A common accusation put to conservatives these days is that we are nay-sayers blindly hating on the left side of the political aisle. Make no mistake, there are plenty of issues out there to be upset about right now (health care and the ever-ballooning deficit come immediately to mind), but I did come across this article yesterday pertaining to a town hall held by far-left Senator Russ Feingold and will give some positive credit where it is due.

Sen. Feingold says that he cannot declare whether he will support a health care reform bill until he actually sees one. He also says that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s assessment of opponents to the health care proposal discussed during the last session  as “evil mongers” was “unfortunate and inappropriate.”

These statements are rational positions (I never thought I’d see the day when I referred to Sen. Feingold as “rational” about anything, and I still can’t locate any meaningful issues on which I agree with his stance when it comes to congressional votes, but I’m just being fair). The source of these moderate, non-committal statements seems relatively obvious: midterm election season is coming up quickly. Feingold recognizes the importance of not (immediately) marginalizing large sectors of constituents who oppose the idea of a government-run health system. It is important to continue to make our voices heard on this and other issues and remind those we send to Washington who they represent. With enough civil debate on the health care issue, it is still possible to prevent our leaders from making a costly mistake.

On that note, don’t forget to come to CYP’s upcoming events, including tomorrow’s happy hour at Coast featuring Rick Graber and our health care event on September 16 to network with other conservatives on issues important to you (and enjoy a drink or two in the process).