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Wednesday, May 24, 2006

The Stranger Takes On Cantwell's War Cant

The Stranger (unlike it's kiss-up competitor) continues to dog Cantwell.

FIRST, HERE IS ELI SANDERS:

"This phenomenon was highlighted last weekend at a strange Cantwell event held in North Seattle. Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold showed up to hype Cantwell's reelection bid, and Cantwell's usual antiwar hecklers [BY THIS HE MEANS US] also showed up outside the venue. But Cantwell herself didn't show, perhaps to avoid another confrontation with angry activists [BY THIS HE ALSO MEANS US]. Burner, however, was there. She drew loud cheers by giving the crowd the Iraq war criticism it was looking for—and made a subtle play for volunteers."

THEN HERE IS JOSH FEIT, WHO INTERVIEWED US, BUT DECIDED RUSS FEINGOLD'S ANTIWAR AVOIDANCE SPEECH WAS MORE NOTEWORTHY:

"More to the point, it appeared that Team Cantwell successfully muzzled Feingold. Feingold's speech made no mention of the war. The Senate's leading war critic talked about campaign finance, the budget deficit, the environment, and energy independence. Feingold—who, unlike Cantwell, voted against the war in 2002—was the first U.S. Senator to call for troop withdrawal last year, and he introduced an amendment to the appropriations bill last month that would have required U.S. forces to quit Iraq by December 31, 2006."

"But Feingold's atypical reticence that Saturday merely called attention to Cantwell's war dilemma. Why was Feingold, an obvious hero to the 200 or so antiwar Democratic activists in the room, sidestepping his stump issue—"The immoral war," as the afternoon's emcee, local Democrat activist Peter House, said by way of introducing Feingold to a standing ovation?"

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