South Dakota Politics

Be sure to take a look at "the Money Map," which gives a rough approximation of which areas of the country are contributing to each presidential candidate. I'm surprised to see that Pennington county leans Democratic in terms of contributions to presidential candidates. (Item via the April edition of The Atlantic.)

DOH!: It's not Pennington County that leans Democratic, it's neighboring Meade County. Thanks to all the readers who e-mailed to correct me.

Kranz Watch

According to the Scripps Howard Foundation, David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, is the joint winner of the 2004 Roy W. Howard Award trophy for public service reporting:

PUBLIC SERVICE REPORTING - Under 100,000 circulation

Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, S.D. (Stu Whitney and David Kranz). The newspaper will receive $5,000 and the Roy W. Howard Award trophy.

The Argus Leader won for a series of stories that examined former South Dakota Gov. Bill Janklow’s liberal and questionable use of his executive powers to pardon convicted criminals and commute sentences. Judges said, "The Argus Leader’s dogged pursuit of the extent and nature of secret gubernatorial pardons is an outstanding example of public service journalism. As a result of their efforts, the public’s right to know has been broadened in the best tradition of a determined free press.”

Congratulations to Dave Kranz for winning this honor. Of course, the public's right to know does not stop at the newsroom door. The public also deserves to know whether Kranz has collaborated with various Democratic campaigns and politicians throughout the years in his capacity as a purportedly unbiased journalist.

Ed Schultz Watch

Ed Schultz, the North Dakota radio personality touted as the liberal Rush Limbaugh, scores some good press from the local newspaper in Norfolk, Virginia, where Schultz attended high school. The piece is headlined "Ed Schultz -- A progressive voice from Norfolk to America's Heartland." Excerpt:

Lisa Sinclair, general manager of local talk radio mainstay WNIS, said Schultz’s show probably would not be picked up by her station.

“We have not had great success with liberal hosts in the past,” she said. It can be heard locally on satellite radio providers XM (Channel 166) and Sirius (Channel 143), from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays.

In the last week, the show has been picked up by stations in Chapel Hill, N.C., Gates City, Va., Huntington, W.Va., and Salt Lake City.

Two of the first guests on his show, after he was signed to The Jones Radio Network, were Democratic senators Tom Daschle and Hillary Clinton.

“They are probably the two most vilified people on conservative talk radio in America,” Schultz said. “This program, from time to time, is going to give those folks an opportunity to fight back.” It’s lofty company for the red-headed boy who grew up in Norfolk’s Larchmont section.

How wonderful it must be for those poor defenseless liberals to finally have an opportunity to "fight back." I guess there's simply no opportunities for liberals to fight back through media like NPR, the New York Times, CNN, and network television.

Where's the clout?

Senator Daschle's amendment to the FY2005 Budget Resolution, allowing an increase of $3.44 billion for Indian Health Service Clinical Services, died on the Senate floor yesterday, with 54 voting against the amendment, and 42 voting for the amendment. According to the Senate Republican Policy Committee, this amendment would increase spending for the Indian Health Service to $6.12 billion for FY2005. For FY2004, Congress appropriated $2.921 billion for the IHS. The President’s budget request for FY2005 is $2.967. The Daschle amendment would have represented a 1-year, 110-percent increase in IHS funding.

All of this leads one to ask where Tom Daschle's clout is, and how he can claim to have "delivered for South Dakota" when he couldn't round up the votes needed to get this amendment passed. Could it be that this amendment was purely empty political posturing in an election year, rather than an attempt at trying to accomplish something reasonable? Say it ain't so!

New post at TLM

My first post as a contributor to the group blog "Oh, That Liberal Media!" can be accessed by clicking HERE.

Humorous pic of the week

An enterprising counterprotester seems to have suspicions that Tom Daschle is behind the anti-Cheney protest during the Vice President's visit to Sioux Falls this past Monday.

Kranz Watch

I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon a guest column written in the opinion pages of the Argus Leader, dated January 15, 1986, that takes David Kranz to task for his Democratic cheerleading. Kranz is the so-called dean of South Dakota political reporters, and has been systematically scrutinized by this blog for his biased reporting. The guest column I refer to above was written by Lowell Hansen, who at the time was lieutenant governor, and running for the Republican nomination for governor. Hansen lost the primary to George Mickelson later in 1986. It's remarkable how Hansen's column, published eighteen years ago, strikes almost precisely the same themes regarding Kranz and the Argus Leader that I've been striking on this blog for the past year.

