With decades of experience, no one is more qualified to explain how 180-degree turns work.
As Wisconsin Watchdog reports, Feingold "has made a 180-degree turn on his principles in his pursuit of power." The career politician who once likened accepting dark money to dancing with the devil has rapidly made up for lost time:
Feingold, as of last month, had effectively condoned at least $2 million in issue advocacy by six separate left-wing groups with dark money ties, according to spending records.
FEINGOLD FLASHBACK:
In 2010, Feingold Said He Would “Absolutely” Rather Lose Than See Outside Groups Airing Ads On His Behalf. “One of his signature achievements was McCain-Feingold, which has been largely dismantled by the U.S. Supreme Court, but he is sticking to a pledge not to take outside money. He wrote the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee again this year asking that it not intervene on his behalf and told POLITICO that he would ‘absolutely’ rather lose than see outside groups airing ads on his behalf.” (Ben Smith, “Russ Feingold’s Last Stand,” Politico, 10/31/10)
By suddenly embracing dark money heavyweights for purposes of returning to Washington, Senator Feingold has now devolved into everything he used to hate.
No part of the winding highways that stretch along California’s coastline twist as sharply as Mr. Clean’s 180-degree dark money turn.
In case you missed it, read the latest exposé on Russ Feingold’s campaign finance hypocrisy:
Captain Campaign Finance Reform, Russ Feingold, changes ‘dark money’ tune
Wisconsin Watchdog
By M.D. Kittle
June 9, 2016
http://bit.ly/1UqC0z1
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The Middleton liberal, who desperately wants to win back the seat he lost to conservative Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, in 2010, has made a 180-degree turn on his principles in his pursuit of power.
The godfather of campaign finance reform and previous eschewer of so-called dark money groups is now palling around with the League of Conservation Voters and other liberal organizations that do not disclose their funding sources.
Last month, Feingold held a rally with the League, an environmental activist group that has used its powerful dark money arm to pay for attack ads against Johnson.
As the Center for Public Integrity noted in 2013, the League is “fast becoming one of the nation’s strongest ‘dark money’ forces.”
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But while Feingold stands with the League of Conservation Voters this campaign year, it would seem to be the kind of group the liberal politician has vehemently criticized in days long past. In 2011, Feingold said, “Democrats shouldn’t be in the game of influencing elections with anonymous, unlimited money. It’s dancing with the devil.”
The rules, at least for Captain Campaign Finance Reform, have changed.
Feingold has abandoned his long-standing pledge not to take piles of money from out-of-state donors. At least check, the candidate had raked in some 70 percent of his campaign cash from contributors outside Wisconsin.
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Feingold, as of last month, had effectively condoned at least $2 million in issue advocacy by six separate left-wing groups with dark money ties, according to spending records.
Of those groups, all of them have either run ads in Wisconsin without disclosing donors or have affiliated dark money arms.
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But the left and its leading spokesman on the issue, Feingold, have campaigned heavily on the dark money narrative – and they have benefited handsomely from the same kind of advocacy cash while denigrating conservatives for doing the same.