A year and a half after voters gave him the boot, former Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold is poised to get his old job back. A new poll shows Feingold leading four hypothetical opponents in the 2012 Senate race by double digits, boasting favorability ratings deserved by one of the great Senate champions. — PZS

Public Policy Polling via Political Wire:

If Russ Feingold wants to return to the Senate he’ll start out as a strong front runner. He has good favorability numbers and leads four potential Republicans opponents by double digits.

51% of voters in the state have a favorable opinion of Feingold to 38% with an unfavorable one. He’s on positive ground with independents at 50/37 and almost twice as many Republicans (15%) like him as Democrats (8%) dislike him. These numbers are a pretty clear indication that his loss last year had less to do with him than it did with the national political climate and poor Democratic turnout in the state. Things are moving back toward the Democrats nationally and that’s particularly the case in Wisconsin where Scott Walker has quickly become quite unpopular.

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