'He became the scourge of defense-industry lobbyists, pork-barrel public works projects and seekers of tax loopholes'

Senator William Proxmire died this morning.

William Proxmire parlayed tireless shoe-leather campaigning, a mile-wide independent streak and golden political instincts into a record 32-year tenure, a place among Wisconsin's political giants and a measure of national fame as a crusader against government waste.

He died early this morning at a long-term care facility near Baltimore, at the age of 90, after struggling for years with Alzheimer's disease.

Almost relegated to history's dustbin after three straight gubernatorial losses in the 1950s, Proxmire pulled an upset shocker in the 1957 U.S. Senate race and never looked back until his equally surprising retirement in 1989.

The media savvy and "outsider" approach he perfected are much in evidence throughout politics today, while his frugal campaign ways, near-perfect attendance and indifference to special-interest lobbying now seem quaint, if not unthinkable.

Michelle Malkin calls him "the original Porkbuster," and cites his Golden Fleece Awards. From the Journal Sentinal article:

His gadfly style - epitomized by his trademark "Golden Fleece Awards" that mocked overnment boondoggles - earned him few friends in the Senate and limited his egislative clout. But his talent for publicity propelled remarkably effective attacks on what he saw as wasteful Pentagon spending. In one of his brightest moments, in 1971, he persevered in his long battle to kill government funds for the supersonic transport plane, earning him mentions as an attractive presidential candidate.