South Dakota Politics

Chamber of Commerce newspaper ads

According to a piece in The Hill, a Capitol Hill publication, headlined "Business ads targeting Daschle in South Dakota," the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is running ads in 11 South Dakota newspapers urging Tom Daschle to pass the corporate tax bill. I didn't see the ad in today's edition of the Argus Leader. If anybody has seen this ad, please let me know.

DVT scores pic of Daschle going to "Fahrenheit 9/11"

Be sure to see DVT's latest post, which contains a picture of Tom Daschle running late for the premiere of Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Daschle has a habit of hob-nobbing with Hollywood elite

First he paid homage to Michael Moore by attending the Washington premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11" last week. At noon today, according to the LA Times, Senator Tom Daschle will be attending a fundraiser lunch on his behalf in Brentwood, California, where various Hollywood luminaries will be "rallying to his side." Tom Daschle sure seems to be hob-nobbing with the Hollywood elite quite frequently of late.

According to the LAT report, Victoria Hopper, the wife of actor Dennis Hopper, will be one of the hosts. The Hoppers have a home on Venice Beach, and have held fundraisers there in the past. I wonder if the Hopper home is the venue for this Daschle fundraiser? That's awfully swank for a man who never tires of telling us he doesn't stray far from his roots.

The picture below is of Dennis and Victoria.

In the spring of 2003, Daschle was in California as a guest of the Director's Guild of America (DGA). While having an "intimate breakfast" with a throng of Hollywood elite that included Warren Beatty, Daschle discussed the problem of "runaway film production," an issue of pressing importance to South Dakota's working families.

Below is Daschle pictured with Warren Beatty.

But wait! There's more! There's also a picture of Daschle with actor Martin Sheen during a College Democrats rally in June 2002.

The question is, in the spirit of the Argus Leader assistant managing editor's promise that the AL will be "the singular source in the state for factual, unbiased news about the candidates," will there be a report in the pages of the AL on this glamorous Hollywood fundraiser? If no such report is forthcoming, the AL won't be such a "singular source" will it?

DOH: It's Martin Sheen Daschle is with, not Charlie. Sorry about that. I've made the correction. A reader also points out that Dennis Hopper claims to be a Republican and a Bush supporter. However, this link shows that Dennis Hopper is a "bundler" for John Kerry.

Glassman: Daschle "paid homage" to Michael Moore

James K. Glassman, a columnist for Scripps Howard News Service, has an excellent column out today headlined "Wild-eyed Democrats." Excerpt:

So Moore is radical and a hater. But we've had a lot of those in our history. The big difference is that Moore is now embraced by the Democratic Party's establishment. Among those paying homage at his film's Washington opening were Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe and Florida Sen. Bob Graham, a Democrat. What on earth are these people doing at a Michael Moore premiere? They're scared. America has been undergoing a sea change over the past quarter-century, and Democrats, in this election, are trying to turn back the tide. Whatever it takes.

(Emphasis added.) Yes, much as Tom Daschle is trying to give South Dakotans the impression that he was just casually going out to the movies last Wednesday night, that's hardly the case. According to the Daschle campaign blog, it's "absurd" for us to assume Daschle endorses Michael Moore's views (see the June 25 post by Dan Pfieiffer). Oh, really? Well, why can't Daschle publicly say that he doesn't endorse Michael Moore's views then, instead of making some lame comment about "sparking debate"? The answer is simple: because to do so would outrage the base of the Democratic Party, and cost him his leadership post.

The Washington premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11" was politically symbolic for the Democrats. If Tom Daschle had not shown up, that would have been big news, because it would have been seen as a public disavowal of Michael Moore by a Democratic leader. Tom Daschle was not just casually going to the movies. He was engaging in an act of political symbolism that his duties as Democratic Leader required.

In a telling passage, liberal columnist Maureen Dowd reported that Senate Democrats, Daschle presumably among them (he is, after all, their leader) delayed final passage of a defense spending measure in order for him and his colleagues to attend the premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11." Thus Dowd:

While Democratic lawmakers delayed final passage of a defense spending bill so they could mingle with Michael Moore, the once sweat-free Bushies were acting jangly.

Daschle delaying final passage of a defense spending bill so he could mingle with Michael Moore. I think that speaks volumes.

Daschle fundraising letter says Bush agenda "reckless," Kranz fails to report

This past Sunday, David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, quoted a recent Thune fundraising letter at length. It's interesting to note that Kranz never reported one word of a Daschle fundraising letter sent this past February in which Daschle makes the following comment:

"The White House views me as the chief impediment to President Bush's reckless agenda, and they will stop at nothing to defeat me this November."

You can read the entire text of the Daschle letter by clicking HERE.

It's interesting how Daschle tells his liberal supporters that the Bush agenda is "reckless," but when he's at home in South Dakota he boasts about supporting Bush 75 percent of the time.

At any rate, Kranz never reported one word of this letter. According to DVT, at the time this Daschle letter came out, Kranz made the claim that he didn't report on fundraisers. Obviously, there's selective reporting going on here. It's yet another example of Kranz's outrageous bias while holding himself out as an objective observer.

Give your friends the Bird!

The Bird, South Dakota's newest statewide opinion journal, hits news stands today. Be sure to pick up your complimentary copy, and then subscribe. In the coming months, the Bird will become a must-read for cutting edge analysis on issues, events, and figures on the South Dakota political scene.

And don't miss the Bird blog!

Support Dusty Johnson

Sibby has a great post about Dusty Johnson, the Republican candidate for the Public Utilities Commission. Dusty is a longtime friend and fellow USD alumnus, and one of the smartest guys I know. Be sure to help him out in any way you can as the election approaches.

DVT outs "Bob the Daschle Guy"

Don't miss DVT's amusing photograph of "Bob the Daschle Guy." Bob is a Daschle operative apparently tasked with following John Thune around with a video camera, documenting his every move.

Kranz Watch

Quentin Riggins and DVT do a fine job of dissecting David Kranz's latest column. David Kranz, of course, is the dean of South Dakota political reporters. DVT makes the excellent point that while Kranz was quick to disclose his sources on a piece of information damaging to Tom Daschle, Kranz doesn't tell us today how he obtained a copy of John Thune's national fundraising letter. "Do you suppose the Daschle campaign gave it to him?" DVT queried. Answer: "Of course they did, silly."

Clearly, there are many layers to David Kranz's pro-Daschle bias. But I think the Dakota Alliance is doing a masterful job of peeling away these layers and exposing Kranz for the Daschle shill that he is.

The Four Directions Committee and the Mashantucket Pequots

The Hartford Courant has an extremely interesting story today headlined "Pequot Role Seen In Crucial Election." (Registration required.)

