Feingold for President?

Should Russ Feingold run a third-party campaign for President in 2012? I'd be down with that.

And, among more professional opiners, Alec Cockburn says yes. And says it's possible.

That said, the meat of his article has to be the speculation over whether or not George Soros would finance an independnet progressive challenge to Obama. Here's some recent Soros verbiage:

"We have just lost this election, we need to draw a line," he said. "And if this president can't do what we need, it is time to start looking somewhere else."

The description of Soros’s sensational remarks appeared in the Huffington Post, citing unnamed sources, presumably at the private meeting. The story cited Michael Vachon, an adviser to Soros, as not disputing the story, though “Vachon also clarified that the longtime progressive giver was not referring to a primary challenge to the president. Mr. Soros fully supports the president as the leader of the Democratic Party. He was not suggesting that we seek another candidate for 2012.”

Beyond being the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act, and one of a minority within his own party to oppose the 2002 Iraq war vote, Feingold also voted against the bailout in 2008. Sure, he's got a spot or two on his record, but, it would be hard to do better with a name candidate.

That said, we actually have two questions.

The first is not about Soros' money, but about Feingold's willingness to run outside the Democratic Party, whether as an independent, a Green candidate, the Reform Party candidate or whatever.

Then comes the question of Soros' money.