Herseth and Daily Kos

The blogosphere is abuzz about the outrageous post made by the operator of the Daily Kos blog regarding American citizens brutally killed, dismembered, and incinerated in Fallujah, Iraq this week ("Screw them" Kos wrote). OpinionJournal has the details. Also, read Instapundit.

Stephanie Herseth advertises on Daily Kos and has a link to Daily Kos from her website. She has reportedly reaped thousands of dollars in campaign donations as a result.

Congressman Martin Frost of Texas has already publicly repudiated Daily Kos. Stephanie Herseth should too, as the state GOP has already urged. A South Dakota political candidate has no business associating herself with someone who gloats over the barbaric murder of Americans fighting and dying to build a free and democratic Iraq.

Word on the street

It's panic mode at Daschle headquarters after their atrocious showing in the latest poll and the news that Tim Giago is running as an independent. The latest word on the street is that Tom Daschle is flying in from DC today for campaign events tonight in Sioux Falls and tomorrow in Madison. The Daschle campaign also purchased 20 new computers yesterday, indicating they're bringing in more East Coast talent in order to redouble their efforts.

A question to pose to Herseth

Earlier this week, Stephanie Herseth was quoted as making the following howler to the local press:

"EMILY's List is not a pro-abortion organization."

One blogger has a suggestion:

Someone ought to ask Stephanie Herseth to name some pro-life women that EMILY's List has supported[.]

Daschle phone call to Giago confirmed

Jeff Gannon, resident DC expert on South Dakota politics, has a new piece out today regarding Tim Giago, the Native American journalist who is running as an independent in the US Senate race, headlined "Daschle Asks Native American Not to Run Against Him." Excerpt:

[Tim] Giago, the publisher of the Lakota Journal, told Talon News that Daschle phoned him following his announcement and asked, "Do you want to be the Ralph Nader of this race?"

This is big news. But I guarantee you'll never read about it in the Argus Leader, whose editors organize the news as a political strategem for Tom Daschle, while holding out their newspaper as an impartial document of the day's most important words and events.

National Review piece on SD political history

Professor Lauck, a historian at South Dakota State University, who operates the DVT blog, has a fascinating piece in National Review today headlined "Daschle’s Dakota Past." Excerpt:

Running as a conservative Democrat, Daschle was also able to neutralize the impact of social issues. On November 1 [1986], in response to criticism of his abortion record, Daschle sent a letter to voters stating that "I am unalterably opposed to abortion on demand" and casting the issue as "a battle over human life." Daschle enclosed a letter to him from a minister, who vouched for Daschle's pro-life credentials: "I remember some of the very personal, deeply soul-searching conversations we've had on this subject. You used expletives like 'repulsive' and 'gross' in underscoring your abhorrence of abortion. You even said it is a form of murder, and I believe you are right. The bottom line is you are as opposed to abortion as I am."

Now, Bishop Carlson of the Sioux Falls, SD diocese has told Tom Daschle he can no longer call himself a Catholic because of his record on abortion. This is spun by Tom Daschle's Democratic colleagues in the Senate as an attack on Daschle's religion, as seen by Senator Harry Reid's comments on the Senate floor a week ago:

By virtue of the fact that 48 other Democrats, in a period of over 10 years, have selected the Senator from South Dakota as our leader, as a result of that the Senator does things for the caucus. I am sure the caucus is not 100-percent headed in the right direction, but we do our best to try to, and when there is ever anything that is done that is not in keeping with what this White House wants, the leader is attacked, his family is attacked, his religion is attacked, his ethics are attacked.

(Emphasis added.) It seems to me that if Senator Daschle is going to exploit religious figures to get elected, religious figures have grounds to criticize Senator Daschle when he double-crosses them.

Daschle can't break 50%

DVT is reporting that the Rapid City Journal/KOTA/KSFY has conducted a new poll of the Daschle v. Thune race showing a 48%-43% Daschle lead. Daschle has blown $6 million and can't break 50% in the polls, while his opponent has yet to run one television ad.