The Mashantucket Pequots have become behind-the-scenes players in one of the highest profile political races in the country - the fall South Dakota elections, which could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.

Organizers of an Indian voter registration campaign say the influential Mashantuckets are blocking their fund-raising efforts, a contention the Pequots deny....

The controversy surfaced last week when Henry Buffalo, a Chippewa Indian who is a lawyer for a Minnesota tribe, berated the Pequots at an open session of the National Congress of American Indians for trying to thwart the registration and get-out-the-vote campaign. Political observers say Indian voters in Western and Midwestern states could play a pivotal role in congressional and presidential elections this fall.

Buffalo blasted the Pequots for assuming that the Rapid City-based "Four Directions Committee" was merely a front for the Democrats. Speaking at a meeting at Mohegan Sun, he said the Pequots told Sodak Gaming Inc., a supplier of slot machines based in Rapid City, not to make a $100,000 donation to the campaign. The Pequots are one of Sodak's best customers.

"The Pequots told Sodak, `Don't give money to Four Directions.' That is absolutely outrageous," said Buffalo, lawyer for the Minnesota-based Prairie Island Indians, a leading supporter of the South Dakota registration drive. He said the Pequots - whose wealth from Foxwoods Resort Casino makes them influential among potential donors - have made it hard to raise money for the project.

I'll have more on this later.

Argus Leader executive editor not fond of blogs

Randell Beck, executive editor of the Argus Leader, serves up another moronic column today, replete with guffaw-inducing passages like the following:

She [Randell Beck's wife] does not, to the best of my knowledge, maintain one of those Internet blogs from which she hurls venomous attacks on those who dare disagree with her view of the world.

Aww, c'mon Randell. We bloggers are obviously just trying to spark debate. I thought that was a good thing. You know, First Amendment and all of that.

Randell Beck, of course, is pure as the driven snow when it comes to launching venomous attacks. Take the following comment he recently made on a local radio show, where, practically in the same breath, he decries name-calling and then calls people names:

That men and women can debate issues of great importance without getting down into the gutter, without calling each other names. And I really do think that represents the way we in South Dakota feel about debating the issues of the day. But there’s a small group of people—and you know, some of them don’t live in South Dakota, not everybody out there knows that. You know there’s a couple of yahoos in Minneapolis and there’s a guy out in Denver, there’s people from outside the walls of South Dakota who are perpetuating this hate campaign.

After Beck's venomous attack, he got blog-swarmed. Andrew Sullivan was taken aback by Beck's obtuseness. It even caught the attention of Mark Steyn.

Elsewhere in Beck's column is this guffaw-inducing quote:

"This newspaper will be the singular source in the state for factual, unbiased news about the candidates and where they stand,'' said assistant managing editor Patrick Lalley, who coordinates our political coverage.

Earth to Patrick Lalley: nobody's buying it. Patrick Lalley, the guy Beck now says is "coordinating" the AL's political coverage, is the same guy who has in the past offhandedly referred to Republicans as "evil." Gee, do you think that sentiment might shade the AL's coverage of the 2004 campaigns just a teensy bit? A reasonable person could believe that it's unlikely that Lalley can separate himself from his strongly held feelings as he makes split-second decisions in the day-to-day chaos of the newsroom.

One of the worst biases exhibited by the editors of the Argus Leader is the bias of omission. That is, there are many stories regarding South Dakota politics (usually stories negatively reflecting on Tom Daschle) that simply go unreported in the pages of the AL. (For a recent compelling example, click HERE.) It's not just about the fact that what makes it into the pages of the Argus Leader is often biased, it's the fact that there's so much that doesn't even make it into its pages.

Hopefully, the pattern of the Argus Leader's bias of omission will end after July 4, when Beck claims that the election season begins "in earnest." But if today's article by David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, is any guide, don't hold your breath. Once again, Kranz omits negative news about Daschle and reports negative news about Thune. Daschle's negativity a little over a week ago in using the same tactics as Tom Delay goes unmentioned, while Thune's negativity gets a blaring headline.

Daschle: "Michael Moore obviously intends to spark debate"

On Friday at 6PM, KELO-TV had a 2 minute story (beginning at the 6:35 mark) about "Fahrenheit 9/11" opening in Sioux Falls, and mentioned the fact that Tom Daschle was invited to a "private screening" of the film with "other members of Congress." (You can read KELO's transcript HERE.) Interestingly, Daschle told KELO that "he was not able to sit through the entire movie" but that Michael Moore's Bush-bashing movie "obviously intends to spark debate."

In Tom Daschle's worldview, when someone like Michael Moore distorts President Bush's record, it's "intended to spark debate," but when another Moore--Stephen Moore--runs an ad in South Dakota pointing out that Tom Daschle lives in a $2 million mansion in DC, it's a "negative personal attack."

I guess one man's intention to spark debate is another man's negative personal attack.

Thune pays tribute to his political mentor

The AP has a late-breaking story headlined "Thune, Republicans pay tribute to former Sen. Jim Abdnor."

Hopefully, DVT and Sibby will have pics from the event sometime soon.

Cheney launches F-bomb on Senate floor, defends it in Sioux City

Vice President Cheney was in Sioux City, IA today (which is a mere 30 miles from Vermillion, SD, where I live) and was unapologetic for cursing at Senator Patrick Leahy earlier this week after Leahy questioned his integrity. Reuters has a story headlined "Cheney Says He Has No Regrets for Cursing Leahy."

Fox News is carrying a transcript of an interview held with Cheney today, in which the F-bomb laced exchange came up. Relevant excerpt:

CAVUTO: All right. Sir, a couple of little issues I want settled, or maybe to get the real skinny on. One was this blowout you had the other day with Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont. What happened?

CHENEY: Well, I guess you could say we had a little floor debate in the United States Senate.

CAVUTO: I heard it was more than a debate.

CHENEY: Well, I expressed myself rather forcefully, felt better after I had done it.

CAVUTO: All right. Now, did you use the "F" word?

CHENEY: That's not the kind of language I usually use.

CAVUTO: All right, because the reports were that you did.

CHENEY: Yes, that's not the kind of language I ordinarily use. But...

CAVUTO: What did you tell him?

CHENEY: I expressed my dissatisfaction for Senator Leahy.

CAVUTO: Over his comments about you and Halliburton?

CHENEY: No. It was partly that. It was partly — also, it had to do with — he is the kind of individual who will make those kinds of charges and then come after you as though he's your best friend. And I expressed, in no uncertain terms, my views of the — of his conduct and walked away.

CAVUTO: Did you curse at him?

CHENEY: Probably.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: Do you have any regrets?

CHENEY: No. I said it, and I felt that...

(CROSSTALK)

CAVUTO: So let me understand, he comes up, he sees you, Mr. Vice — he's all nice, shakes your hand. And then what do you do, let into him?

