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Opinion: Russ Feingold’s ‘yes’ vote on concealed-weapons measure puzzles the left

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Russ Feingold is one of the most reliably liberal voices in the U.S. Senate.

First elected in 1992, the Wisconsin Democrat was the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act and was one of 23 to vote against authorizing George W. Bush‘s war in Iraq. He has a 98% lifetime average from Americans for Democratic Action, a liberal ratings group.

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So it came as something of a surprise to some on the left on Wednesday when Feingold voted in favor of an amendment by South Dakota Republican John Thune allowing interstate transfer of concealed weapons. The amendment, which only fell two votes short of mustering the needed 60-vote majority, was decried by its critics as the ‘handgun in every glove compartment’ measure.

To be fair, Feingold was not the only Democrat to back the amendment. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, facing a potentially tough re-election fight next year in Nevada, voted for it. So did Virginia Democrat Jim Webb, who has a license to carry a concealed weapon himself and whose red-turning-to-blue state is big on gun rights. Webb described the amendment as a safety measure for truck drivers who travel the interstate highways and sometimes sleep in their cabs.

But Feingold has no political motive to vote against a measure that New York Democrat Chuck Schumer said would have done more to threaten the safety of New Yorkers than anything since the repeal of the assault weapons ban. One thing the senator from Wisconsin does have is a long history of backing gun rights issues. He voted to lift the ban on semi-automatic firearms, and to allow airline pilots to carry firearms in cockpits. Yesterday, explaining his vote on the Thune amendment, he said, ‘Americans’ right to possess a firearm to protect themselves or their families does not stop at a state border.

Now, liberal groups are weighing in. One blogger on the Daily Kos argued that when politicians are elected with the Left’s help -- like Feingold and Webb -- they should be held to account to a liberal agenda. ‘We have a problem that needs to be addressed,’ he said. ‘They would not have become senators without the support of progressives and liberals. ... We need to establish limits to the levels of cynicism and hypocrisy we are going to permit without consequences.’

-- Johanna Neuman

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