Madison Magazine names
U.S. Senator Russ Feingold 2006 “Person of the Year”
Madison, WI – Back in 1992, an underdog state senator scrawled campaign promises on the garage door of his Middleton home: If elected to the United States Senate, Russ Feingold would hold one “listening session” a year in each of Wisconsin’s seventy-two counties.
Fast-forward the story to a three-term U.S. senator, a national figure carved out of bipartisan efforts on campaign finance reform, and to another promise: a decision on whether to run for president. If he does, some say his Clinton-esque intellect and outspoken Washington outsider persona might derail the Hillary bandwagon. Others say neither the man nor the message will resonate outside the Dairy State. Either way, Wisconsinites are all ears.
And so is Madison Magazine, which names Feingold “Person of the Year” in its November issue. “Because even if you don’t like what Russ Feingold stands for,” writes award-winning journalist Frank Bures, “you have to admit that he doesn’t sway like the grassland that is the rest of the Democratic field.”
Editor Brennan Nardi says she and editorial director Neil Heinen have had their eyes on Feingold for the honor since 2005, when he became the first senator of either party to call for troop withdrawal in Iraq. “It’s really a culmination of an exciting decision for Madison and Wisconsin on whether he’ll run for president, his independent stands on extremely important and often divisive issues, and his continued commitment to travel around the state to listen to what people have to say about them.”
In 2002, Madison Magazine named former state senate majority leader Chuck Chvala as its person of the year as an example of the type of politician whose personal and party gains were more important than the citizens and the issues. Chvala was convicted and served time for misconduct in office. With Feingold, “what you see is what you get,” writes Heinen in his November magazine column. “Feingold has found a comfort zone in thinking through an issue, formulating a position, and sticking to it.”
“Where some politicians won’t say it unless they can find five other colleagues to join them at a press conference, Feingold just says it,” says WisPolitics’ Jeff Mayers, who was interviewed for the article.
The magazine began naming a person of the year in 1998. In addition to Chvala, honorees have included Jerry Frautschi (Overture Center for the Arts), Sue Ann Thompson (women’s health and education), Jamie Thomson (stem cell pioneer), and Kathleen Falk (fiscally and environmentally responsible leadership). Last year the magazine named two persons of the year, Irwin and Robert Goodman, for the brothers’ lifetime of community service and philanthropy, most recently the donation that made the city’s first pool a reality.
