Russ Feingold: “Let me quote what was said by this publication that is certainly no friend of the McCain-Feingold bill and, frankly, no…”

“Let me quote what was said by this publication that is certainly no friend of the McCain-Feingold bill and, frankly, no friend of campaign finance reform. The article indicated that: Republican senators got an unwelcome jolt last week at one of their usually uneventful . . . lunch meetings--a poll that showed they were in deep trouble. The poll, conducted by the Republican National Committee during the first week of September, gave the president his highest positive rating ever--almost 65 percent. And then it goes on to state: That was not the worst of it. For the first time this year, the numbers showed that more Americans wanted Democrats to control Congress than Republicans, and that Democrats were ahead on the ``generic ballot'' for November 1998. The point I want to emphasize is the following statement: But what really rattled the Senators was that, when asked what issues they cared most about, Americans had moved one new item into the first tier along with the old standbys of crime, education, and the like. The new issue: campaign- finance reform, which had moved from 2 or 3 percent in previous polls to double digits as the number one issue of concern.”