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A teaching gig, a book, and who knows what else?

That is Russ Feingold’s life after the Senate, at least for now.

“I’m really excited about trying out some new things,” the former Democratic senator said in an interview Wednesday, speaking in some detail about his future for the first time since he was defeated by Republican Ron Johnson in November. “I’m going to be very, very happy to be in Wisconsin almost full-time for the first time in many, many years.”

Feingold, 57, will be a visiting professor of law at Marquette University, teaching a course about the U.S. Senate and the law in the upcoming spring semester. The commitment by both Feingold and Marquette is for at least one semester.

“It could go beyond that,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

For the record, Feingold did not rule out running for elective office again, saying “I just have no idea” about his long-term plans.

After he lost his bid for a fourth term, aides shot down the seemingly unlikely notion that Feingold would consider challenging President Obama from the left for the 2012 Democratic nomination.

“I absolutely want Barack Obama to be re-elected,” he told the Journal Sentinel Wednesday. “I’m going to be supporting the president.”

As to speculation he would run for the U.S. Senate in 2012 if Democrat Herb Kohl retired, Feingold said he hopes Kohl runs again, and “I would be eager to support him.”

Feingold said he and GOP opponent Johnson “had a nice chat” after the mid-term election “about what it’s like to be in the Senate. It was perfectly cordial.”

Johnson will be sworn in today as his successor.

The Democrat said he had plenty of time in 2010 to confront the possibility of losing office after 18 years in the U.S. Senate and 10 years in the state Senate.

“We had basically a year to absorb it. We kept trying to figure out a way to overcome this mantra that was out there about the stimulus package and the health care law, votes I stand behind. (But) it did appear for almost the whole year this was going to be very difficult to do. I was more than prepared for what appeared to be possible,” he said.

As for the book he plans to write, Feingold said it would deal with national and international events of the last 10 years. He said it will be “about substance and policy, particularly foreign policy. It will also have a personal element,” he said, alluding to his own role in those policy debates.

Feingold was animated in the interview about the course he will be teaching at Marquette. A 1979 graduate of Harvard Law, he has never taught law students before.

“The dean (Joseph Kearney) approached me shortly after the election. We started talking about it … It just sounded great, the opportunity to delve into some of these issues with these students.”

Feingold said the course would cover three areas: internal issues of Senate procedure such as the filibuster and lame-duck legislation; “the relationship between the Senate and the Constitution,” including how senators assess the constitutionality of legislation; and thirdly the relationship between the Senate and the executive branch, including confirmations of presidential appointees and war powers.

“I’ve dealt with many of these issues, but not all,” he said. “Some of them have been central (to his Senate career), others not.”