A longer explanation of Thune's victory over Daschle will follow, but here are some preliminary thoughts.
First, John Thune is simply a damn good man. I am very proud to have come to know him over the last 5 years. John, his family, and his WWII-hero father are just great people. He's from a small South Dakota town like me and so it's easy to indentify with, as it is for many South Dakotans. They saw in him a great man, a great South Dakotan, and someone they could indentify with him. And despite the Daschle machine's despicable attempts to smear him as a "lightweight," he has a first rate analytical mind with an unbelievable command of detail. I had the great honor to be a part of some debate preparation sessions with Thune (I got to play both Tim Russert and Dave Kranz!) and he was simply outstanding. He will be a towering figure in the Senate, which will be enriched by his presence.
Second, I think the chickens-coming-home-to-roost theory which I've been going on about for some time holds water. Daschle first ran as a conservative anti-gun control, anti-spending, anti-tax, anti-abortion, pro-balanced budge amendment Democrat, but in later years cast all this aside. It was a classic case of political cynicism, especially this year when Daschle tried to backtrack and re-don the mask of conservative Democrat. There are several examples to bolster this case, but perhaps the most stunning case was abortion, where Daschle went from calling abortion "murder" during his first campaigns to then giving speeches to NARAL and Emily's List to then saying during this campaign that abortions shouldn't be allowed. The stunning parade of Daschle hypocrisies and double-talk added up. The chickens came home. And enough people thought it was time for a change.
Enough for now. I'm beat. More tomorrow. Or, I should say, later today. A final note of thanks to all the readers of this blog, which I've come to treasure. Please keep your thoughts on this race coming. I want to review them all for the book on this historic moment.
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