Steyn on the Daschle defeat

Mark Steyn has a great column headlined "A Catastrophic Night for Democrats" that makes a point I've been mulling the past few days. One of the reasons the Dems keep losing is because they're always kidding themselves to get around the fact that America is a conservative country. Excerpt from Steyn's column:

No matter how many movies Michael Moore makes, America is basically a conservative country. If you don’t believe me, look at Tom Daschle, the Democrats’ Senate leader and the first such party leader to be defeated in over half a century. Daschle’s going down to defeat in South Dakota by a big enough margin that even the traditional Democratic trick — finding a few thousand extra ‘late votes’ lying around under an abandoned pick-up on one of the more distant Indian reservations — is unlikely to suffice. Daschle has spent years as a doctrinaire liberal Democrat in Washington while posing as a ‘bipartisan’ ‘moderate’ ‘centrist’ back in his conservative home state. This year it caught up with him.

The post-Daschle world

Kimberly Strassel of the Wall Street Journal editorial page has an interesting piece in today's edition headlined "Life After Daschle." Excerpt:

But what of the bigger ideological battles like judges that united Democrats last time around? No one should fool themselves into thinking that even after Tuesday's blow, Democrats are wise enough to renounce the liberal heavyweights who dominate the agenda, from Hillary Clinton to Ted Kennedy. That Nevada's Harry Reid, a loyal Daschlista, is likely to be elected new leader, suggests the leadership doesn't plan to play nice.

Yet neither should anyone underestimate the psychological power Mr. Daschle's defeat will wield over middle-America Democrats. South Dakota voted Bush by 22 percentage points this week, and Mr. Daschle's demise came precisely because his opponent effectively explained to voters that it was Mr. Daschle who stymied the same president's agenda. That's something to chew on if you are the state's junior senator, Tim Johnson, or Max Baucus of Montana (59% for Bush), or Arkansas's Blanche Lincoln (54%). One of the only Democratic pickups in the Senate this time came via Ken Salazar, who was smart enough to run as a social centrist in Bush-voting Colorado (against "Coors Lite").

The pressure builds on those red-state Senators up for election in 2006. Is New Mexico's Jeff Bingaman going to vote down a Miguel Estrada nomination, with a state home to the largest proportion of Hispanics in the country? Look too for Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Bill Nelson of Florida, and Kent Conrad of North Dakota to be heeding the Ghost of Daschle's Past.

Ryne McClaren and the Dakota Blog Alliance

Ryne McClaren has an excellent post about, among other things, how he stumbled upon the South Dakota blogs. Excerpt:

As the South Dakota Senate race started to heat up, I stumbled across a guy by the name of Jason Van Beek. As you know, I'm from South Dakota too, so this was a pretty big deal. I sent him a complementary e-mail, we linked each other, it was exciting. (You had to be there I guess.) Next, Jon Lauck and Steve Sibson came to my attention. Then Quentin Riggins. Hell, all of the sudden there were a bunch of South Dakota bloggers. Somebody came up with a name for this little group of misfits, and the Dakota Alliance was born. They asked me to participate, and I was glad to. Randell Beck, meet the blogosphere. Not long afterward, I was linked by Instapundit, Andrew Sullivan and Mark Steyn's web page while blogging about a Randell Beck meltdown. My hitcounter topped out at around 15,000 hits in just a few hours. Ho-ly shee-it. Next the group added The Bird, Wally Waltner and Wes Roth. We had a conference. Jay Reding came. Jay Reding! John Hinderaker too! The Argus Leader ran a front page story on us, and their editor had some sharp words for what we were doing. A good time was -- and still is being -- had by all. And again, the rest is history. But let it be known that when future state races are blogged with a great national ado, a group of people from the sticks were first. So here we are. The President was re-elected. John Thune knocked the legs from under Tom Daschle, the Senate Minority Leader. Republicans made gains in both houses. Was it because of blogs? Who knows. We sure as hell didn't hurt any of our candidates, that's for sure. We might have even brought new eyes to bear on issues that wouldn't otherwise have been noticed or discussed (see also: Rathergate; Kranzgate; Mansiongate; Hug-gate; and other -gates too numerous to mention.)

Thune on the Judiciary Committee?

The American Spectator hints that John Thune may take Sen. John Edwards' seat on the Judiciary Committee:

With Sen. John Edwards now nothing more than a thumb-thumping memory, Republicans are wondering who will take his seat on the Judiciary Committee. With Republican gains in the Senate, it is believed the GOP will have an additional seat to fill on that, and other committees.