UPDATE: Professor Volokh takes a phlegmatic view of this development.

ANOTHER UPDATE: For more on political polling in South Dakota, see this.

Ed Schultz Watch

Al Franken's new radio show "The O'Franken Factor" debuted yesterday on the new Air America Network, which can't be a welcome development for Ed Schultz, the North Dakota radio personality touted as the liberal version of Rush Limbaugh. This XM Satellite Radio press release indicates the corporate realization that all the media suck-up now going to Al Franken and his band of lefties means Schultz is old hat.

For a less saccharine view of Franken's debut on the new Air America Network, read this new piece from the New Republic.

House whip criticized for having lobbyist family members

Gannett News Service had a story published yesterday headlined "Blunt denies conflict over lobbyist wife." Excerpt:

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, who wed a tobacco lobbyist in October, has not stepped aside from voting on tobacco legislation and continues to accept campaign donations from the industry....

Blunt also is among the top recipients of campaign donations from the tobacco industry, including Philip Morris, the nation's largest cigarette company and one of the 10 biggest campaign contributors to members of Congress. Campaign contributions from the tobacco industry are likely to increase during this election year, particularly as the debate over tobacco heats up....

Blunt is not the only lawmaker who has a spouse who lobbies Congress or is employed in a business that has legislation before Congress.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle's wife, Linda Hall Daschle, lobbies on aviation issues and represents 11 clients on behalf of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, a law firm. Linda Daschle's spokeswoman, Julie Goldberg, said the senator's wife does not lobby the Senate and did not lobby the House when the senator from South Dakota was a House member.

American Airlines, one of Linda Daschle's clients, gave Tom Daschle $4000 this election cycle.

The American Association of Airport Executives, one of Linda Daschle's clients, gave Tom Daschle $3,500 this election cycle. Tom Daschle is the top recipient of campaign donations in the Senate from the AAAE for this cycle.

Boeing, one of Linda Daschle's clients, gave Tom Daschle $5000 this election cycle.

Northwest Airlines, one of Linda Daschle's clients, gave Tom Daschle $7,500 this election cycle. Tom Daschle is the top recipient of campaign donations in the Senate from Northwest Airlines this cycle.

Lockheed Martin, one of Linda Daschle's clients, gave Tom Daschle $10,000 this election cycle. Tom Daschle is tied with John McCain for the top recipient of campaign donations in the Senate from Lockheed Martin.

All told, Tom Daschle has received $89,200 in campaign donations from the air transport industry this cycle.

Linda Daschle counters all of this by saying that she doesn't lobby the Senate, as noted in the Gannett story cited above. But Stephanie Mencimer of the Washington Monthly responded to this assertion in a piece she wrote back when Tom Daschle was the majority leader:

[W]hen it comes to lobbying Congress, does it really matter whether a congressional spouse lobbies her husband? The House Democrats on whom Daschle focuses her attention aren't likely to ignore calls from the majority leader's wife. And given the soft currency of Washington's access business, it's awfully hard to separate influence in such concrete ways, especially when many of Daschle's clients are lobbying both her husband and the Senate as well.

WSJ's Political Diary on Tim Giago

The Wall Street Journal chimes in with its own analysis of Tim Giago's third party bid for the U.S. Senate, under the headline "Wildcard Enters the Daschle Race":

South Dakota Democrats may have just got their very own Ralph Nader. But unlike the overblown candidacy of that consumer rights activist, this one might actually play a role in whether Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle keeps his seat.

Tim Giago, who grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and publishes the Lakota Journal, announced last week an intention to challenge Mr. Daschle in the state's Democratic primary. This week he changed his mind: Now he'll run as an independent in the general election. This is terrible news for Mr. Daschle. Instead of being a purely symbolic candidate, now Mr. Giago could have a real impact on the race between the incumbent and his Republican opponent, John Thune, a former U.S. congressman who lost South Dakota's 2002 Senate race to Democrat Tim Johnson by the slimmest of margins.