CHENEY: Explain my unhappiness with the way he conducted himself. Ppart of the problem here is, that instead of having a substantive debate over important policy issues, he had challenged my integrity. And I didn't like that. But, most of all, I didn't like the fact that after he had done so then he wanted to act like, you know, everything's peaches and cream.

And I informed him of my view of his conduct in no uncertain terms. And as I say, I felt better afterwards.

A SD political journal in the works?

DVT says the word on the street is that a new South Dakota political publication is in the works. Keep an eye out for it in your local tavern or gas station.

Sibby reporting from GOP convention in Mitchell

Sibby has a report and some great pictures of John Thune campaigning in Mitchell, SD today. The state GOP convention is in Mitchell this weekend. The best picture is the one showing Thune talking to David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters. It'll be interesting to see what Kranz serves up in tomorrow's edition of the Argus Leader.

Thune camp calls attention to the Daschle-Michael Moore connection

DVT is reporting that the Thune campaign has issued a press release calling attention to the fact that Senator Tom Daschle attended the premiere of the Bush-bashing "Fahrenheit 9/11" movie with Michael Moore.

Daschle and Michael Moore

Jeff Gannon, resident DC expert on South Dakota politics, has a new piece published today headlined "Democrats, Media, Celebrities Hail Moore's Film at DC Opening."

A source reports that Daschle's attendance at the premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11" was reported on KELO-TV last night at 10. You can view the broadcast HERE.

Daschle walks the red carpet at premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11"

Hugh Hewitt wonders how Daschle's attendance at the premiere of Michael Moore's Bush-bashing "Fahrenheit 9/11" will play in South Dakota. Answer: not very well, should people find out about it. Unfortunately, given the media here in South Dakota, it's highly unlikely that people will find out about it.

Sibby makes a good point about the screening of "Fahrenheit 9/11" in South Dakota. Given the fact that Tom Daschle has signed a pledge asking all third party groups that support him to keep negative ads out of South Dakota, will he call on Michael Moore to keep his movie (which by all accounts is essentially a two-hour negative ad bashing Republicans) off of South Dakota movie theater screens?

Amy Sullivan circumspectly discusses Daschle in Commonweal

Amy Sullivan is a liberal writer/blogger/policy wonk who seems to have taken it upon herself to make John Kerry (and the Democrats generally) get some religion. She also is a former staffer for Tom Daschle, and she worked primarily on the partial-birth abortion issue during her tenure with Daschle in the mid-1990s. It is in that context that her recent piece in Commonweal, headlined "Kerry & Religion" sheds light on the relationship between Tom Daschle and his home diocese in South Dakota. Relevant excerpt from Sullivan's Commonweal piece:

For me, the prospect of a Kerry candidacy brought forth memories of lessons learned from working on abortion policy for a Catholic Democratic senator in the mid-1990s. My eighteen years of Baptist Sunday school were, unsurprisingly, no match for the bishop with whom I exchanged letters on behalf of the senator. With great conviction, I sought to assure the bishop that the senator formed his political judgments only after searching his conscience—I had never heard of the possibility of an “erroneous conscience.” As a good Baptist, I believed “the church” was the building where I attended worship services and potluck suppers, not an institutional authority with a doctrinal tradition that was not optional for adherents. The idea that a church leader could withhold the Eucharist from a parishioner because of political differences offended my religious sensibilities, making me outraged on the senator’s behalf.

My efforts were, to say the least, not very effective. But my frustration led me to enter divinity school, where I spent several years thinking and writing about how church leaders can and should deal with religious matters in the political sphere and, yes, where I took several classes on Catholic social teaching in order to be better prepared for the next go-round.

It's interesting how circumspectly Sullivan discusses Daschle. She never mentions his name. Normally, it's rare to read a piece where Sullivan doesn't explicitly mention her experience as a staffer for Tom Daschle.

As veteran SDP readers know, I happened upon Sullivan's blog a few months ago and extracted some very interesting pieces of information, which I in turn posted to my blog.

In an intriguing turn of events, all of the links in my above-mentioned post to the interesting things Sullivan had to say on her blog about Daschle are now dead. If you click on the "March 2003-March 2004" archives link on Amy Sullivan's blog, that too is a dead link.

I noted this development of Sullivan attempting to erase the things she had written about Daschle in a post a few months ago. It turned out that I had jumped to conclusions at the time, and that her archives still existed, it just required an extra step of searching in order to find them. I apologized for this mistake, and regret making it.

Now, though, it actually is the case that the archives are gone, never to be seen again, unless Amy Sullivan gives the say-so. I noted that her archives had disappeared a few weeks ago, and sent an e-mail to her, dated June 8, informing her of this fact. To her credit, she responded the next day as follows:

Yeah, I know...thanks for reminding me. I've been a bit swamped and haven't had time to figure out what's going on. Hopefully soon. But I can't promise anything. Maybe if I had an intern I could assign them the project of figuring this out. Hmm.

best,

amy

Given the circumspect nature of Sullivan's discussion of Tom Daschle in her Commonweal article, coupled with the disappearance of her blog archives, I think it's safe to say that Sullivan's archives will miraculously re-appear sometime around November 3. Hopefully, she'll prove me wrong.

UPDATE: Note too, that Sullivan has been semi-shunned by the Kerry campaign because of an interview she gave to the Washington Times about Kerry and religion. These Dems really want her to keep quiet.

NYT: Daschle and Michael Moore "Like-Minded"

The New York Times has a report in today's edition delightfully headlined "The Like-Minded Line Up for a 9/11 Film." Excerpt:

With full Hollywood trappings - a red carpet, klieg lights and dozens of photographers - nearly 800 members of the capital's Democratic leadership turned out for the official premiere of the film, which opened on Wednesday here and in New York.

"This is where I wanted to have the main premiere because this is where the change has to take place,'' said Mr. Moore, dressed for the occasion in a black suit and gray sneakers. "I want this country back in the hands of the majority - the majority that did not vote for Mr. Bush."

Mr. Moore said he hoped the film might encourage people who had not voted in a presidential election before to do so this year.

"It's my personal aim that Bush is removed from the White House,'' he said. "But if the movie can inspire a few of the 50 percent of Americans who do not vote to get involved and be engaged then that is important."

The guest list, liberally sprinkled with members of Congress, political consultants and lobbyists, tipped decidedly to one side of the aisle. It included Richard Ben-Veniste, a member of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks; Paul Begala, a political adviser in the Clinton White House; Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, a former Clinton aide; Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the minority leader; and Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic national chairman.

Senator Bob Graham of Florida said, "There might be half of the Democratic Senate here."

So, did Daschle attend the official premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11"?

Choose "Two" Vote?