The piece by Hansen is headlined "Columnist's political prediction, Argus Leader fail to tell the whole story." The entire piece follows:

A recent political column by Argus Leader City Editor David Kranz promoting former Ambassador Richard Kneip for governor deserves a response.

Everybody has biases -- even writers -- and I understand and accept that. But Kranz goes too far.

When Kranz was the editor of the Mitchell Daily Republic, he was an unapologetic promoter of Democratic candidates for political office. During the golden years of the Democratic party in South Dakota, folks like Kneip, Jimmy Carter, and George McGovern beat a path to Kranz's door. In Mitchell, they used to have a saying: "When George McGovern sneezes, it's Dave Kranz who catches the cold."

And that's fine. Everybody is entitled to have a preference. But, when that someone has access to thousands of readers, the public deserves to know where he's coming from.

In predicting Kneip would be elected governor, Kranz unobjectively ignores several well-known factors.

First, Kneip caries the highest negative name recognition of any non-incumbent South Dakota politician. People generally feel he had his three terms as governor before he ducked out to work for Carter, and that's enough time on the taxpayers' payroll.

More importantly, there is a prevailing attitude of distrust for Kneip among even Democrats, as evidenced by two very attractive Democrat primary challengers.

Taxpayers remember the excesses of the Kneip administration, his nonstop campaign for a state income tax, the cement plant mess, the bankrupt railroads and on and on. It was a good time for Democratic cheerleaders like Kranz to have an inside track to state government but a lousy time for taxpayers.

Kranz further continues to promote long, marathon political campaigns when he knows more than 80 percent of South Dakota voters favor short campaigns.

A recent poll conducted by Decision Making Information confirmed the folly of long political campaigns in South Dakota. After spending thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours campaigning last fall, the three most "active" Republican campaigners for governor all lost statewide support, one by as much as 10 percent.

So what is his motive? To measure public opinion or make public opinion based on his view of who should be governor. You decide.

But my problems with the Argus Leader go far beyond Kranz pursuing his Democrat political hobby.

With the exception of a few years out of state for college, the Army, and ranching, I've spent my entire life in this city. I've seen the good times and the bad, and I've seen our locally owned and respected paper bought up by out-of-state interests. That's where the trouble began.

A few months ago, two other concerned citizens and myself met with the editorial board of the Argus Leader to express our concerns about the negative way in which they treat our city.

We felt the Argus Leader attitude was seriously affecting our state's image as a positive market and that the paper did not reflect the interests of its readership. There was no political basis for this meeting but rather a concerned community attempting to communicate with this major media.

The Sioux Falls Argus Leader management takes criticism very poorly. Basically, they told us to mind our own business and they'd run things the way they wanted.

I knew that I was doing myself little good when I met the editorial board, but I didn't know that I'd be unleashing Kranz.

Now, personally, I like Kranz. He reminds me a lot of Howard Cosell. Like Cosell, he wants us to believe that "he tells it like it is." But, also like Cosell, He's "never played the game." He'd like to believe he's on the inside of every campaign. When he's not, watch out, you'll read about it in his column on Sundays.

Last year, as your lieutenant governor, I made 156 public appearances in South Dakota. Not once throughout our state did I hear one positive comment about the Argus Leader. Not one.

In spite of those 156 public appearances, Kranz says I am not active. This reflects an apparent Argus Leader policy to discredit those who speak up or disagree with their views.

In the coming weeks, you can be sure the Argus Leader will continue to promote their favorite candidates for public office. However, Republicans know better than to be duped by Democratic Party cheerleaders or a newspaper that too seldom reflects the interests of South Dakotans.

In the quiet of the voting booth, Republicans and Democrats will nominate those candidates they feel can best lead our state.

Next time you read about me in the Argus Leader, please take a moment to remember "the rest of the story." We have too many important things to accomplish in South Dakota than to bow to a media chain which thrives on negativism and people's problems in order to turn a profit each month.

