South Dakota Politics

Same-sex marriage issue ripens

John Thune's campaign issued a press advisory today announcing press conferences Thune will hold around the state tomorrow. Thune will discuss his support of the federal marriage amendment which will be debated in the Senate next week. The press conferences will be held in Sioux Falls, Mitchell and Rapid City. You can read a copy of the press advisory HERE.

On the subject of the debate next week in the Senate, Jeff Gannon, resident DC expert on South Dakota politics, has a piece published today headlined "FMA Vote Threatens Daschle's 100% Pro-Gay Rating." Excerpt:

Passage of the FMA is uncertain in the Senate, since it will require 67 votes. Daschle will have to decide whether to allow a floor vote or prevent it with a filibuster. The choice is fraught with peril since the South Dakota senator realizes whatever he does will impact either his chances of reelection or his position as Minority Leader.

Late last month, the Boston Globe had an interesting passage regarding Daschle's dilemma in a story headlined "Mitt leads GOP ploy on gay unions." Relevant graf:

A week ago at a Republican Leadership Caucus, Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania pressed the case for an accelerated vote on the marriage amendment. According to one account of the session, relayed by a Democratic consultant who is working with Federal Marriage Amendment opponents, senior Republican senators, including Ted Stevens of Alaska and John Warner of Virginia, expressed reluctance about such a vote. However, Santorum prevailed, saying he wanted to force Kerry and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota to vote. Santorum told colleagues that polling data from South Dakota indicate Daschle's vote against such an amendment could cost him the election.

In May, Democratic strategist Jeff Trammell stated that Senator Daschle was "solid as a rock” in his opposition to a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, according to a story in the Washington Blade headlined Democrats disavow claim they might ‘cave’ on FMA." Excerpt:

Trammell said he spoke in person with Daschle last week.

“He’s as solid as a rock,” in his opposition to a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, Trammell said.

UPDATE: Mike Madden of the Argus Leader's DC Bureau had a piece in yesterday's edition of USA Today headlined "Gay marriage vote could prove politically perilous."

Kranz Watch

Last week, David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, reported in a piece headlined "'Fahrenheit 9/11' not flattering portrayal of Daschle" that Senator Tom Daschle, who was personally invited by Michael Moore to the movie's premiere, "left early." Excerpt from the Kranz piece:

[A]rea residents who saw the film say there may be a reason why Daschle left the movie early.

As DVT rightly points out, Daschle didn't leave early, as reported in the cover story of Time magazine this week. Instead, Daschle stayed until the end of the movie, hugged Michael Moore, and told Moore how bad he felt about supporting the war. Relevant excerpt from the Time cover story:

Moore does not spare the Democrats entirely in his film. Most Democratic Senators, including Kerry, not only voted for the Iraq war but until recently refused to criticize the President's decision to invade. Among the clips in Fahrenheit 9/11 is one of minority leader Tom Daschle last year urging other Senators to follow his lead and vote for Bush's Iraq war.

Two weeks ago, at the Washington premiere, Moore sat a few rows behind Daschle. Afterward, says Moore, "he gave me a hug and said he felt bad and that we were all gonna fight from now on. I thanked him for being a good sport."

Will Kranz report on this development in his Wednesday column? Answer: no way. There's absolutely no way to spin this without damaging Daschle, so Kranz will conveniently ignore it. Typical.

Michael Moore: Daschle "felt bad" about supporting war

Time Magazine's cover story in the July 12 edition headlined "The World According to Michael" contains the following passage:

Moore does not spare the Democrats entirely in his film. Most Democratic Senators, including Kerry, not only voted for the Iraq war but until recently refused to criticize the President's decision to invade. Among the clips in Fahrenheit 9/11 is one of minority leader Tom Daschle last year urging other Senators to follow his lead and vote for Bush's Iraq war. Two weeks ago, at the Washington premiere, Moore sat a few rows behind Daschle. Afterward, says Moore, "he gave me a hug and said he felt bad and that we were all gonna fight from now on. I thanked him for being a good sport."

