Senator gets rousing reception at convention
By David Callender, http://www.madison.com

LA CROSSE -- Wisconsin Democrats will need to do more than tap popular discontent with President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress if they want to win this fall's elections, U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold told a cheering audience at the state Democratic Party Convention on Friday.

Democrats will not win "if we play it safe," said Feingold, who has staked out some of the boldest positions in the U.S. Senate by voting against the war in Iraq, calling for a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops there and proposing that lawmakers censure the president for his domestic spying programs.

"We will not win by default. We will not win by running down the clock," he said. "People will perceive if we are not standing on principles. They will perceive if we are fearful and weak, if we do not stand up for what we believe in. That is the only way we truly win."

He added that if Democrats fail to do that, "we don't deserve to win."

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