There was a Herseth rally tonight featuring Senators Tom Daschle and Tim Johnson at the park near my girlfriend's house in Sioux Falls so we went over (note to organizers: it was "The Simpsons" season finale tonight(!) not to mention "Sopranos" night). It was gray and cloudy, so you'll have to hang on for pictures--they need some work. Herseth continued talking about being an "independent" voice in Congress etc and was generally congenial and on message. Johnson wins the red meat award tonight, denouncing the "Taliban wing of the Republican party." He also wins the odd comment of the night award by saying people shouldn't have to apologize for attending an "elite Eastern university" (Herseth is a Georgetown alum). The priceless comment of the evening goes to Herseth, however: "It was great to open the Argus Leader this morning!" Indeed. For her. Dave Kranz was also there, so let's see how many of the choice quotes from this evening's events he reports.
UPDATE: Speaking of the Argus, "The Simpsons" (which I taped) was about Mr. Burns' attempt to monopolize the local media. But seriously folks, I forgot to mention another thing Senator Johnson said. He made a big deal about the state having a "unified," "united," and "coordinated" voice in Washington, i.e. having all Democrats in the South Dakota delegation. I'm guessing this will be a continuing campaign theme. Also, I neglected to mention that Senator Daschle talked about the "historic" angle of a Herseth victory. He said she'd be the first elected female member of Congress from South Dakota. "Elected" is the key word and if she wins he'd be right--Gladys Pyle filled out a term in the 30s and it seems to me Vera Bushfield did too, but I'll have to check on that.
UPDATE II: Here's the Kranz story, and he picked out some of the quotes I did (except Herseth's line about the Argus, of course)! I left a few minutes early to catch "The Sopranos" (not a good night for Adrianna--good thing she's got a new show), but the Kranz report looks solid to me.
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