Death of Liberaltarianism: Exits Spell Curtains for Bob Barr-Endorsed Feingold

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) will lose his seat to Republican challenger Ron Johnson, according to exit polls. Says John Byrne at RawStory:

In any other election year, the three-term incumbent from this Democratic-leaning midwestern state should have easily beat opponent Ron Johnson, a wealthy businessman with no previous political experience and little in the way of specific policy proposals.

But voters were frustrated with the slow pace of the economic recovery and Democrats -- who control Congress and the White House -- bore much of the their ire.

It's almost a shame, and not just because Johnson is an empty suit who is unlikely to do much in terms of eliminating government, cutting spending, or in any other way advancing fiscal conservatism. The notorious campaign finance law Feingold co-authored with John McCain has been mostly undone by the courts; and in a fairly unexpected gesture, 2008 Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr recently endorsed Feingold, citing his efforts to roll back the USA PATRIOT Act. So Feingold's worst legacy has evaporated and his best one is going unrewarded.

Update: As noted, I was only referring to the exit polls. Feingold ain't dead yet.