One name that will surely pop up regularly is Sen. John Thune's. Given his success in knocking of Sen. Tom Daschle, Republicans will want to give Thune as much help as possible to reinforce the message back home that Daschle's loss in fact will be South Dakota's gain.

With the likelihood that there may soon be a vacancy on the Supreme Court, John Thune would have an impact on the entire nation almost immediately if he were to become a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Thune victory roundup

First, see an excellent article by Sheryl Gay Stolberg at the New York Timed headlined "Gracious but Defeated, Daschle Makes History." Excerpt:

"John is going to come in a hero," declared Senator George Allen of Virginia, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, saying the party would probably like to see Mr. Thune's face on Mount Rushmore. Mr. Allen called the outcome of the South Dakota race "monumental" and said it was psychologically equivalent to Republicans' winning three seats.

For Mr. Thune, a telegenic 43-year-old who drew strong support from fiscal and Christian conservatives, the victory was especially sweet. Two years ago he lost a bruising Senate race to another Democrat, Tim Johnson, by just 524 votes.

About 3:30 Wednesday morning, he greeted a throng of cheering supporters and announced, "I think everyone's got a little celebrating to do."

Below is a picture of John Thune receiving a congratulatory phone call from Senator Daschle. Senator-elect Thune thanked Senator Daschle for his thirty years of service to South Dakota. Behind Thune is his brother, Rich, and in the background, Political Director Ryan Nelson and Deputy Campaign Manager John Wood can be seen congratulating each other.

The crowd went nuts when Thune took the stage:

Here, Thune embraces his mentor, Senator Abdnor, who Daschle defeated in 1986:

The Times also discusses South Dakota in its traditional state-by-state post-election analysis.

Elsewhere in the Times, William Safire says President Bush should "offer a domestic cabinet post to Daschle, an understanding pol who can be depended on to turn it down" and suggests the Democrats replace Daschle with Senator Kerry. Meanwhile, Maureen Dowd says John Thune is "an anti-abortion Christian conservative."

The Washington Post has an article headlined "Leader's Defeat Means New Face for Democrats."

The Washington Times has an article headlined "Daschle concedes win to Thune."

Finally, Steve Hemmingsen "weighs in" with this observation:

What happened? Tom is a good guy and he has been friendly to me over the years but, you know, I think in the end the Thune folks were right about one thing and one thing that counts in South Dakota: being out of touch. I don't know that he was way out of touch, but Thune's hired gun campaign manager, Dick Wadhams, used the strokes of a master painter to compose the picture he wanted the average South Dakotan to see, disregarding everything else.

Without a doubt, the canvas was those first commercials showing John Thune's kids.

There were a lot of strokes in between about being an obstructionist, being against South Dakota values and all that. But I suspect the final nails appealed to the basic instinct of South Dakotans who live in small towns: don't get too big for your britches.

That last blast of commercials showing the multi-million dollar house, the swimming pool, Linda Daschle's Jaguar, her ¾ million-dollar paycheck as a lobbyist all added up to "He ain't the kid from Aberdeen anymore."

Tom threw some logs on the fire himself. Going town to town in a suburban. He might as well have driven the Jag. He should have known better. There was that dumb hunting commercial with clothing so new all that was missing was the Minnie Pearl price tag on the hat. Throw in the testimony about Tom disappearing only to turn up walking the cornrows to fill his limit fell short of heroic. Isn't that what any hunter would do? He should have known better. He looked like a Washington guy hunting in South Dakota.

Rested up

I'm sorry about the sparse blogging, but I've just been relaxing a bit and savoring John Thune's victory. Throughout the past few days, a quote from Margaret Mead has been prominent in my mind. Here it is:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

I began this blog in January of 2003 for one big reason: to challenge the Argus Leader to scrutinize Democratic political figures in this state as closely as they did Republican figures. I envisioned a network of like-minded bloggers around the state of South Dakota who could add their thoughts and reinforce this message. This vision has succeeded beyond my wildest expectations. Steve Sibson of "Sibby Online" began to blog in May of 2003, and we spent the remainder of 2003 struggling to spread the word about the Argus Leader's unwillingness to scrutinize Senator Daschle the way the Argus Leader had scrutinized Senator Pressler.