Mr. Giago, an Oglala Lakota, plans to focus his insurgent campaign on issues for American Indians, one of Mr. Daschle's core strongholds. In 1998, Mr. Daschle sailed to an easy victory helped by an 88% margin in Shannon County, an area populated almost entirely by Native Americans. South Dakota has been trending steadily Republican since then. By 2002, his protégé Mr. Johnson managed to win his statewide race by a mere 528 ballots -- and would have lost but for strong support from Shannon County Indians, who voted for the Democrat by a margin of 2,856 to 248. Did we mention that Shannon County is the home of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and Mr. Giago's influential newspaper? Bottom line: In a close race, Mr. Giago's candidacy could easily cost Mr. Daschle his seat and give Mr. Thune the win.

The real question now is whether Mr. Giago plans to stay in the contest to the end. Some suspect he merely intends to fire a shot across Mr. Daschle's bow, extract a few promises on Indian issues, then drop out and pledge his support to Mr. Daschle. For now, however, the publisher seems more focused on his own campaign than on whether it will hurt the longtime senator from South Dakota. Asked if he's bothered by the prospect of being Mr. Daschle's spoiler, he shrugged, "That is the chance you take."

(Emphasis added.)

Word on the street

DVT relates a rumor that Tom Daschle made a phone call to Tim Giago yesterday in a last-ditch effort to stop Giago's third-party candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

Giago candidacy suddenly on the DC radar screen

Tim Giago, the Native American journalist who recently announced his run as an independent in the U.S. Senate race in South Dakota, is starting to turn some heads in Washington. Today's edition of Roll Call has a piece headlined "Independent Could Sway Dakota Senate Race." Excerpt:

In the immediate aftermath of Giago’s announcement this week, the campaigns of both Daschle and former Rep. John Thune (R) sought to spin the development in their favor, although an initial analysis would seem to indicate Daschle’s campaign will be more heavily impacted....

Although Giago is given little chance of winning in November, because of the expected closeness of the race between Daschle and Thune and the size of the Indian vote in the state, his candidacy is being taken much more seriously than longshot candidacies in other Senate races.

In the 2002 contest between Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and Thune, Johnson won by 524 votes thanks in large part to the presence of a conservative Libertarian candidate on the ballot and an increased voter turnout on the state’s nine Indian reservations.

Libertarian Kurt Evans dropped out of the race days before the November 2002 election, saying he was worried that he could hand the election to Johnson. His name remained on the ballot, however and he received 3,070 votes — the vast majority of which would likely have gone to Thune.

Speaking of Kurt Evans, the AP had a story yesterday headlined "Attorney general's office represents SDSU student in appeal."

Dakota Alliance of Blogs firing on all cylinders

The Dakota Alliance is really starting to hit its stride this week. First, see Sibby Online's new Typepad based blog. Then read the latest tour de force at DVT responding to Joshua Micah Marshall's post on the Daschle v. Thune race. Sioux Falls radio personality Greg Belfrage has also been demonstrating his customary wit and insight on the web of late. These guys are all way ahead of the curve on all the political goings-on in South Dakota. No matter what the Yankton Press & Dakotan thinks.

Excellent article by Mercer

I would be remiss if I didn't echo DVT's praise for the recently published article by Bob Mercer headlined "Anti-abortion group criticizes Daschle; Senate minority leader under fire for voting both for, against fetal rights." As DVT states, this piece by Mercer is analytical journalism at its finest.

Daschle: "I don't miss the limelight"

The Argus Leader had a piece this past Sunday headlined "Kerry nabs Daschle's status as spokesman." Excerpt:

For Daschle, Kerry's emergence as the party's new face means a less prominent role nationally....

For his part, Daschle said he doesn't mind the lower visibility.

"I don't miss the limelight," said the senator, who came within hours last year of making his own run for the presidential nomination that Kerry now has locked up.

