Daschle v. Thune

Ads

Bob Frapples notes that the GOP was by far and away outdone by Daschle this fall in the TV ad misrepresentation department.  Read the whole thing.

Johnson

From today's Rapid City Journal:

[Democratic Senator Tim] Johnson said Friday that he hadn't yet talked to Daschle about the campaign but expects him to take some time off to reflect, write and eventually decide how to continue with his lifelong involvement in public policy.

"I'm disappointed about this. But we're a strong country and a strong state. And our democracy is stronger than any individual, whether it's Tom or me or John Thune," Johnson said. "Tom is going to be fine. He has a great many options. The real challenge goes to the South Dakota agenda that we'll now pursue without someone who can phone the president three times a day."

I want Johnson to demonstrate to people in SD when the obstructionist-in-chief called President Bush 3 times in one day.  Seriously, SD press corps, ask Johnson this. 

"The Giant Killer From South Dakota"

See the article (translated by Jannelson) in Der Spiegel Online about the South Dakota Senate race.  Excerpt:

HAMBURG -- The giant killer's name is John Thune. His deed occurred in South Dakota, a state whose importance with its approximately 764,000 inhabitants, spread across nearly 200,000 square kilometers -- twice the size of Portugal -- had been up to now relatively limited. This northern state, in the middle of the United States, calls the coyote its official animal, the honeybee its official state insect.

South Dakota's significance will return to its former level in just a few days, but for now, every newspaper is mentioning the farm state. Why? Because the Republicans -- in congressional elections parallel to the presidential vote -- achieved something that hasn't occurred in more than a half-century: voting out the top Democrat in the Senate. (In Germany, one would say "Fraktionschef.") In 1952 Republican Barry Goldwater knocked off the Democratic Majority Leader, Senator Ernest McFarland. The loser of 2004 -- Thomas A. Daschle.

RCJ

There a long piece in today's Rapid City Journal today about Daschle and his early days in politics and other matters.  It's a very interesting piece.  But why is it running AFTER the election?  The long biographical sketches about Daschle "serving two masters" etc belong before the election.  What's the point of it now?

The Latest Issue of The Bird

"This Week"

Watch ABC's "This Week" on Sunday.  Note how they're billing their show:

We talk to the two new Senate superstars: John Thune, R-S.D., who defeated Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, and Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Hat tip: Mom, who told me about this.

Hollywood

Daschle was the number one recipient of Hollywood money this cycle.  I wonder how much it hurt him.  Note this from Reuters:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood is licking its wounds after an election that saw voters not only reject the candidate it anointed -- Democrat John Kerry -- but repudiate the values that the liberal stronghold cherishes.

Now, amid the second-guessing and recriminations that inevitably haunt the losing side, some are beginning to ask: Has Hollywood become a liability to the Democrats?

Political analysts said that polarizing figures such as Michael Moore -- whose "Fahrenheit 9/11" documentary bitterly attacked President Bush -- alienated Middle America as much as they galvanized the faithful.

History

In 1952, the same year that the last Senate leader was defeated running for re-election, a young John Kennedy beat the three-term Massachusetts powerhouse Senator Henry Cabot Lodge.  The patriarch, Joe Kennedy, said it best:

"When you've beaten him, you've beaten the best.  Why try for something less?"*

Indeed.

*Thomas Whalen, Kennedy v. Lodge: The 1952 Massachusetts Senate Race (Boston, Northeastern University Press, 2000). 

Hubris

All arrogance will reap a harvest rich in tears.

God calls men to a heavy reckoning

for overweening pride.

                       Aeschylus

I think this was a bit of a problem for the Daschle camp.

Argus

This Argus story from today misses some rather obvious points.  First, what about if Daschle's ads were truthful?  That deserves some scrutiny too, because they weren't.  They were conclusively demonstrated to be untrue.  And when discussing "outside groups" that helped Thune, it's odd that the "outside groups" helping Daschle--the 527 Focus South Dakota and the Senatorial Committee--weren't mentioned, despite Daschle's big campaign promise to keep them out.