Herseth attends NYC fundraiser

Stephanie Herseth, a self-described conservative Democrat, attended a fundraiser yesterday in New York City. The fundraiser was hosted by Representative Carolyn Maloney, who represents the tony Upper East Side "Silk Stocking" district of Manhattan, the richest congressional district in the nation (the district has the nation's highest average household income, and 70 percent of those households are headed by unmarried adults). The district's zip code -- 10021 -- is the top zip code in the country for political contributions. Woody Allen lives here. Ritzy dinner parties are held here, where the nation's elite gather, who generally have nothing but contempt for the red state values of South Dakota. These folks are the most limousine of limousine liberals.

When Dick Cheney was here in the state on Monday to raise money for John Thune, the local newspaper and television press spent a large amount of time on the fact that people had to pay to see the event. Steve Hildebrand pounced on this. But of course, not a paragraph will be written in the local press about Herseth hobnobbing with her hip fundraiser friends on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Nor will there be a paragraph written by the local media about Tom Daschle's most recent fundraiser in Colorado, as reported by the Daschle v. Thune blog.

Instapundit links to TLM

The good professor at Instapundit takes note of the new blog "Oh, That Liberal Media," a blog I am proud to contribute to.

Internet fundraising

The AP's Dale Wetzel has an interesting piece today headlined "Internet fund-raising playing larger role in ND campaigns." Excerpt:

In South Dakota, Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Thune and Stephanie Herseth, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House seat formerly held by Bill Janklow, are both running advertisements on political blogs....

Herseth has raised thousands of dollars from the ad on the Daily Kos site, including about $21,000 in a single day, [Daily Kos blogger Markos] Zuniga said. Russ Levsen, Herseth's communications director, could not confirm the amount.

Brokaw for Veep?

As the Daschle v. Thune blog reports, Vice President Dick Cheney is in South Dakota today to raise money for John Thune. Speaking of vice-presidents, the Wall Street Journal's John Fund has a column today headlined "A JFK-NBC Ticket?" discussing the possibility of South Dakota's own Tom Brokaw as John Kerry's running mate. Excerpt:

Last year, the New York Observer reported that an ad hoc committee of his media friends, including executives Barry Diller and Howard Stringer along with writers Nora Ephron and Kurt Andersen, "weren't taking no for an answer" when it came to promoting a Brokaw candidacy for president. "He simply is the greatest draft choice you could ever possibly imagine," said Mr. Diller. "He's such a natural on so many levels that I can't imagine how you could create it otherwise. Of course it's absurd, but there it is." Ms. Ephron predicted last year that if Mr. Brokaw changed his mind, "$20 million would come pouring in in about a week." Mr. Brokaw demurred, saying through a spokesman: "I'm not running for anything." But Mickey Kaus of Slate reported last year that Mr. Brokaw remains intensely interested in politics and has thought about running for president.

John Thune, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Mr. Brokaw's home state of South Dakota, agrees. He says Mr. Brokaw has been intrigued by politics ever since his days at the University of South Dakota. "It would be a fascinating out of the box choice," he told me. A South Dakota Democratic state legislator assures me that Mr. Brokaw would be a good ideological fit for Mr. Kerry, with the added advantage that "no one thinks of him as a liberal."

Kranz Watch

David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, finally mentions the term "blog" in his column, over a year after the emergence of SDP on the South Dakota political scene. Since then of course, the Dakota Alliance of blogs has emerged, including Sibby Online and the Daschle v. Thune blog. South Dakota radio personality Greg Belfrage often shares his thoughts online too. Kranz's piece is headlined "Daschle-Thune race heating up." Relevant graf:

Even though Thune is not in the middle of TV-ad wars, there is a campaign presence, including a message on a Web site blog with a his logo and the words, "Stop Tom Daschle's obstructionism."

This is Argus Leader journalism at its finest. There's no explanation of what a "blog" is, even though this is the first time Kranz has ever used the term in his column. Kranz doesn't refer the reader to where they can find the blog with the Thune ad, which seems like a rather egregious omission to me, and leads me to wonder why he omitted that information. The blog Kranz refers to, of course, is Instapundit.

UK Independent's "Guide to the Dakotas"

The UK Independent has published a piece in today's edition headlined "The Complete Guide to the Dakotas" which I enjoyed reading.

