T minus 12

Only about 12 hours to go until the Argus Leader endorsement of Tom Daschle is available online. When they endorsed Democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth in May '04 they made much of her "closeness to the coalition-building, aisle-crossing, more bipartisan and more conservative Blue Dog Democrats." They also said "Herseth, a Democrat, veers sharply from her party, particularly when it comes to the war in Iraq and renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act - she supports both. Herseth is best described as a Blue Dog Democrat, a bloc in Congress that is more conservative, particularly on economic issues, than the party leadership. These Democrats are more pragmatic than most of their peers and are more likely to cross the aisle in an effort to build bipartisan coalitions." So I wonder how they'll rationalize the Daschle endorsement given that he's the chief obstructionist in Washington, votes with John Kerry 95% of the time, is a self-described "liberal," has many positions counter to a majority of South Dakotans, has contradicted himself on major issues dozens of times, let the Democrats filibuster the ethanol bill which is so important to South Dakota, will be serving in a Washington that will have a Senate, House and Presidency most likely controlled by Republicans, and has an opponent who would arrive as a conquering hero in Washington and have instant power? Don't worry, they'll find a way. They didn't bury 66 negative stories about Daschle which ran in other major publications for nothing. You'll know in 12 hours.