Well, the investigation of the innocuous sounding group "Choose to Vote" just gets curiouser and curiouser. You may recall that a man named Howard Brewer pled guilty to voter fraud registration here in South Dakota a few weeks ago. Howard Brewer claimed to work for an organization called "Choose to Vote." I began investigating this group, and you can read more information about my findings HERE. One major discovery was that the only web presence of an organization called "Choose to Vote" was the website www.choose2vote.org, which is operated by a fellow named Derrick Lee of Gilbert, Arizona, near Phoenix, where Howard Brewer is from. Derrick Lee is a well-known figure in the petition industry, whose employees have frequently been investigated for fraudulent activity in gathering signatures for petitions.

Another major discovery of the investigation of the group "Choose to vote" was the fact that an April 30, 2004 story in the Argus Leader quoted the Fall River County Auditor to the following effect:

"We got one batch of about 300 that came in all at once, in an envelope that just said, 'Choose to Vote,' " Fall River County Auditor Sherrill Dryden said.

Now we have a new piece of information to add. Last week I called the Fall River County offices and asked about this envelope. They were kind enough to mail me a copy of the face of the envelope, and you can view a pdf copy of the face of the envelope by clicking HERE.

The return address on the envelope reads:

Choose Two Vote
8527 W Colfax
Lakewood CO. 80215

Isn't it curious that word "two" is used, rather than "to"? It's unbelievably similar to the "choose2vote.org" use of the phrase, except, of course, that the actual number "2" is used. Could "choose2vote" and "Choose Two Vote" be one and the same group? Then there's the matter of the return address being Colorado, rather than Arizona. As I say at the outset, it just gets curiouser and curiouser.

Why does all of this matter? Howard Brewer, who pled guilty to voter registration fraud here in South Dakota a few weeks ago claimed to work for the group "Choose to Vote." Howard Brewer is from the same location in Arizona as Derrick Lee, the man who operates choose2vote.org, and his employees are frequently investigated for fraudulent activity in gathering signatures for petitions around the country. There's a troubling trail of fraud related to this innocuous sounding group "Choose to/2/Two Vote" and it needs to be exposed in order to ensure a fair election in South Dakota this November.

Thune offers Daschle opportunity to limit campaign spending

NOTE: The link to the Thune press release has been fixed. Thanks to all who notified me.

The Thune campaign has issued a press release, which you can read HERE, announcing a letter it has sent to Tom Daschle offering him the opportunity to limit the amount of spending in the campaign to $10 million. You can read a copy of the letter HERE.

As the Thune letter recites, Tom Daschle has often decried the amount of money spent in political campaigns. It will be interesting to watch the Daschle team's response. Will Daschle put his money where his mouth is? (Pun thoroughly intended.)

Herseth taking credit for things she didn't do

The AP is reporting a story headlined "Herseth dismisses GOP 'spin'" regarding Herseth's propensity to take credit for things she didn't do. Excerpt:

Last week, Herseth said the House Appropriations Committee had approved more than $64 million for water projects in South Dakota, including $17.5 million for the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System.

"Given that we've been without a representative in the House for the last several months, I'm very happy that we've been able to deliver on these priorities," Herseth told reporters on Wednesday.

(Emphasis added.) The bolded text looks to me like she's taking credit for the project.

It's disappointing that the the AP reporter, Dennis Gale, failed to mention a recent story in The Hill, a Capitol Hill publication, headlined "Herseth moves fast -- a bit too fast." Excerpt:

She campaigned hard on Indian reservations across South Dakota and is joining the Native American Caucus. Yesterday, she met with leaders of the Lower Brule, Crow Creek and other tribes. She even issued a press release last week attaching her name to new funding for the Indian Health Service (IHS) and other Indian-related spending items.

“Stephanie Herseth announced that the House Appropriations Committee has approved a significant increase in funding,” Herseth’s June 9 release stated.

The only catch is that Herseth, who won her seat in a special election June 1, had nothing to do with the funding measure, part of the Interior Department’s appropriations bill for 2005. While House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young (R-Fla.) and other members were hammering out the bill in Washington, Herseth was stumping for votes in South Dakota.

(Emphasis added.) It's not just the NRCC that's taking notice of Herseth's propensity to take credit for things she didn't do, as the AP piece misleadingly implies. Capitol Hill reporters noted the development well before the NRCC did.

Daschle Demogoguery

Jeff Gannon, resident DC expert on South Dakota politics, has an informative piece published today headlined "Daschle Uses Claims of Voter Intimidation to Raise Funds."

8th Circuit reverses Judge Schreier's order striking down SD's abortion laws

The AP has a report headlined "Appeals court orders more proceedings in abortion laws challenge." Excerpt:

U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier of Rapid City in 2002 struck down laws that generally make it a crime to perform abortions outside a hospital after 12 weeks of pregnancy. The judge ruled that the requirement was unconstitutional because it imposed an undue burden on a woman's right to choose an abortion.

But a three judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis reversed Schreier's decision, saying the judge must hold further proceedings to determine if the South Dakota laws are unconstitutional.

Howard Bashman has a link to the 8th Circuit opinion.

Is the Four Directions Committee advocating?

According to the AP, the Four Directions Committee is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization:

The Four Directions Committee is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, Healy said Tuesday in an interview. "Its sole existence is to help register, mobilize and get to the ballot box Native American voters, not just in South Dakota but elsewhere," he said.

The claim of "nonpartisanship" is funny, particularly in light of an advertisement the Four Directions Committee placed in the Black Hills People News on May 28, shortly before the June 1st special election, which Stephanie Herseth won. You can view a pdf of the ad, which a source faxed to me, HERE. The ad is a study in the use of loaded language. One claim in the ad is particularly interesting in light of the Four Direction Committee's post-election activities:

[Larry Diedrich] voted to make it harder for Native Americans to vote. Following the 2002 election, Diedrich cosponsored legislation requiring voters to provide photo identification. (HB 1176, 2003)

Gee, do you think there was some planning going on here? The photo identification requirement is a facially neutral, generally applicable law, tailored to the perceived risk of voter fraud. Everybody has to provide ID, not just Native Americans, because of the widespread suspicion of voter fraud in 2002. It's as simple as that.

Tom Daschle uses same tactics as Tom Delay

Many months ago, I noted a troubling trend at the Argus Leader. That paper seems to have an affinity for promptly following up negative stories about John Thune that appear in Roll Call, a Capitol Hill publication, but ignoring negative stories about Tom Daschle that appear in Roll Call. A few months later, I noted another example of this trend. Well, now we can chalk up another one.