Argus skips positive AP story on Thune

To determine whether a newspaper has an agenda, it's important to pay attention to the news it does NOT publish as well as to the news it does publish. With that in mind, I direct you to the discovery of the latest bias event at the Argus Leader uncovered by the Daschle v. Thune blog. While newspapers around the state (Rapid City Journal, Mitchell Daily Republic, Yankton Press & Dakotan) ran an AP story in today's editions about John Thune's efforts to attract the Native American vote, the AL editors made what is to my mind a transparently conscious decision not to publish the story. Just as appalling is the fact that the AL has not yet reported that Native American activist Russell Means is campaigning for John Thune.

Recently, I had a conversation about local politics with a Native American acquaintence of mine who is an informed observer of the South Dakota political scene. He was surprised to hear that Russell Means is a Thune supporter, and hadn't heard that information at all. I think this is compelling anecdotal evidence of how effective it is for the AL to ignore news that might positively affect John Thune's campaign.

Clearly, as the Daschle v. Thune blog notes, the AL's willful bias is distorting the democratic process.

UPDATE: John Fund at the Wall Street Journal notes Russell Means' comments in the AP story cited above:

Senator Tom Daschle, the Senate Minority Leader, is worried that the overwhelming support that American Indians in South Dakota have given Democrats won't be automatic in his re-election race this year. Republicans are stepping up outreach on the reservations and have won the support of Indian activist and actor Russell Means. He's been telling tribal leaders that the Democratic Party have established a system that makes Indians beholden to the federal government -- with Sen. Daschle one of the primary beneficiaries. "I mean it's pure communism and it's an abject failure. Just like it was in the Soviet Union. It's failure. You've created a dictatorship by the Bureau of Indian Affairs," Mr. Means told the Associated Press.

Mr. Daschle responds that the federal government has an obligation to help the Indians because "we have Third World conditions" on the reservations. His choice of words is drawing heat in some parts of South Dakota. "It's a similar reaction to what would happen if Trent Lott said that about the South Bronx or Watts," says one South Dakota observer.

The Dems' caricature of South Dakota

The blog "Dimmy Karras" takes a dim view of the intemperate remarks made by South Dakota Democratic Party executive board member Ben Hanten posted on Daily Kos regarding Stephanie Herseth's support of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Excerpt from the "Dimmy Karras" blog:

Don't these people realize some moderate South Dakota voters might take umbrage at the Herseth campaign popularizing such a caricature of their state in seeking donations from a national liberal web site? Do they think no one in South Dakota can pull up Daily Kos on a web browser, or that their opponent won't seize on these remarks? Perhaps they've already weighed these risks and decided the need to raise money over the Internet is large enough to put this statement out anyway. It must be awfully difficult to be a progressive running in a state like South Dakota. (I also enjoyed the part about Herseth having to mend fences with South Dakota's gays--all five of them.)

Indeed. And, obviously, some people in South Dakota can pull up Daily Kos on a web browser.

UPDATE: Randy Dockendorf at the Yankton Press & Dakotan has a piece in today's edition about Ben Hanten headlined "Local Democrat reflects youth movement."

National Journal: Daschle more liberal than 80% of his colleagues

The February 28th issue of National Journal made headlines with its report that John Kerry was the most liberal Senator in the country.

The finding was the result of the annual rating of member of Congress, an exercise the publication has performed since 1981. This year, editors of the weekly magazine selected 62 votes in the Senate to rate, ranking each vote as conservative or liberal on a scale of one (lowest) to three (highest).

And what about South Dakota?

Despite facing a tough re-election, Sen. Tom Daschle actually became more liberal in 2003 than the year before!

In 2002, Daschle's composite liberal rating was 69.0; that is, he was more liberal than 69 percent of his fellow Senators. In 2003, his rating was 79.8, nearly an 11 percent jump.

Again, the score reveals that Daschle was more liberal than nearly 80 percent of his colleagues. South Dakota values?

Breaking the analysis down into three categories, Daschle is ranked:

- More liberal than 82 percent of his Senate colleagues on economic issues.
- More liberal than 68 percent of his Senate colleagues on social issues.
- More liberal than 79 percent of his Senate colleagues on foreign policy issues.

The magazine also lists Daschle and Sen. Tim Johnson as one of the "home-state twins" of the same party, that is, a pair of Senators whose votes were closely aligned. Johnson's composite liberal score in 2003 was 81.2.

This isn't a hard story to write. After all, the National Journal has done all the work. Why hasn't this analysis been reported in South Dakota?

