Russ Feingold: "I Voted for Barack Obama"

FEINGOLD'S VOTE... Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, a progressive icon who briefly considered seeking the Democratic presidential nomination himself, said he voted in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary for Barack Obama.

Asked directly about his choice, Feingold answered directly.

"I voted for Barack Obama," said the senator, who indicated that he was "extremely likely" to cast his superdelegate vote at the Democratic National Convention for his colleague from Illinois.

Feingold is still blunt about his differences on particular issues -- such as trade policy -- with both of the remaining Democratic candidates.

"I said I would be highly likely to vote (as a superdelegate) for anybody who did very, very well in Wisconsin," said Feingold, who noted that Obama won 58 percent of the vote in the state and carried 62 of 72 counties.

But this is not merely an attempt by the senator who cast a lonely vote against the Patriot Act in 2001, proposed the first timeline for bringing the troops home from Iraq and sought to censure President Bush over the warrantless wiretapping program, to reflect his state's sentiments.

"I really do think that, at the gut level, this is a chance to do something special," Feingold said of the Obama campaign and the potential of an Obama presidency, which he said has "enormous historical opportunities for America and for our relationship with the world."

Feingold expressed high regard for New York Senator Hillary Clinton, with whom he has clashed in the past. But he spoke at great length about having worked with Obama on ethics legislation in the Senate, and hailed the Illinois senator's ability to judge people and hold firm against pressure from interest groups and party insiders.

And the anti-war senator said that Obama's opposition to authorizing President Bush to attack Iraq had to be seen as a great strength in the race for the Democratic nomination and an eventual race with Arizona Senator John McCain.

Feingold did say that, after Thursday night's debate where the Democratic contenders ended on a remarkably warm note, he thought that an Obama-Clinton ticket might be "possible" and "attractive."

And he made it clear that he would campaign for a Democratic ticket led by Obama or Clinton against one led by McCain, with whom he worked for so many years to advance campaign finance reform. McCain, Feingold said, might be a "good man" but, "He would not lead the country in the right direction, especially with this talk about 100 years of war."

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