Interestingly, Senator Daschle began his own blog in the summer of 2003, but the press coverage of Daschle's blogging efforts prompted Instapundit to tell his readers to "Forget Tom Daschle's blog: The South Dakota Politics blog is where you want to go, if you're interested in, well, South Dakota politics." Instapundit's link gave SDP a massive boost in readership, which resulted in a proportional number of people who began to understand that one of the reasons Senator Daschle continued to win elections in South Dakota was because the most influential newspaper in the state refused to scrutinize his contradictions.

Then, in January of 2004, when John Thune decided to challenge Senator Daschle, Professor Jon Lauck began his blog, Daschle v. Thune, and the Dakota Blog Alliance was born. Professor Lauck massively expanded the influence of the blogs. His keen insights and prodigious work ethic made the criticism of the Argus Leader even more devastating, and resulted in even more shrill ad hominem attacks from Randell Beck, the executive editor of the Argus Leader. At one point, Beck even played the Hitler card: "Hitler would have had a blog," he said. Furthermore, as DVT noted, Beck said that blog criticism of the Argus Leader was "'crap' driven by a 'violent' internet 'cabal' of 'yahoos' and 'jokers,' who are full of 'hatred' and 'vitriol' and lacked 'guts' because they hid 'behind their computer screens' and wouldn't face him 'man to man.'"

By this time, the DBA had expanded to include Ryne McClaren and Quentin Riggins. Randell Beck became an object of ridicule around the country, as other bloggers took notice of his ranting, and prominent bloggers like Andrew Sullivan and Instapundit, as well as columnist Mark Steyn, were aghast at the studied hostility of Randell Beck to reasonable, fact-drawn criticism.

I think the Dakota Alliance, among many other things, played a role in the Thune victory. People are beginning to understand that the rise of the Dakota Blog Alliance has forever changed the contours of politics in this state. Today, the Grand Forks Herald in NORTH Dakota had this to say about the DBA:

This little-noticed development deserves a lot more attention.

The Daschle-Thune race differed from previous South Dakota Senate races in this way: Conservative Web logs gave South Dakota voters access to news like never before.

Take a look and you'll see what we mean: Web sites such as Daschle vs. Thune (daschlevthune.typepad.com/daschle_v_thune/) and a few others chipped away at Daschle's image day after day.

They also charged South Dakota's major newspapers were in Daschle's pocket. They backed the charge by showcasing, for example, the fact that Sioux Falls (S.D.) Argus Leader's political reporter had been active in the Democratic Party as a South Dakota State University student in the 1960s - as had his then-friend and fellow student, Tom Daschle.

These Web logs served as a South Dakota version of Rush Limbaugh's talk show, legitimizing criticism of the incumbent and using the media as a whipping boy. The reports galvanized Daschle's opposition and gave them lots of material to rally around.

Balanced? No. Fair? Probably not. Effective? Yes.

I'll sign off this post with this reassurance to anyone who may be wondering: The Dakota Blog Alliance is not going anywhere. We're here to stay. There's still work to do.

Pictures

The thrill of victory. The elderly gentleman pictured next to Kimberly Thune is former Senator Jim Abdnor, who Daschle defeated in 1986. Senator Abdnor was Senator-elect Thune's mentor, and the fact that history had come full circle was not lost on those who follow South Dakota politics.

The agony of defeat.

These pictures are from an AP story headlined "GOP Topples Daschle, Widens Senate Lead."

Thune wins!

The sun may or may not rise in two hours (recall that Senator Daschle said that if he were re-elected, the sun would continue to rise over South Dakota).

Do you believe in miracles?

The Argus Leader says "Thune Leads." CBS News' Dan Rather just called it for Thune! It's mathematically impossible for Thune to lose. What a moment! At long last, it's time. John Hinderaker of Power Line said this summer that we will know the blogs have arrived if they are influential in toppling a Democratic Leader, since the media and the blogs helped topple Majoriity Leader Lott.

Is it over yet?

DVT:

The fat lady is warming up.

Thune starting to pull away

It's important to note that at this time in 2002, Thune was still behind. Right now, Thune's ahead, and basically all of his strongest counties are yet to be reported. If he keeps his lead, and adds to it, it should counter the votes from the strongly pro-Daschle reservation counties.

Rush Limbaugh on the TRO

Rush Limbaugh mentioned a "blog in South Dakota" today on his show, and talked for nearly 10 minutes about Daschle's weak temporary restraining order.