(Emphasis added.) Last week, David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, broadly hinted that Tom Daschle left the premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11" early because he was upset at Moore's portrayal of him in the film. Now we learn that not only was Tom Daschle not upset, he told Michael Moore he "felt bad" about voting for the war.

This past Saturday, a Daschle staffer was quoted in the Rapid City Journal to the following effect:

Daschle spokesman Ted Miller said the senator still believed he voted correctly on the Iraq war vote.

Wow. It's another classic case of Daschle saying one thing in DC and its 180 degree opposite in South Dakota.

UPDATE: You can read the entire Time piece at CNN.com.

"The Other Side of Tom Daschle"

University of South Dakota School of Law alumnus Talmage Ekanger (Class of 2003) has written a book entitled "The Other Side of Tom Daschle," which may be mailed to every household in South Dakota, according to a blurb in Robert Novak's latest column:

Seeking to defeat Senate Democratic Leader Thomas Daschle for re-election in South Dakota, conservative publisher Jameson Campaigne of Ottawa, Ill., is soliciting funds to mail a book called The Other Side of Tom Daschle to every one of 290,000 households in Daschle's state.

The book is written by lawyer Talmage Ekanger, a Federalist Society member from Milbank, S.D., and is published by Campaigne's Green Hill Publishers. It purports to contrast South Dakota's conservatism with Daschle's record in Washington. Its chapters include ''Abortion Any Time for Any Reason,'' ''Daschle vs. Catholic Church'' and ''Waving the Homosexual Agenda.''

Polls indicate that Daschle is in a close race for a fourth term with his Republican opponent, former Rep. John Thune.

You can digest more details of Ekanger's work HERE.

Rapid City Journal political reporter Denise Ross reported on the development of this book project last September, which caught the attention of the Washington Post.

Marlon Brando

The Fargo-Grand Forks Forum has an interesting piece on Marlon Brando's activism on behalf of Native Americans, particularly in South Dakota, headlined "Brando remembered for off-screen activism." Excerpt:

Marlon Brando's movie career and his celebrity support of American Indians famously intersected when he refused to personally accept an Oscar for his role in "The Godfather.''

Instead, Brando sent a young woman to accept the award and serve as his voice, a voice that noted the "recent happenings at Wounded Knee" – a reference to armed activists' occupation of a village on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation in 1973....

In 1975, he went to Rapid City, S.D., to post a $30,000 cash bond for AIM leader Russell Means, who was charged in a shooting death of a Pine Ridge man. He also appeared at an AIM rally at the state capitol in Pierre, S.D.

Brando even has an often-forgotten cameo role in one of the darkest chapters in AIM history – the conviction of Leonard Peltier for the 1975 murders of two FBI agents at Pine Ridge.

Before fleeing to Canada, Peltier was stopped by police in Oregon; he was driving a recreational vehicle registered to Brando. When police searched the vehicle, they found a pistol belonging to one of the slain agents – later found to contain a fingerprint matched to Peltier.

Peltier, an Ojibwe from the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, was convicted of the murders by a federal jury in Fargo. Brando was one of a long list of celebrities who called for Peltier's release.

Vodkapundit on Daschle and Michael Moore

Vodkapundit has a post briefly discussing Senator Daschle's attendance at the premiere of Michael Moore's movie "Fahrenheit 9/11." Excerpt:

I'm guessing the real question regarding Moore's propaganda effort isn't how much it will hurt Bush--those who'd believe it were already voting against him--but rather how much the credibility of the Democratic politicians and media types who kowtowed to Moore last week will suffer in the aftermath. I suspect Tom Daschle in particular will rue his decision to attend the DC premiere.

Sibby reports on Daschle's visit to Mitchell today

Sibby has a posted a report with a photo of Daschle campaigning in Mitchell earlier today.

DVT analyzes Daschle's response to "Fahrenheit 9/11"

Don't miss DVT's latest tour-de-force, headlined "Daschle's Failure of Moral Leadership on Michael Moore."

