Politics and music have a long history together. From Woody Guthrie’s declaration that his guitar “kills fascists” to the inauguration celebration at the Lincoln Memorial just this past January, protest and support songs have shared a stage in the American consciousness.

The messages have been particularly one-way, from artist to politician (or more accurately, artist to listener, in an attempt for the voice of the masses to reach the politician). But Russ Feingold is changing all that.

The Wisconsin Senator has a new section up on his Web site called Fein Tunes, complemented by a nice, cheesy subtitle that wouldn’t be complete without an exclamation point: “Russ Listens to Wisconsin, and Music too!”

In this series, he takes suggestions concerning what he should listen to, and then tells us what he likes. In an accompanying video, he professes his love for Bob Dylan, and even throws a bit of fanboy-type supremacy out there; concerning his staff members’ disdain for African music: “They don’t know what’s good.”

His first choice is Wisconsin’s own Bon Iver. Good choice, despite the fact that lyrics like “I come through the window/I’m crippled and slow/For the agony I’d rather know” conflict with Russ’ declared need for “upbeat feeling.” Extra points, though, not only for picking someone from his home state, but for choosing a humble songwriter who took his success and shared it with his former high school’s jazz band.

Feingold launched this feature over a month ago, and hasn’t shared anything new since. I’ll be waiting on the edge of my seat to see if he’ll go punk next, though I doubt it.

Regardless, it’s always nice to be able to reduce high-ranking politicians to the people behind the voting records. But if there is causation between being the only Senator to take music suggestions openly and the only Senator to vote against the PATRIOT Act the first time around, then the writers of Pitchfork and Paste should take over the world. And myself, of course. Oh, and NBC’s Brian Williams.

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