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.)