South Dakota Secretary of State's totals

To keep an eye on the voting tallies around South Dakota tonight, go to this website at the South Dakota Secretary of State's office.

55% of Sioux Falls area think Argus Leader is biased

A recent poll has found that 55% of Minnehaha County residents think the Sioux Falls Argus Leader is biased.

NRO has more on the Daschle TRO

Professor Lauck at DVT has been more productive than usual today. He's got a new piece up at NRO: "His Day in Court."

Thune up in exit polling

Drudge and NRO say Thune is up slightly in exit polling.

Daschle lawyer removed from polling place

The belligerant Daschle lawyer at the McLaughlin Community Center on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation has been removed from the polling place by the Corson County Sheriff. DVT has more.

Daschle operative: "F--k you, do something about it"

DVT:

At the McLaughlin Community Center on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, a Daschle operative (a male lawyer in his 50s) has taken over part of the election table and is interfering with the election workers' duties in violation of SDCL 12-18-3, 9.1 (9.2 gives authority to have the person removed and arrested). The election worker feels intimidated by the Daschle operative and feels that the man is interfering with the process. When told this was illegal, he responded "F--k you, do something about it." These sorts of reports are coming in regularly. It's a nice summary of the Daschle campaign's attitude toward the election process.

UPDATE: The auditor has just sent the sheriff out to the polling location.

The Pollwatchers

The next step may be ostentatious note-taking.

(Via DVT.)

Analysis of the Piersol TRO

Political Brief has more keen insights on the temporary restraining order issued by Judge Piersol early this morning. Excerpt:

Given the judge’s relationship with Daschle and the order he did finally issue, Judge Piersol must have entered his chambers with his mind struggling over how to craft an order that would allow his friend to save face without completely vitiating his obligation to uphold the rule of law.

So the reality for Daschle is an embarrassment, but Judge Piersol has give given him a pretext for arguing it was a win. It appears that at, least with the Argus Leader, Judge Piersol and Daschle succeeded. And there was a time when that would have been enough. Have we passed that point? Have the collective resources of the Internet and efforts of all the people covering this farce last night exposed this subterfuge for all to see?

Maybe. The truth, however, is that the vast majority of South Dakotans don’t read this blog or DvT or SDP or any other political blog. If they did, Daschle would probably lose today, and it wouldn’t be close.

An early Christmas for Harry Reid?

NRO has an article headlined "The Happiest Man in Nevada." Excerpt:

I'm sure Reid has received several calls already. These Democrats are not stupid. Daschle has polled under 50 percent in the last three non-partisan statewide polls in South Dakota. In the last two polls, Daschle was actually trailing Republican John Thune by three points — 49 percent for Thune vs. 46 percent for Daschle. Incumbents under 50 percent in the late polls almost always lose. The undecideds break against them. Incumbents a) under 50 percent and b) actually trailing challengers in the polls are almost certain losers. Senate Democrats have seen these polls. They panicked! The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sent a fresh round of negative ads Thune's way, and they flew out as many last-minute volunteers as they could. But it won't work: Tom Daschle, meet Jim Sasser. D.C. Democrats know Daschle's time is over, and they won't wait until the wake to fight over the silver and the china.

(Via Sibby.)

WSJ Political Diary on the Daschle injunction

Via DVT:

Desperate Daschle?
Tom Daschle must have found his last internal polls very scary. The Senate Minority Leader took the unusual step of getting a federal judge to issue a temporary restraining order to block Republican lawyers from monitoring polling places on Native American reservations. The 2002 Senate race was won by Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson by 524 votes only after a suspicious surge of late returns from the reservations. Unless the ruling is overturned, there may be less scrutiny of reservation precincts this year than there was even two years ago.

Mr. Daschle took little risk in bringing the case before U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol. A more compromised figure in a Daschle lawsuit can't be imagined. Mr. Piersol, a former Democratic legislator, was Mr. Daschle's personal attorney in his first race for Congress in 1978, which Mr. Daschle won after several recounts. Last year, Mr. Daschle told a group of trial lawyers: "I got my start in politics thanks to lawyers, rather, one lawyer in particular. In 1978, I won my first election to the House by 14 votes... I was fortunate to be represented by a great lawyer and a dear friend, Larry Piersol."