Last week, Roll Call reported that Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee (on which Senator Tim Johnson sits) were refusing to lead an effort to renew a federal terrorism reinsurance plan because (gasp!) the insurance industry was planning a fundraiser for John Thune. Not only did the Democrats reject this legislation like Shaquille O'Neill swatting an opponent's layup, they also engaged in some trash-talk:

“It turns out that at the very same time that they are lobbying us, they are sending out a Thune fundraising invitation,” said one Democratic aide. “This is not a must-pass bill. They were coming around and looking for a favor. At this point, that hearing is the end of the road.”

What's ironic is that it is precisely this kind of behavior that outrages Democrats--when House Majority Leader Tom Delay does it. A Washington Times editorial in today's edition headlined "ISO Political Payback" notes the irony:

It doesn't take much to imagine the vehement objections that would envelop Washington if such a strategy were traced to a staffer in Mr. DeLay's office. But in this case the fund-raiser was quickly canceled after the Democrats flexed their muscles. What will be dismaying — if the past is any guide — will be the hypocritical silence that likely will greet Roll Call's disclosure of Democratic extortionist tactics and the braggadocio that accompanied them.

Of course, if the past is any guide, the hypocritical silence at the Argus Leader will be deafening. It's yet another example in an increasing number of examples of a negative story in Roll Call regarding Daschle going unreported in the pages of the AL.

NYT editorial page on voter ID requirement in SD

The New York Times has an editorial today headlined "Indians Face Obstacles Between the Reservation and the Ballot Box." Excerpt:

Last year, after Indians had made the difference in Senator Johnson's election, the Republican-controlled State Legislature passed a new voter ID law that posed a particular hardship for Indians, who often do not have driver's licenses. They were assured that the new law would not present a problem, since it stated that any voter without ID "may complete an affidavit" instead. But many Indians were concerned that poll workers, who are often hostile to them, would ignore that provision.

That seems to be precisely what happened on June 1, and voting rights activists do not believe the mistakes in applying the law were accidental. As evidence, they have produced instructions used in Corson County on Election Day, apparently written by the Corson County auditor, saying: "Some voters are reporting that ID is not required. Please inform the voters that ID is in fact required." South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson insists that county auditors were all properly trained on the new law. In Corson County, "the auditor chose to add some additional instructions," he says. "I don't know why."

It's interesting to note a quote from Fall River County State's Attorney Lance Russell in an AP report regarding the use of the affidavits in lieu of identification in Shannon County, home of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation:

Lance Russell, state's attorney in Fall River County, said he has started looking into complaints about voters being turned away in Shannon County. He said he has found no instances when registered voters were denied the right to cast a ballot. Fall River County provides services to Shannon County under a contract.

"There were over 300 affidavits for Shannon County filled out on election day, so they were using them," Russell said.

(Emphasis added.) Throughout the NYT piece, one can readily observe that nearly all of the allegations are the same ones publicized by the group called Four Directions, which, as the AP reported, is basically a stalking horse for the South Dakota Democratic Party.

"The James Carville Challenge"

An out-of-state reader sends along the following e-mail the reader received from the DNC on behalf of Tom Daschle this past Friday:

The Democratic National Committee is sending the following special message on behalf of Tom Daschle.

James Carville's $160,000 Challenge!

Dear [name omitted],

My momma always said to me, "Tell me who you go with, and I'll tell you who you are." Well, I want to tell you about one man I'm proud to "go with" -- and that's Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota. I want to tell you about a way you can "go with" him, too.

Here's why I'm proud to support Tom. He's a hardworking senator who gets things done for South Dakota. He's also a principled leader for our party; a decent man who works to find common ground, but has a spine of steel when push comes to shove.

And because Tom Daschle stands up against their special interest agenda and fights for what's best for America, the right wing radicals have declared Senator Tom Daschle to be "target number one."

Click here to take the James Carville Challenge!

They've labeled him the obstructionist, sent powerful people to campaign against him, and ordered their extreme groups to run negative, misleading ads in his home state. Heck, they dumped a million dollars of negative ads on the guy (and in South Dakota, a million dollars buys you a heck of a lot of negative ads) back in 2002. He wasn't even up for election in 2002! That's how badly they want to take Tom Daschle out.

After all, they know that George W. Bush and Karl Rove hand-picked Tom's opponent -- former Congressman John Thune -- because he's a rubber stamp for their right wing agenda. Dick Cheney and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist have already been to South Dakota to campaign for Thune. And they are raising millions to help his campaign.

In fact, Bill Frist has been bragging that he raised $160,000 for John Thune. So I challenge you today to help match what Bill Frist and his friends have done for John Thune by showing that a lot of Democrats standing together can do the same thing for Tom Daschle.

Click here to take the James Carville Challenge!

I've always said that Americans won't trust a party to stand for them that doesn't stand for its leader. Tom Daschle is our leader in the Senate, and here's how we're going to stand for him.

That means we need to raise $160,000 by June 30 -- a crucial fundraising deadline for Tom. Every dollar you give helps us towards this goal, so please dig deep and give what you can.

Look, it's as simple as this: We can sit back and watch the right wing take down our Senate Leader -- let them run millions of dollars of negative, misleading and vicious attacks ads against Tom and leave him defenseless. Or you can take my challenge and help our friend Tom Daschle today.

James Carville

P.S. Republican Leader Bill Frist has been bragging about the $160,000 he raised for John Thune. Let's raise the same for Tom. Help us reach our $160,000 goal today! Click here to take the James Carville Challenge!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Contributions or gifts to the Democratic National Committee are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

Click here to unsubscribe from this mailing list.

DNC, 430 S. Capitol St. SE, Washington DC 20003

State Democratic Convention "shies away" from issues

The South Dakota Democratic Convention was held this weekend, according to an AP story headlined "Democrats wrap up state convention." Excerpt:

Democrats ended their state convention Saturday by adopting a political platform that shies away from direct support for a state income tax, abortion rights and gay marriage.

Delegates decided instead to stick with generic platform language that covers hot-button issues for which there was uncertain consensus, fearing that being more specific will make unnecessary targets of Democratic candidates.

Very typical. You can read more about the convention HERE. Tom Daschle was conspicuously absent from the convention. According to a blurb by David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, in yesterday's edition of the Argus Leader, Daschle was "unable to attend because of leadership responsibilities."

According to a Reuters story headlined "US Senators Visit Baghdad Before U.S. Handover" Daschle was in Iraq today. Excerpt:

A bipartisan delegation of U.S. senators paid a surprise visit to Baghdad on Saturday to discuss the June 30 handover of power with top U.S. and Iraqi officials, a spokesman said.

Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, Democrat Joseph Biden of Delaware and Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina traveled to Baghdad and Kuwait in a show of support to U.S. soldiers in the region.

"It is a rescheduled trip to show bipartisan support for the soldiers and to meet with (U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority) and Iraqi officials before the handover," said Todd Webster, spokesman for Daschle. The trip was originally planned for April.

