feingold did with Chris Lugo at the Tennessee Independent Media Center. It's a pretty good interview. As brief as it is, he they cover his views on Iraq and the USA Patriot Act pretty thoroughly, and touch on health care-- three of the most important issues facing us today. Check it out.

In finding that article through RussForPresident, I also discovered a new member of the growing pro-Russ movement: a Tennesseans for Feingold blog, run by Schwompa. It just started on Thursday, but it already has a fantastic post from the Democracy for Tennessee convention, from Schwompa's perspective.

A couple highlights from his report:

Sitting in the third row, I felt the energy and the passion of both the speaker and the audience. Feingold's speech was interrupted several times by thunderous applause, especially when he launched a diatribe against the Bush Administration's mishandling of the War among other things. Feingold was perceived as personable, charismatic, passionate, and possessed that characteristic midwestern bluntness from which most politicians could learn a lesson. All in all, the crowd ate it up and so did I.

and

The speech ended with a long and loud standing ovation and the senator then answered questions from the audience. He was asked about the DSM and whether it was grounds for impeachment. His answer was that we should not discuss impeachment when the Congress is controlled by Republicans, rather we should take back Congress in 2006, and then take a look at the issue. One other notable question from the audience asked if we should provide health insurance for smokers and the obese. A tough question. Feingold answered that we should provide them with health insurance but create incentives for states that decrease the number of smokers and people with obesity.

but, most of all,

The program then ended with another standing-O. Feingold stuck around for a while to shake hands, sign programs, and get pictures made with us. When I shook his hand, I asked him, "Can we expect to vote for you in 2008?" and he answered "We'll see."

Yeah, he's running.

Nice.