Judge Piersol, whom the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader reports "Daschle chose for the federal bench," issued his restraining order at 1:45 a.m. on Tuesday after hearing one witness from each side. The witness for the Daschle forces was a Virginia lawyer who had worked for Howard Dean in Iowa and had been in South Dakota working for Mr. Daschle for 48 hours. He said that, in early voting, Republican poll watchers would "roll their eyes" and make a "negative face" at times and that, in his opinion, constituted "intimidation" of voters. Spectators in the courtroom snickered at the contention that this would deter anyone from voting. But the judge, not surprisingly, bought the argument. Former Senator Jim Abdnor, the man whom Mr. Daschle defeated to get to the Senate, denounced the decision saying, "We need voters to decide this race, not judges." With hundreds of attorneys blanketing the state today, that may be a vain hope.

Thune challenges "sham" ruling

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Contact:

Dick Wadhams

John Wood

(605) 221-1010

JOHN THUNE TO CHALLENGE “SHAM” COURT RULING

SIOUX FALLS –John Thune will appeal the “sham” ruling made late last night by a federal judge with close personal and political ties to Senator Tom Daschle.

“This sham ruling will not stand,” said Thune for Senate campaign manager Dick Wadhams. “Daschle’s desperate move is nothing less than an attempt to steal this election in the dark of night by a political crony in a judge’s robe.”

The testimony presented at the hearing consisted of nothing more than the speculation of a single Daschle operative from Virginia who testified that all he observed was eye-rolling and note taking by observers.

“We will appeal this ruling in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals,” Wadhams said. “We are going to order a transcript of the hearing and prove to the people of the State of South Dakota that this hearing was a farce and the decision is not supported by ANY evidence.”

Federal Judge Larry Piersol is a longtime personal friend and political ally of Daschle.

Piersol was Daschle’s personal lawyer in 1978 when Daschle first ran and won a contested election for Congress.

Daschle nominated Piersol for the appointment by President Bill Clinton for the federal judgeship Piersol now holds.

Piersol’s wife, Catherine, is listed as a supporter of Daschle in an ad appearing in today’s Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

Daschle contesting Republican absentee ballots

DVT reports: Daschle and his lawyer army are trying to prevent the counting of Republican absentee ballots in Rapid City.

An "absurd and transparent ploy"

Hugh Hewitt:

The most rewarding bit of news this day comes from South Dakota, where the blog DaschlevThune has been reporting on the pathetic Tom Daschle's pathetic last minute law suit must be causing enormous damage to Daschle as word of its silliness spreads via the internet at cyberspeed. This tactic --filing foolish and far-fetched last-minute lawsuits brought before friendly judges who issue rulings that will be overturned only after the damage at the polls is done-- cannot work anymore, not as long as courtrooms are open and there's a WiFi around. See also SouthDakotaPolitics and Sibby.

The judge has issued some lame order restricting the GOP from recording license plate numbers. That could not possibly have been worth the embarrassment Tom Daschle has brought upon himself with this absurd and transparent ploy. The blogosphere flexes again. One of the entries suggest at DvT suggests the judge is upset that there are real time reports of the proceedings showing up ont he web. Sorry, your honor, you may Tom Daschle's pal and get to wear the robe, but freedom is what it is all about, including the freedom to mock trumped up legal ploys.

The Weekly Standard weighs in

Joseph Bottum, a South Dakota native and a Weekly Standard writer, has a piece today headlined "Suing Your Way to Defeat." Excerpt:

Daschle has seriously misunderstood the power of the alternative media, especially radio and the Internet, to get news about this kind of thing out to the voting public. The South Dakota bloggers have been relentless: Jon Lauck live blogged the hearing (and the judge whined about it in open court: is that cool, or what?) Jason Van Beek kept the stream coming through the night, as did Steve Sibson, Ryne McClaren, and others.

The kind of political trick that Daschle's lawyers tried works only if it remains an unverified rumor through Election Day, and things don't remain rumors anymore. The new electronic world welcomes you, Senator Daschle--and it says goodbye to you, as well. The whole state now knows about the lawsuit, and your claims of vicious eye-rolling, and how you've turned into some weird guy at a cocktail party doing his chicken imitations.

Besides, I'm sorry to report, you lost the case. Even your buddy Piersol was too embarrassed to give you more than an order banning the writing down of license-plate numbers. I've been pessimistic about John Thune's chance all year and wrote here in THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the race was still Daschle's to lose. I think he just has.

Quentin on the preemptive legal strike

Quentin has an open thread for those who want to comment on the Daschle v. Thune ruling.