Daschle was supposed to go to Iraq with Senator Bill Frist earlier this month, but backed out at the last minute because "the itinerary was uncertain." Frist went to Iraq without Daschle, and met the new Iraqi prime minister. (See the AP story here.) When Frist came back from Iraq, he criticized the media for giving the impression that Iraq is "falling apart." Senator Bennett, who was part of the Frist delegation visiting Iraq, made the same observation. It will be interesting to observe whether Daschle makes similar comments.

E.J. Dionne on Herseth's victory

Liberal Washington Post columnist has a piece today discussing Stephanie Herseth headlined "Running on Independence." Excerpt:

In the two recent special elections, both Herseth and Chandler were more willing to argue that independence also meant being willing to break with Bush and the Republican majority in Congress. Why? "There is just not the level of confidence out there for Bush that there was seven or eight months ago," Chandler said.

Herseth sees voters reacting against Republicans in Washington much as they reacted against the Democrats when they dominated Congress a decade ago.

"From 1992 through 1994, when Democrats had both houses, there was a sense that the Democrats had overreached," she said. "Now, there's a sense that Republicans have overreached in domestic and foreign policy."

Four Directions and Dennis Langley

Who is Dennis Langley? He's the National Vice Chair of the South Dakota Democratic Party. Why is he significant? Well, one big reason is the fact that the Four Directions PAC owes him a whopping $100,000, according to this report. The Four Directions PAC, of course, is the predecessor of the Four Directions Committee so often in the news lately, harassing South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson (who is doing a fine job in difficult circumstances, by the way). What's more, there's no evidence that this $100,000 loan from Dennis Langley to the Four Directions PAC has ever been repaid.

It seems that this Four Directions PAC has had some serious failure-to-file issues with the Federal Election Commission, which earned a nasty letter from the FEC. The letter warned that failure to timely file a receipt and expenditures report "may result in civil money penalties, an audit, or legal enforcement action."

It turns out that Dennis Langley has quite a history. From 1993 to 1999 he was the Chairman of the Kansas Democratic Party, and was (perhaps still is) owner of the Kansas Pipeline Partnership. According to a story in the Lawrence Journal World, Langley was mentioned in a 67 page criminal complaint filed by the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office. A story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, headlined "MG&E gave $45,000 to Democrats; That's $20,000 more than at first admitted" has more details.

The bottom line is that Dennis Langley came to South Dakota with quite a record of campaign problems behind him, and Four Directions PAC owed him a lot of money when it terminated. As always, this investigation only leads to more questions. How has Langley come to South Dakota? Why? Was he run out of Kansas? How did he become vice chairman? How does he earn his money? Who financed that loan to Four Directions? Was it repaid? What was the money used for? Were there any consequences for failing to file timely reports?

These are questions South Dakota journalists should be investigating. The AP story linked above is a good start, but obviously, it's only the tip of the iceberg.

AP: Four Directions Committee tied to Dems

This is a very interesting story on the Four Directions Committe headlined "Get-out-the-vote group, former political action committee linked." Excerpt:

Records from The Institute on Money in State Politics state that the Four Directions PAC gave $224,500 to the state Democratic Party and $1,750 to a legislative candidate. Federal Election Commission records indicate the PAC was organized in April 2003 and dissolved March 3, 2004.

I'll have more on this later today.

Kranz Watch

DVT and Sibby Online have done a good job of analyzing David Kranz's latest piece. David Kranz, of course, is the dean of South Dakota political reporters, who has been systematically scrutinized for his pro-Daschle bias for well over a year. The only thing I would add to DVT's and Sibby's observations is an observation in light of the following passage from the Kranz piece:

Last Thursday, three Thune staffers or advisers sent e-mails within an hour of each other, all mentioning an interview earlier in the week by Chris Matthews on MSNBC's "Hardball" show.

How nice that Kranz details who sent along this information to him. In the future, can we expect Kranz to detail who sends him a negative piece of information about John Thune? Why, I think NOT!

Herseth off to a shaky start

For those of you who missed the link and excerpt I supplied in an earlier post, see this story from The Hill headlined "Rep. Herseth moves fast — a bit too fast." It seems Herseth's press release operation is firing on all cylinders, while her "independent voice" has already been exposed as a lemon.

Herseth's out-of-state volunteers

The Capitol Hill publication The Hill has a story headlined "Imported volunteers helped Dems in S.D.; Mobilization for Herseth outdid national GOP." Excerpt:

Despite a wave of press reports about grassroots campaigning by national Republicans, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) recruited more out-of-state volunteers in South Dakota’s recent special election and expects a big voter outreach effort in November.

Overall, the DCCC flew 400 volunteers — most of whom were Hill staffers — to South Dakota on three chartered planes and bused in an additional 450 from 13 surrounding states, including Oklahoma, Illinois and Wisconsin.

Elsewhere in The Hill is a story headlined "Rep. Herseth moves fast — a bit too fast." Excerpt:

“Stephanie Herseth announced that the House Appropriations Committee has approved a significant increase in funding,” Herseth’s June 9 release stated.

The only catch is that Herseth, who won her seat in a special election June 1, had nothing to do with the funding measure, part of the Interior Department’s appropriations bill for 2005. While House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young (R-Fla.) and other members were hammering out the bill in Washington, Herseth was stumping for votes in South Dakota.

Herseth votes to kill energy bill, then votes for it on final passage

It's "Energy Week" in the House of Representatives, an attempt to underline the fact that the Senate has yet to pass the energy bill, in large part because Tom Daschle refused to use his vaunted clout last fall to get the the two votes necessary to kill a Democratic-led filibuster (Daschle said on the Senate floor that he "reluctantly" supported the bill). Daschle's refusal or inability to use his clout left ethanol in a lurch.

The AP has a story headlined "House Resends Power Bill; Action Unlikely." Excerpt:

But a Democratic attempt to kill the bill failed 230-192. The House then passed the legislation 244-178 with all but a handful of Republicans voting for it.

A quick look at the House roll call vote on the Democratic attempt to kill the energy bill shows that Stephanie Herseth voted with the Democrats to kill it. Remember, this bill includes provisions for ethanol so important to South Dakota. When that attempt to kill the energy bill failed, and the bill was up for final passage, Herseth turned around and voted FOR the bill she had just tried to kill. It's a classic having-it-both-ways maneuver, which Herseth no doubt learned from the master of the technique.

Thanks, Power Line

Hindrocket over at Power Line has some kind words for SDP and DVT today, under the headline "Let's Hold the Senate." Excerpt:

As a native South Dakotan, I follow that state's politics fairly closely, and Thune is a solid conservative and a terrific candidate. He also is, or claims to be, anyway, a Power Line reader. In truth, I suspect he knows us mainly through South Dakota Politics and Daschle v. Thune, two excellent South Dakota blogs. In South Dakota, probably more than any other state, bloggers are playing a key role in mitigating the influence of liberal news media.

