McConnell’s Opposition is Vindication for Feingold Campaign Manager, 20 Years Later

By Tess Orrick

This article, “Campaign Funds at Center of Wisconsin Race,” ran on the front page of the New York Times less than two weeks before incumbent Senator Russ Feingold won reelection in 1998. In the article, Senator Mitch McConnell, a strong opponent of the campaign finance reform Feingold had introduced, referred to Feingold as “dead meat.” The article still hangs on the office wall of Feingold’s 1998 election campaign manager, Mike Wittenwyler.