Judge Piersol issues his ruling

DVT:

The judge has issued an order restricting Republicans from recording license plate numbers of people leaving the polls in Charles Mix County.

UPDATE: More from DVT:

Well, this is a kick in the pants for the Democrats, who wanted the judge to force the Republican Party to completely re-deploy all its poll watchers. They had no substantive evidence, they relied on a Howard Dean operative who has been here for a day as the basis for their case, they looked desperate, they didn't get the relief they wanted, the entire GOP poll watching system is still in place, and more questions have been raised about why Democrats are so paranoid about people "ostentatiously taking notes."

Pics from tonight's rally outside the courthouse

AP reports on Daschle v. Thune

The AP is reporting: "Daschle takes Thune to court on night before election." Excerpt:

During a break in the hearing, Daschle spokesman Dan Pfeiffer and Thune campaign manager Dick Wadhams got into a back-and-forth exchange with reporter.

Pfeiffer said Thune's campaign lied in saying Daschle was trying to keep Republican observers from watching the polls.

"It seeks to stop this behavior," Pfeiffer said of the testimony. "All we're trying to do is to let people vote."

Thune campaign manager Dick Wadhams shot back that the intent was to keep GOP watchers away and lay the groundwork for a judicial challenge of the election results.

"Who goes into court the night before an election if they're not afraid they're going to lose," he said.

Wadhams said Piersol was at one time Daschle's lawyer, the judge was recommended to the bench by Daschle and Piersol's wife supports Daschle's campaign.

"This is a joke," Wadhams said.

UPDATE: The AP has revised the story under the headline "Judge partially grants Daschle's request to limit activity of GOP poll watchers."

Ryne McClaren

Ryne McClaren has done a great job of covering Daschle suing Thune in federal court tonight. Just start at the top and keep scrolling.

Entire Daschle complaint

Here's a PDF copy of Senator Daschle's complaint seeking a temporary restraining order.

Wally weighs in

Wally at Irreconcilable Musings asks:

Are you telling me that the same lawyer that sued to put Tom Daschle over the hump against Leo Thorsness in 1978 is now the federal judge that can put him over the top against John Thune in 2004?

Analysis of Daschle's risky gambit

The blog "Political Brief" notes that Judge Piersol had some laudatory comments for Senator Daschle a mere FOUR DAYS AGO. There's also some good analysis of what prompted Daschle to make this move. DVT notes that Daschle's lawyers rested after one white guy from Virginia claimed Indians were being intimidated at Lake Andes. You'd think that they'd actually bring the allegedly intimidated Indians up to the courthouse. The fact that there wasn't one single Indian who testified tonight speaks volumes about the strength of Daschle's case.

DVT liveblogging the temporary restraining order hearing

DVT has a source at the federal court hearing and is liveblogging it.

The desperation of Daschle

Power Line links to this Argus Leader story written by Mike Madden about Daschle's attempt to have a friendly judge intervene in the election. According to the Washington Post, Judge Piersol is a "close friend of Daschle's":

"He is not a softy, but he is a sensitive person," says Larry Piersol, a federal judge in South Dakota and a close friend of Daschle's.

Here's what Daschle had to say about Judge Piersol at the ATLA Convention in 2003:

First, I got my start in politics thanks to lawyers... rather, one lawyer in particular. In 1978, I won my first
election to the House by 14 votes. Don’t laugh, in South Dakota, that’s 60 percent of the vote.
Apparently undaunted by that landslide of support, my opponent sued to contest the election. I
was fortunate to be represented by a great lawyer and a dear friend, Larry Piersol. It took one
year and 21 days, but here I am 25 years later.

Thomas A. Daschle vs. John Thune, South Dakota Republican Party, and John Does 1-200

Below is the first page of Senator Daschle's "Complaint to enforce compliance with consent order and with the laws and Constitution of the United States and for emergency relief." The hearing for a restraining order is going on at this very moment in the Sioux Falls Federal Courthouse.