Voter Fraud Watch

Late last week, I noted that a fellow by the name of Howard Brewer from Arizona pled guilty to voter registration fraud in Codington County. Brewer claimed to be working for a group called "Choose to Vote." I encouraged the local media to investigate the group called "Choose to Vote," as that organization's name had appeared in an earlier story regarding the scrutiny of voter registration.

Now, an indispensable source has done some sleuthing, and reported back some interesting facts. First of all, the organization is called "Choose2Vote" and can be found at the website choose2vote.org. This website is registered to a person named Derrick Lee of Gilbert, Arizona. Gilbert is a suburb of Phoenix, which is where Howard Brewer is from, according to the AP.

A Google search of the terms "Derrick Lee" and "Arizona" yields some troubling pieces of information. It turns out that Derrick Lee is a well-known figure in the petition industry, and his employees are frequently investigated for fraud. A piece in the East Valley Tribune headlined "The Petition Machine;
The petition industry operates with few rules and many controversies" reports that less than half the signatures were valid in one of Lee's petition efforts in 2000. Further into the piece, we find this fact:

Lee's company also is at the center of many of the major controversies that have arisen in petition drives in recent years. Four of the five paid petition circulators who have been prosecuted for fraud and forgery since 1997 were working for Lee at the time they committed their crimes, according to court records.

The Phoenix New Times has a long piece on Derrick Lee that I've only partially read, headlined "Autograph Hound; Derrick Lee is the most powerful political figure you've never heard of."

The Phoenix New Times also has a piece headlined "Bad Sign; High rate of Reform Party invalid signatures may signal trouble for other ballot measures" detailing the infamous fraudulent signatures episode referred to above.

Interestingly, Lee was also hired to obtain signatures in the ultimately successful effort to recall Governor Gray Davis of California.

Campaigns hire Derrick Lee to gather signatures in order to put their candidate or initiative on the ballot. In other words, he makes money for every signature he turns in. Apparently, he is now being paid to turn in voter registration forms in South Dakota. The big question now is: who exactly is paying Derrick Lee to turn in voter registration forms in South Dakota?

The newest member of the Dakota Alliance

Everybody give a warm welcome to Quentin Riggins, the newest member of the Dakota Alliance. Quentin just finished his first year of law school here at The University of South Dakota, and will be adding his opinions and analysis of the South Dakota political scene. Welcome aboard, Quentin!

Will Daschle endorse Kerry here in SD?

The Washington Times has a piece today by Bill Sammon headlined "Kerry's liberalism a weapon for Bush." Excerpt:

President Bush's re-election campaign has begun a concerted effort to divide the Democratic Party by forcing its congressional candidates to either embrace or reject Sen. John Kerry's liberalism....

[Bush campaign manager Ken] Mehlman suggested that the strategy has the potential to split the Democratic Party along ideological fault lines.

"The way that Democrats are able to get elected in states like Louisiana and South Dakota and Georgia and North Carolina and South Carolina is by running as Louisiana or South Dakota or North Carolina Democrats, not as liberal Democrats from Washington," he said.

"And the problem that the Democrat candidates are going to have is they're going to have to choose between either the John Kerry Democrat Party, which does not represent the values and interests of the people at home, or representing the values and interests of the people at home, which means you're not standing at a lot of podiums with John Kerry," he added.

But one recent prominent race suggests that Democrats can win in conservative-leaning states if they do wash their hands of Mr. Kerry.

Democrat Stephanie Herseth, who did not invite Mr. Kerry to campaign for her, won the June 1 South Dakota special House election against Republican Larry Diedrich, who enjoyed campaign visits by Vice President Dick Cheney and first lady Laura Bush.

Note that Tom Daschle is running internet blog ads (an image of which can be seen nearby) on blogs unlikely to be seen by a majority of South Dakotans which show him side by side with Kerry.

By contrast, at home here in South Dakota Tom Daschle boasts of supporting President Bush 75% of the time. Also, Daschle doesn't run any ads here in South Dakota showing him side by side with Kerry

Then there's also the Reuters picture seen below, taken March 11, 2004, at the conclusion of a press conference in which John Kerry refused to apologize for calling President Bush and his advisors “the most crooked ... lying group I’ve ever seen.”

Kranz Watch

David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, mentions Tom Daschle's "blog ad" in his column today:

Daschle, like Thune, has a political ad on an Internet blog site. The Daschle message says, in part: "Besides his own re-election for president, there is nothing more important to George Bush than defeating Tom Daschle. You can help fight back. Don't let Washington Republicans have their way. ... The more you help, the better chance we have to defeat Bush and Frist."

Curiously, Kranz omits the most prominent, hard-to-miss text on the face of the ad, which read "Help Stop George Bush! Bush & Thune Team Up To Defeat Tom Daschle! It's Up To You To Stop Them!"

It's easy to see why Kranz omitted the Daschle quote "Help Stop George Bush!" The word "stop" is synonymous with the word "obstruct." Nothing "disappoints" Daschle more than being called an obstructionist, as the term was used to describe him in 2002, with devastating results. But out of their own mouths shall ye know them. Once again, we see an example of Kranz placing Daschle in the most positive light possible.

Even more curiously, the Daschle campaign has now discarded the blog ad mentioned in Kranz's column. In its place is a new blog ad, seen below.

Interestingly, the image captured (shown at right) is not the image you see on the ad, which has pictures of Tom Daschle and John Kerry side by side. Nevertheless, one can read the small print below the message "Give John Kerry a Senate He Can Work With!" You can see the ad at, among other blogs, www.mydd.com.

UPDATE: A reader has kindly captured the main photo from the Daschle blog ad, with photos of Daschle and Kerry side-by-side:

Novak: Daschle voted 'no' on bill naming Reagan National Airport

Bob Novak has an interesting blurb in his latest column regarding Senator Daschle's past antipathy toward President Reagan:

The campaign by Grover Norquist and other conservative activists to immediately replace Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill with Ronald Reagan is partially intended to cause trouble for Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle's re-election campaign in South Dakota.

A vote on the proposal this year would put Daschle on the spot. He faces a tough challenge from former Rep. John Thune in a predominantly Republican state where Reagan was very popular.

A footnote: Daschle unsuccessfully attempted to prolong debate on the 1998 bill naming Reagan National Airport in Washington. He was one of only 22 senators voting no (while Sen. Edward M. Kennedy voted yes).