Wait a minute. What about all that "using my position to put South Dakota on the national agenda" talk? Tom Daschle is happy that he now has "a less prominent role nationally?"

Daschle and Eugene McCarthy

The Washington Post has a blurb on the celebration of Eugene McCarthy's 88th birthday this past Friday. McCarthy, of course, was the man who posted a strong showing in the 1968 Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire because of his anti-war stance, instigating President Lyndon Johnson's decision not to seek another term as president. Thus the WaPo:

Former senator and liberal political icon Eugene McCarthy turns 88 today, but the celebration began Friday night at Teatro Goldoni with some 50 friends. In honor of his 88 years, guests offered almost as many toasts. "When you hear someone question the reasons and the costs of war, you hear his voice," hailed Tom Daschle. But the Senate minority leader yielded the floor to the guest of honor, who recited several of his poems.

(Emphasis added.) I guess Senator Daschle is back to his position of "questioning the war" now that he's in the friendly confines of DC, amongst his intimate liberal friends, although when he's in South Dakota he says he has no concerns about the war, as a recent DVT post pointed out.

Back in 1968, when Daschle was attending South Dakota State University, he was a big fan of Eugene McCarthy, as a story in the SDSU Collegian indicated, which I cited in a post written last September.

More on Giago from UPI

The UPI has a story on Tim Giago's run as an independent, headlined "Independent complicates Daschle re-elect." Excerpt:

As a bloc, South Dakota's Indians tend to heavily favor the Democrats. In 2002, they provided Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., with enough votes to let him eke out a narrow victory over Republican John Thune. Now that Giago, a newspaper publisher and Oglala Indian, has decided to run as an independent in the general election rather than challenge Daschle in the primary, as previously announced, could alter the landscape in an already nationally significant race.

Quote of the Day

"EMILY's List is not a pro-abortion organization." - a direct quote from Stephanie Herseth, according to today's edition of the Rapid City Journal.

Disunity among South Dakota Dems starts to emerge

Jeff Gannon, resident DC expert on South Dakota politics, has a piece today headlined "Daschle, Herseth Split on Gay Marriage Amendment." Excerpt:

A month ago, the Associated Press quoted Herseth as saying, "I agree with the president on this issue. Marriage should be between a man and a woman."

Her statement produced a strongly negative reaction from some Democrats, especially from inside the Daschle campaign. The Rapid City Journal reported that Steve Hildebrand, campaign manager for the Senate minority leader asked for a refund of his contribution to the Herseth campaign.

It's interesting that this rift between the two campaigns has emerged, particularly in light of the fact that Linda Daschle encouraged Herseth to run for congress in 2002, according to a story in the American Prospect at the time, headlined "Civil Offensive." Excerpt:

When she was encouraged to run by Linda Daschle -- Tom Daschle's wife -- Herseth had no idea whom she would be up against.

South Dakota's own Ralph Nader

My apologies for the lengthy period of dormancy here at SDP. My grandmother's funeral was yesterday, and I've also been scrambling to find time to prepare and submit my application to take the bar exam, which I finally mailed to Pierre this afternoon. So now it's back to blogging.

Tim Giago, who had planned to run against Tom Daschle in the Democratic primary in June, is now planning to run as a third party candidate on the ballot in November. Undoubtedly, the Daschle camp is not pleased, as Giago is likely to peel off sorely needed votes for Daschle. David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, has a piece in today's Argus Leader headlined "Giago's independent run expected to remodel race." Kranz's piece also appears as an AP story headlined "Giago plans run as independent."

Now watch for the Daschle intimidation tactics to begin with Tim Giago. You see how vitriolic the Dems are with a Nader candidacy nationally. It will be interesting to see how vitriolic local Dems get with Giago, particularly if they see Giago garnering a substantial amount of Native American support.

As always, see DVT for more.

Bob Mercer's latest

Be sure to read a piece by Bob Mercer published in today's St. Petersburg Times (Fla.) headlined "South Dakota wanderlust."