BOMBSHELL: THE DEATH RATTLE OF DASCHLE'S POLITICAL CAREER

DVT reports that Senator Daschle, in a last-ditch attempt to salvage his political career, has gone to federal court to steal votes and eliminate Republican poll watchers. Below is the press release from the Thune campaign:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, November 1, 2004

Contact: Dick Wadhams, John Wood

(605) 221-1010

INTERVENTION TO HEAD OFF ELECTION LOSS

DASCHLE LAWYERS GO TO FEDERAL COURT AT 8:00 PM TONIGHT TO STEAL VOTES, ELIMINATE REPUBLICAN POLL WATCHERS

SIOUX FALLS – Anticipating a loss to Republican challenger John Thune tomorrow ending his 26-year congressional career, Senator Tom Daschle will seek federal judicial intervention in the election process tonight, Monday, November 1 during an emergency hearing in federal court in Sioux Falls at 8:00 PM.

The hearing will be before Federal Judge Larry Piersol who was appointed by Daschle to federal court and served as Daschle’s personal legal counsel in 1978.

“This is nothing short of an attempt to steal an election Tom Daschle knows he is about to lose tomorrow,” said Thune for Senate campaign manager Dick Wadhams. “Daschle’s goon lawyers will seek to get Republican poll watchers removed from reservations and for voters to lose their right to vote.”

Lawyers representing Tom Daschle successfully called for the hearing tonight in front of Daschle-appointed Judge Piersol.

The Pennington County Auditor was informed earlier today that Daschle lawyers will seek to ban the counting of legitimate absentee ballot requests in Pennington County tomorrow, Election Day, morning.

Daschle to mount sweeping challenges of GOP absentee ballots

DVT reports that the Democrats will be making sweeping challenges of Republican absentee voters.

Jay Reding on "faith-whips" for Daschle

Jay Reding has some excellent observations on the latest pro-Daschle push-polling tactics: "You Want Dirty Tricks? I'll Give You Dirty Tricks." Excerpt:

I think these "ministers" are referring to this, which appears to be an ad campaign aimed at pointing out the conflict presented by Ms. Linda being a lobbyist in the House while her husband is in a leadership position the Senate. (There's a point there, but an indirect one: Lobbying in the House is for a bill her husband would have to vote on, and organize for, in the Senate, eventually.)

My problem with this isn't calling Thune on going after Linda Daschle: There's something there that may be off bounds, unless it directly impacts his ability to govern. It's using a "minister" who may or may not be in-state as a sort of faith-whip I find objectionable. Granted, I find lots of things objectionable about Tom Daschle, but for a man with a tenuous grip on his own religion (a paucity of grip shared by his Presidential nominee), this seems pretty bald-faced.

Daschle dirty tricks

Power Line has the scoop from a Brookings correspondent who reports that someone posing as a pastor is calling South Dakotans and trashing John Thune:

The Daschle campaign is having people claiming to be pastors and ministers calling local South Dakotans asking them whether the fact the "John Thune is attacking Linda Daschle" bothers them or makes them uncomfortable. When one constituent peppered the "pastor" with questions about his hometown, where he lived - it was apparent this "pastor" was not from South Dakota at all.

Also, John Hinderaker predicts a Thune win.

The book about the Daschle v. Thune race

Professor Lauck over at DVT is seeking thoughts from readers about a book he's going to write on this Senate race when it's all said and done. He wants them in before the election is over, so send along an e-mail to him at DVT_04@hotmail.com.

Daschle discusses absentee ballot flap

The Yankton Press & Dakotan has a story today that quotes Senator Daschle talking about the absentee ballot application flap that instigated the resignations of six state GOP workers:

When asked about the investigation into absentee ballots, Daschle said the ballots in question are a small percentage of total votes cast. He said he didn't believe the ballots would affect the election outcome.

"By and large, it's been a pretty straightforward campaign," he said. "I don't see many problems, especially when you factor in that 380,000 people cast their ballots."

Interestingly, a week ago, the Daschle campaign was howling for a "more aggressive" investigation into the absentee ballot application flap. Unsurprisingly, it was synthetic outrage.

AP: Democratic Leader distances himself from party

The AP has an interesting report headlined "Dems in GOP States Stay Distant From Party." Excerpt:

The Senate's top Democrat, Minority Leader Tom Daschle in South Dakota, has run an ad showing him embracing the president when Bush spoke to Congress shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. The message was that Daschle can work with Bush when necessary. Republican opponent John Thune says Daschle is a major source of the gridlock that has blocked much of Bush's agenda in Congress....

Republicans have countered with ads showing their Democratic opponents pictured with liberals like Sens. Ted Kennedy, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Daschle.

