[W]ith your help, the strength of our campaign forced Tommy Thompson out of the U.S. Senate race. There can be no doubt that he saw what he would be up against and decided not to get in the ring because he saw a fight he could not win. -- John Kraus, Feingold senior strategist, in an email to supporters.
It's too early to pop the champagne or to call it a victory lap, as Talking Points Memo does, but there is reason for the Feingold folks to celebrate.
And there is plenty of reason to think that the prospect of losing had much more to do with Tommy's decision than anything his family had to say.