Oh, THAT liberal media

I'm a newly installed contributor for the blog "Oh, That Liberal Media," tasked with bringing more national attention to the shenanigans of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. A warm thank you to Stefan Sharkansky for the opportunity.

Daily Kos posts a fascinating message sent by an executive board member of the South Dakota Democratic Party regarding Stephanie Herseth's support of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. (Thanks to reader Cory Skluzak for the item.)

Rush Limbaugh on Ed Schultz

Rush Limbaugh takes note of Ed Schultz's appearance on NBC's Today show. Ed Shultz is the North Dakota radio personality touted as the liberal version of Rush Limbaugh.

Also, Philadelphia Weekly has published an interview with Ed Schultz headlined "Rushing to FIll the Void."

Where's the clout?

The Daschle v. Thune blog notes that political analyst Stuart Rothenberg had the following to say about Tom Daschle yesterday, during a "Live Online" segment at the Washington Post:

Arlington, Va.: Is there any incumbent Senator of either party who would be a good bet to be defeated this time around?

Stuart Rothenberg: Only two are really vulnerable at this point: Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who was appointed to her seat by her daddy, and Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota) who has a terrific opponent in John Thune and has lost the "clout" issue that saved his SD Democratic colleague, Tim Johnson, in 2002.

(Emphasis added.) Instapundit also chimes in.

Ed Schultz Watch

Ed Schultz, the North Dakota radio personality touted as the liberal Rush Limbaugh, appeared on NBC's Today show on Tuesday. The Media Reseach Center has details. Excerpt:

Can you imagine the Today show running a promotional segment about Rush Limbaugh in 1988, months after he launched his national show, but when it was only carried by a few stations? That never happened, but on Tuesday, Today dedicated a 7:30am half hour segment to a glowing look at liberal talk show host Ed Schultz, whom Katie Couric claimed is “shaking up the industry,” though he began a national show, which is not carried by any significant station nor in any major city, barely two months ago. Couric touted him as “the man being called the liberals' answer to Rush Limbaugh."

Gun manufacturers in Sturgis

The Daschle v. Thune blog notes that Sturgis, South Dakota is a "mecca" for gun manufacturers, as a 1999 piece in the Wall Street Journal, headlined "High Plains Drifter: In the Besieged World Of Gun Manufacturers, Geography Is Destiny; Galena Inc. Found a Haven In Tiny Sturgis, S.D., 'A Place That Wanted Us'" reports. Excerpt from the WSJ piece:

David Small and James Keith like nothing better than gabbing about guns, browsing in gun stores, and blasting shooting-range targets.

Three years ago, the businessmen buddies decided to turn their hobby into a moneymaking enterprise. Though neither had any firearm-industry experience, they bought the remains of a dwindling California pistol manufacturer....

Their new company, Galena Industries Inc., got under way near Los Angeles in mid-1998. But it wasn't a propitious moment to enter the gun trade.

Within four months, cities and counties began a coordinated campaign of suing firearm manufacturers. Making matters worse, California enacted tough new gun-company regulations in 1998 that would apply to Galena....

But the pair decided to make a go of it. Even though the established company whose assets Galena bought has been named in some of the municipal lawsuits, Messrs. Small and Keith believe they have legally insulated themselves from liability. And in response to California's hostility to gun companies, the pair
decided to shop for a more hospitable locale.

To their delight, a posse of towns in Western and Plains states responded, jostling to offer financial incentives. The eventual winner was tiny Sturgis, which, it turns out, has become something of a gun-company haven here in South Dakota's rugged Black Hills. Galena's rebirth indicates both how determined
many people in the gun business are to survive in the face of legal peril and how drastically geography can shape attitudes toward those who produce firearms.

Of course, Tom Daschle's tap-dancing on the gun issue this week has done nothing to help these small South Dakota businesses, and everything to help the interests of the state of California, at the behest of Dianne Feinstein, the senior senator from California. And it was California that this small business was trying to escape. How is Tom Daschle "delivering for South Dakota" when Sturgis gun manufacturers continue to be exposed to liability because of Tom Daschle trying to have it both ways on the issue of gun control?

Thune ads on Instapundit

Ads for John Thune have begun to appear on Instapundit, with the exhortation to "STOP Daschle's obstructionism!" Will David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, report on this development?

Daschle delivers -- for the trial lawyers

Senator Diane Feinstein recently was quoted as saying the following about Tom Daschle in The Hill:

“I don’t think Tom has ever let his responsibility to his state diminish his leadership position.”