The Reuters picture above was taken March 11, 2004, at the conclusion of a press conference in which John Kerry refused to apologize for calling President Bush and his advisers “the most crooked ... lying group I’ve ever seen.” Tom Daschle didn't take the opportunity to decry the "startling meanness" of Kerry's comment, and instead shook hands with Kerry and mugged for the cameras.

The recount scenario

The Argus Leader has an interesting report today headlined "A recount? Here's how it'd play out." Excerpt:

A recount is automatic in the case of a tie vote.

Otherwise, a recount is allowed only if the margin is less than one-quarter of 1 percent of the votes cast in the case of statewide campaigns, or less than 2 percent of the votes cast in legislative district races, according to Secretary of State Chris Nelson....

Daschle was in a recount the first time he ran for the House. That was in 1978, when the state still had two congressional districts. Daschle's race against Republican Leo Thorsness was for 1st District Congress, a district that was roughly the eastern third of the state. The unofficial total showed Daschle a 14-vote winner. The recount showed 139 votes.

Wash. Times on SD Senate race

Today's edition of the Washington Times has a story headlined "Daschle struggles to retain his seat." Excerpt:

The South Dakota Senate race arguably will be one of the most watched congressional contests tomorrow. Republicans are striving not only to pick up another seat in the Senate, but also to unseat the Democratic leader, who, they say, has blocked many of their proposals and judicial nominees.

"It's a chance for the people of South Dakota to send a message to the rest of the country," an upbeat former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani told a cheering crowd at a rally for Mr. Thune here Friday night. "The kind of enthusiasm, strength... you have in this room is the kind of thing that wins elections."

Wall Street Journal's Political Diary

The Wall Street Journal's Political Diary has the following observations about the the restraining order issued by a tribal court excluding Republicans from poll-watching on the reservation:

Two years ago, a suspicious surge in votes from South Dakota's Shannon County, home of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, gave Democratic Senator Tim Johnson a second term by 524 votes over Republican John Thune. Now Mr. Thune is running again, this time against Tom Daschle, the Senate Minority Leader. And once again, allegations are surfacing about shenanigans in Shannon County.

State's Attorney Lance Russell has launched an investigation into suspicions that some residents have already cast multiple ballots. "We do have a few people who have voted more than once," he told reporters. Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney James McMahon isn't amused by a tribal judge's order aimed at preventing the state Republican Party from having any contact with Four Directions, a get-out-the-vote group financed by Democrats. The Democratic group has accused Republican monitors of videotaping them on private property; Oglala Sioux tribal Judge Marina Fast Horse duly issued a restraining order to stop the GOP efforts. But Mr. McMahon, the federal prosecutor, calls that action illegal and told the Associated Press that law enforcement officials "should not be enforcing any order on the reservation which purports to keep the Republican Party away from the polls."

There may be good reason why Democrats and tribal officials want to avoid scrutiny. Paul Brenner, a lawyer from Virginia who is observing the election on behalf of Republicans, filed an affidavit claiming that on Friday he was sitting with a poll watcher for Senator Daschle when they were approached by two women who asked when they would get paid to vote. In another incident on Thursday, he talked with another woman who was driving people to the polls. "I told (her) I had heard that the Daschle campaign office in Rosebud was offering a better deal to vote haulers than Four Directions, because they paid $10 a voter, plus a free meal at the Rosebud Casino. She said she already knew that and was also getting paid by the Daschle campaign office," Mr. Brenner wrote.

If Mr. Thune leads Mr. Daschle on Election Night, don't assume the race is over until the last precinct is in. In 2002, Mr. Thune led Senator Johnson by 3,729 votes at 3:41 a.m. with what Clifford Scott, the former chairman of the South Dakota Democratic Party, later called "all the no-reservation counties reporting. But either by accident or design the majority of the reservation precincts... had not reported."

When they did, they brought in just enough votes to defeat Mr. Thune.

Ave Maria List print ad

Here's a picture of the Ave Maria List print ad that appeared in today's Argus Leader. You can access a PDF copy of the ad by clicking HERE. The ad contrasts Daschle's letters to constituents in past elections decrying abortion with the fundraising letter he wrote for NARAL in 2002.

Four Directions file

Of late, the "non-partisan" Four Directions Committee has been in the news, and we'll likely hear more about them over the next few days. To get up to speed on this Democratic front group, click HERE and keep scrolling down.

Harvard Law prof: History says Thune wins this race

Harvard Law professor William J. Stuntz has written an interesting piece headlined "Daschle May Lose -- And Republicans May Regret It."