NYT on Johnson's "Taliban" remark

The NYT's Carl Hulse has a piece on the "Wild West" flavor of South Dakota politics headlined "The Battle for South Dakota." Excerpt:

With so much riding on the outcome, the next few days promise to be pretty tough, as evidenced by the current fight over a weekend crack by Senator Tim Johnson, the Democrat who defeated Mr. Thune in 2002. Mr. Johnson suggested that a victory by Ms. Herseth would not go over too well with "the Taliban wing of the Republican Party."

That comment has provoked protests of outrage up and down the Republican hierarchy, with much of the anger directed at Ms. Herseth. Republican leaders are demanding that she demand that Mr. Johnson apologize. "Her continued refusal to demand an apology for these comments can only mean that she accepts them and their hateful message," said Representative Tom Reynolds, Republican of New York and chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Mr. Johnson so far is not apologizing and has said his flip remark was meant to refer to only a small wing of the Republican party — such as the ones who in 2002 ran an ad saying his vote against a missile defense system could empower people such as Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. Evidently, when it comes to politics, South Dakota still has a bit of that Wild West flavor.

Hulse even links to the Rapid City Journal's excellent report by Denise Ross on the flap, rather than the Argus Leader's report by Dave Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters. I think that says something about whose report is more thorough, informative and, um, accurate.