A surprise

If there is anyone who I thought would back Senator Feingold's censure proposal it would have been retiring Senator Dayton. Instead, Dayton is incensed.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Minnesota Sen. Mark Dayton on Thursday strongly criticized fellow Democrat Russ Feingold's resolution to censure President Bush over a warrantless surveillance program.

"It's an overreaching step by someone who is grandstanding and running for president at the expense of his own party and his own country,'' Dayton said of Feingold, a Wisconsin senator and potential 2008 presidential candidate.

"I think it's a very dangerous territory for the democracy that we have in this country to be playing around with those kinds of resolutions, without any consultations from his colleagues. I think it was irresponsible.''

Although Feingold has gotten a tepid response from Democrats, none has publicly blasted the proposal the way Dayton did on Thursday. The assault was even more striking given that Dayton is one of Bush's harshest Senate critics.

I think that Dayton is often misguided, but I have more respect for him now than I did 6 years ago. Like Wellstone before him, Dayton generally does what he thinks is "right" and worries about the political consequences later.