Makes sense. Despite being in the Senate for half of his adult life, he is positioning himself as an outsider and the “anti-Washington” candidate.

In a recent chat with Door County Dems, Laning said the Feingold campaign has told supporters to refer to the Democratic candidate as “Russ,” not Sen. Feingold, and not to say that he is hoping to “go back” to the Senate. Feingold is challenging U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican who beat him in 2010.

“I can share with you Russ’ campaign (and) what they’ve told us so far,” Laning said in the videotaped segment, first reported by the The Washington Free Beacon.

“Never call him ‘Senator Feingold.’ We are to call him ‘Russ,'” she said. “They want us to say ‘Russ’ because the last campaign — it was all about ’16 years, 16 years, 16 years, he’s there too long.’ And so they want to say, ‘He’s just one of us.’ We want to go back to Russ being Russ.”

It’s a minor point, but Feingold served three full terms in the Senate, meaning he was in D.C. for 18 years, not 16.