Feingold Makes an Iowa Move

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) has recruited veteran party operative Paul Tewes to help him begin the long process of courting Iowa voters.

Tewes, who served as the political director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee during the 2004 cycle, is on a trip to the Hawkeye state right now as he seeks to develop a plan for Feingold to help candidates in the upcoming 2006 election. He is working on a volunteer basis for Feingold, according to an informed Democrat.

Feingold is beloved by many on the party's ideological left for his lonely opposition to the Patriot Act and his 2002 vote against the Iraq war. He is hoping to tap into the fundraising and organizational energy that former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean used to catapult himself from obscurity to the top of the 2004 presidential field.

Tewes is an experienced Democratic strategist with ties to Iowa -- he ran Al Gore's field operations in the state during the 2000 presidential caucus. He also has close connections to Feingold, having run the 1998 Wisconsin coordinated campaign when the senator narrowly won reelection over then-Rep. Mark Neumann (R).

Tewes is currently a partner in Hildebrand Tewes -- a Democratic consulting firm. Partner Steve Hildebrand is helping usher former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (S.D.) around the country as the senator weighs a national race of his own in 2008.