Well, given today's debacle on the gun manufacturer immunity bill, a bill important to gun owners in South Dakota, we can observe how true it is that Tom Daschle has to tow the liberal line as Democratic leader, to the detriment of the interests of his constituents. The Hill has a report headlined "Riders sink the gun bill in 90-8 vote." Excerpt:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she had secured a “commitment” from Daschle not to go to conference unless he received assurance that the assault-weapons ban would remain in the final bill.

Now we understand what Feinstein meant when she said Daschle doesn't let his responsibility to his state diminish his leadership position. It turns out that he doesn't let his responsibility to his state diminish his position with trial lawyers, either. Because it is the trial lawyers who win from Daschle doing his little tap-dance of adding two gun control amendments to the gun manufacturer immunity bill. And, of course, trial lawyers are the top contributors to Tom Daschle.

Apologies for sluggish load times

I've received several complaints about unacceptably slow load times for my blog. Typepad, the platform I use for my blog, is undergoing some changes, which are causing the problem. Hopefully, this will be fixed very soon.

Interesting WaPo obit

This obituary appeared in last Saturday's edition of the Washington Post:

Gladys Norbeck Sabin, 99, a former Senate staff member and school volunteer, died of pneumonia Feb. 26 at her home in Washington.

Mrs. Sabin was born in Platte, S.D., and graduated from the University of South Dakota. She came to Washington in 1929 to work for her uncle, Peter Norbeck (R), a former South Dakota governor and U.S. senator who was the main political patron and fundraiser for the creation of Mount Rushmore.

Family stories say Mrs. Sabin, who worked with her uncle on the memorial while it was under construction, swung over one of the presidents' noses in a chair sling.

She married in 1932 and resigned her Capitol Hill job to raise a family. She was a volunteer at Sidwell Friends School and a member of the sorority PEO.

Her husband of 60 years, Samuel H. Sabin, died in 1992.

Survivors include three children, Suzanne Sabin Melchior of San Francisco, James N. Sabin of Washington and Sandra Sabin Rhodes of St. Louis; seven grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

Herseth "qualifies" her support of gay marriage ban

Stephanie Herseth, the Democratic candidate for South Dakota's at large House seat, has managed to alienate some of her most exuberant supporters with her views on the proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. The Daschle v. Thune blog has more.

Ed Schultz Watch

Ed Schultz, the North Dakota radio personality touted as the liberal Rush Limbaugh, gets vivisected by Hugh Hewitt:

The panel was an interesting exercise in quick wit, with Neal Boortz, Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham and me put opposite Alan Colmes, Tom Leykis, a fellow named just "Lionel," and the great new hope of the left, Ed Schultz. If it was a fight, they'd have stopped it, and if the FCC fined non-sequitors, Schultz would be bankrupt.

Ouch.

Daschle the historian

In the post immediately below, I questioned Tom Daschle's expertise as an historian. More evidence of Daschle's tenuous grasp of the subject can be gleaned from his recent book, Like No Other Time. Excerpt from page 13 of the book:

The Roosevelts--both Theodore and Franklin--had drawn their own lines in the sand back in the 1920s and 1930s, aggressively creating government programs and institutions to respond in an unprecedented way to the needs of the American people.

Though it may seem pedantic, it's worth pointing out that Theodore Rooselvelt was president from 1901 to 1909, NOT "back in the 1920s and 1930s" as Daschle so glibly claims. This is not the only relatively minor error in the book. There are several others, almost all relating to historical dates and figures. It's amusing that on page 27 of his book, Daschle says that he has "always had a fascination with history[.]" You wouldn't know it from reading his book.

The current Amazon sales rank of Daschle's book is 56,743, while his colleague Zell Miller's book, released at the same time, ranks at 310.

Daschle's grasp of history tenuous

In today's "Dateline DASHPAC," Tom Daschle states the following regarding the recess appointment of William H. Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals:

“I have not found an occasion in all of history that the President has made an appointment during a recess of a judge that had actually been rejected by a vote of the Senate.”

What is he talking about? Pryor and Pickering were never "rejected by a vote of the Senate." Neither nominee ever received a vote. The nominations of Pryor and Pickering couldn't be voted on in the Senate because Tom Daschle filibustered them.