Man who forged voter registrations pleads guilty

Howard Brewer is a member of a shadowy group called "Choose to Vote" who was busted forging voter registrations here in South Dakota earlier this spring. Almost half of the registrations he sent in were forged. Local television stations are reporting that he has now pled guilty to voter registration fraud. KSFY has a story headlined "Registration Fraud":

An Arizona man pleaded guilty in Codington County Thursday for voter registration fraud. Officials say Howard L. Brewer forged information on voter registration forms and turned them into to the Codington County Auditor's Office. "We did not have any idea where these voter registration forms came from. They came in a white envelope with no return address," says Codington County Auditor Cindy Brugman. This was the first red flag for Brugman. The second came when voter registration forms didn't seem right. "The phone number was changed by one digit," says Brugman.

9 of the 22 voter registration forms didn't check out, leading authorities to 44-year-old Brewer. Since the investigation is still ongoing, Codington County officials aren't saying how they linked Brewer to the registrations. But Thursday, Brewer pleaded guilty to 3 counts of forgery.

Officials say Brewer was holding voter registration drives for an organization called Choose to Vote, when he forged information onto forms. And now authorities are looking for other people linked to the case in Codington County.

And it doesn't stop there, Brewer was also in Brown County. "I just went to visit with them while they were at Wal-Mart and asked that they please bring the forms up as soon as they were finished to get them processed," says Brown County Auditor Maxine Taylor. Taylor says Brewer dropped off a pack of registrations. They all checked out, but some other forms that came in later did not, and tracing where those forms came from is almost impossible...expect for one thing. "The ones that came directly from the group...none had a return address," said Taylor. Just like the ones that came from Brewer in Codington County.

So far there is no investigation underway in Brown County. Brewer is scheduled for sentencing on July 28th. He faces up to 15 years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

KDLT has a story headlined "Voter Fraud: A Phoenix man accused of forging voter registration forms pled guilty in Codington County.":

Howard Brewer sent an envelope with 22-voter registration forms to the county auditor's office in Watertown.

Nine of the 22 did not check out.

Brewer will be sentenced July 28th for forgery.

He could get up to 15-years.

Brewer says he was working for an organization called "choose to vote"

The AP has this report.

Intriguingly, an April 30, 2004 story in the Argus Leader, written by Terry Woster and headlined "Attempts to sign up new voters scrutinized" included the following passage:

Some other counties report only sporadic activity.

"We got one batch of about 300 that came in all at once, in an envelope that just said, 'Choose to Vote,' " Fall River County Auditor Sherrill Dryden said. Her office oversees the process in Fall River and nearby Shannon County on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

"We aren't finding many problems at all right now," she said.

Um, given the track record of "Choose to Vote" members like Howard Brewer, it might be wise to double check those 300 registrations. Why the hell aren't local media (or national media for that matter) tracking down this shadowy "Choose To Vote" group?

So far, I'm unable to find the group's website, which makes it likely that they don't have a website. Needless to say, my suspicions are heightened.

Barbara Lee sent volunteers for Herseth

Representative Barbara Lee, who cast the lone vote against authorizing military force in Afghanistan after September 11, played a role in the House special election here in South Dakota earlier this month. The Contra Costa Times has the details in an article headlined "Rep. Lee volunteers canvass S. Dakota." Excerpt:

East Bay Republicans doubted whether volunteers from afar had an effect on the election. Alameda County Republican Party Chairman Jim Hartman said his organization did not send volunteers to the election.

"We believe South Dakotans should decide the election, not people from Oakland or Berkeley," he said.

DVT's analysis of the special election

Be sure to read the latest tour de force over at DVT headlined "The Verdict: Herseth Victory Hurts Daschle." Excerpt:

More fundamentally, the Herseth win caused Daschle problems because of campaign strategy—she ran as a non-partisan conservative Democrat, which no longer fits the Daschle profile. As one UK blogger noted, the race was more like a Republican primary than a general election. She used the Daschle model from 1978, but Daschle, despite his attempts to revive it by saying he is still an “independent voice,” only looks desperate. As the partisan leader of the opposition party, Daschle is as far from being an "independent voice" as one can be. Unlike Herseth’s A rating from the NRA, Daschle was severely criticized by the NRA during the winter of 2004. Unlike Herseth, Daschle opposed the federal marriage amendment and has been outspoken in his criticism of the war (except when in South Dakota, where he praises the war effort).

Via DVT: Reporter hints at rumors Daschle will relinquish leadership

Joshua Green, a senior editor for The Atlantic, who broke the story on William Bennett's highroller gambling habit, recently made the following comment on the Chris Mathews Show:

MATTHEWS: Josh, what do you got?

Mr. GREEN: Win or lose, Tom Daschle will not stay on as Majority Leader.

There's a rumor going around the Hill that if he wins he'll cut a deal, step

down, become appropriations chairman, and Chris Dodd, Harry Reid or maybe even

Hillary Clinton will step in.

MATTHEWS: Well, you're betting that he'll get re-elected, right?

Mr. GREEN: Well...

MATTHEWS: Don't.

Kudos to DVT for catching that one.

NYT editorial on Herseth

The New York Times has a piece on Stephanie Herseth paying herself a salary from her campaign coffers, headlined "Paying Candidates to Run."

UPDATE: SDP reader Ryan Knutson kindly directed my attention to this post written by Herseth on the DCCC's blog, as well as this post.

Roll Call on Herseth's romance with Texas congressman

The Capitol Hill publication Roll Call has an item in today's edition headlined "Sitting in a Tree," regarding Stephanie Herseth's relationship with Rep. Max Sandlin, a Democrat from Texas:

Sorry, guys. The newest, most eligible bachelorette in Congress appears to be off the market.

Rep. Stephanie Herseth (D), who just won the special South Dakota election, had a boyfriend waiting for her on Capitol Hill when she arrived last week.

He's Democratic Rep. Max Sandlin, a four-term Texan.

The couple met during Herseth's failed 2002 election bid against then-Rep. Bill Janklow (R-S.D.), who recently was released from prison for his second-degree manslaughter conviction. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has its own version of a "big buddy" program, appointed Sandlin to be Herseth's mentor during that campaign.

Maybe the DCCC should have a match-making business on the side?

"Representative Herseth and Representative Sandlin met during the last election cycle. They remained friends after the 2002 election and have had a relationship for approximately a year," her spokesman, Russ Levsen, told HOH.

Sandlin, who is divorced with four children, also worked hard to campaign and raise money for his girlfriend during her winning campaign against GOP state Sen. Larry Diedrich in the June 1 special election.

He said having just arrived in Washington, the new Congresswoman has not found permanent housing yet. For now, he said, she's staying at the Capitol Suites.

But Herseth, 33, and Sandlin, 52, were seen Wednesday morning in front of Sandlin's apartment building near D and First streets Southeast.