Regardless of what you think about Sen. Russ Feingold's politics, you must admit he makes an effort to reach out to his constituents that few of his peers make.
On Thursday, Feingold, a Democrat who lives in Middleton, completed another year of having town hall-style meetings in each of the state's 72 counties when he had his Portage County listening session in Stevens Point. When Feingold first ran for U.S. Senate in 1992, he promised to have one listening session in each Wisconsin county every year he was in office. He's followed through on that promise.
Doing the math, 17 years times 72 counties, Feingold's had 1,224 listening sessions since his first successful Senate campaign. His office says that during that time he's met with 61,652 people at the meetings, logging more than 170,000 miles - equal to about six and a half times around the planet.
His meetings this year ranged from 480 people at a Milwaukee County listening session at Vincent High School to 20 people at the Washington County gathering at the Farmington Town Hall. His office said Feingold met with 6,174 Wisconsinites this year - the most in the 17 years he's been doing this.
That Feingold makes the effort certainly is commendable. It would be easy for a three-term senator to spend more time in Washington to insulate himself from the voters. But Feingold, while certainly a big player in national and international issues in the Capitol, has remained highly accessible and visible at home.
The senator's office said 3,900 people raised questions about 140 different topics. Guess which topic was most often raised.
The economy and jobs? No, that was second on the list.
Health care? By far. Health care-related issues were raised by 1,005 people, according to Feingold's office. Meanwhile, 286 people discusses the economy and jobs, including comments and questions raised about the bailouts of the auto industry and Wall Street, the housing crisis and executive compensation. (And probably thrown in were comments about derivatives and hedge funds.)
Other topics on the top 10 list were foreign affairs, environment, stimulus bill, federal deficit/spending, immigration, education, agriculture and taxes/tax policy.
Whether Feingold is in office much longer to continue the town hall tradition remains to be seen. Early polls suggest he may be vulnerable in a 2010 election likely to be unkind to incumbents. If Feingold's defeated, it certainly should not be for a lack of trying to connect with those he serves.
On Thursday, Feingold, a Democrat who lives in Middleton, completed another year of having town hall-style meetings in each of the state's 72 counties when he had his Portage County listening session in Stevens Point. When Feingold first ran for U.S. Senate in 1992, he promised to have one listening session in each Wisconsin county every year he was in office. He's followed through on that promise.
Doing the math, 17 years times 72 counties, Feingold's had 1,224 listening sessions since his first successful Senate campaign. His office says that during that time he's met with 61,652 people at the meetings, logging more than 170,000 miles - equal to about six and a half times around the planet.
His meetings this year ranged from 480 people at a Milwaukee County listening session at Vincent High School to 20 people at the Washington County gathering at the Farmington Town Hall. His office said Feingold met with 6,174 Wisconsinites this year - the most in the 17 years he's been doing this.
That Feingold makes the effort certainly is commendable. It would be easy for a three-term senator to spend more time in Washington to insulate himself from the voters. But Feingold, while certainly a big player in national and international issues in the Capitol, has remained highly accessible and visible at home.
The senator's office said 3,900 people raised questions about 140 different topics. Guess which topic was most often raised.
The economy and jobs? No, that was second on the list.
Health care? By far. Health care-related issues were raised by 1,005 people, according to Feingold's office. Meanwhile, 286 people discusses the economy and jobs, including comments and questions raised about the bailouts of the auto industry and Wall Street, the housing crisis and executive compensation. (And probably thrown in were comments about derivatives and hedge funds.)
Other topics on the top 10 list were foreign affairs, environment, stimulus bill, federal deficit/spending, immigration, education, agriculture and taxes/tax policy.
Whether Feingold is in office much longer to continue the town hall tradition remains to be seen. Early polls suggest he may be vulnerable in a 2010 election likely to be unkind to incumbents. If Feingold's defeated, it certainly should not be for a lack of trying to connect with those he serves.