John Edwards: "Tom is in the race of his life"

The White House Bulletin reports that Senator John Edwards recently sent out a fundraising e-mail on behalf of Senator Tom Daschle:

Sen. John Edwards' One America Committee today launched a fund raising campaign asking potential donors to "give as much as you can" to help Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle win a tough reelection campaign this year.

In an e-mail, Edwards wrote, "Tom is in the race of his life, and he needs your help to compete against millions from the Republican Party and third party groups that are attacking his record. Please give what you can - $50, $100 - as much as you can to help keep Tom Daschle fighting for us in the Senate. Because if Tom Daschle wins, we stand a good chance of gaining a Democratic Senate that John Kerry can work with as president."

Daschle's negative blog ads

The Campaign Web Review blog notes the recent switch in tactics in Tom Daschle's blog ads, and asks, "Why the shift from negative to positive?" Note that the editor of CWR is a former staffer for Al Gore, and yet still characterizes a Daschle blog ad as "negative." That's a more accurate description than the ostensibly objective David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, could bring himself to describe it (Scroll to bottom).

The Hill: Linda Daschle "top lobbyist"

The Capitol Hill publication The Hill has highlighted Linda Daschle as a "top lobbyist" for the aviation industry based on "conversations with the major players on K Street, congressional staffers and other Washington insiders." Excerpt from The Hill:

Linda Hall Daschle, wife of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), is a veteran when it comes to aviation issues. During President Bill Clinton’s first term, she served as second-in-command at the Federal Aviation Administration. Before that, Daschle lobbied at the ATA and then the AAAE. So even though she voluntarily does not lobby the Senate, her contacts in the aviation world and her knowledge of the issues are as good as anyone’s in the industry.

The Economist on Daschle and "Fahrenheit 9/11"

The Economist has a new piece headlined "Moore's Law." Excerpt:

But “Fahrenheit 9/11” also has some worrying implications for the Democrats. It reminds middle America that liberal activists like to blame their own country for the world's problems. So far no prominent Democrat has seen fit to denounce Mr Moore's view that the war on terrorism is a fraud (the silence from John Kerry has been deafening). Instead, party elders including Tom Daschle and Terry McAuliffe attended the film's premiere in Washington, DC, and other Democrats have helped publicise it.

Mr Moore is a dangerous man to flirt with: remember how Wesley Clark's campaign collapsed when Mr Moore simultaneously endorsed the general and described Mr Bush as a deserter? Mr Moore has a long record of denouncing the United States to foreigners. The Republicans are citing him as proof of their charge that the Democrats are “a coalition of the wild-eyed”. If they have any sense, they may even steal a Moore cinematic technique: show the Democratic elite traipsing along the red carpet to see “Fahrenheit 9/11”, and then cut to a grainy shot of Mr Moore telling Britons that Americans are “possibly the dumbest people on the planet.”

Mr Moore is a formidable ally if all you want to do is attack Mr Bush. But the Democrats want to govern the country. With Messrs Bush and Kerry running neck-and-neck in the polls, they should be careful whom they hang out with.

(Emphasis added.)

Daschle for Vice President?

Did you know that Tom Daschle is on the long list of those being considered by John Kerry to be his running mate? The National Journal's "Hotline" reported this on June 23. Obviously, that's not going to happen, as a state law would require Daschle to give up his Senate seat in the unlikely event that Kerry would offer him the job.

Senator Allen notes Argus Leader's "uneven campaign coverage"

Jeff Gannon, resident DC expert on South Dakota politics, has a piece today headlined "Allen Upbeat on Holding Senate Majority." Excerpt:

[National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Senator George] Allen is most hopeful in the South Dakota race, where Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) faces Rep. John Thune (R-SD). Allen pointed out that Daschle has spent $6 million in campaign ads that started airing in June 2003 that have left him dead even with Thune. Thune has yet to run a single television ad. Allen told Talon News that he expected Thune to overcome the uneven campaign coverage of the state's largest newspaper, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

Daschle solicits out-of-staters to sign his anti-out-of-stater petition

Horologium notices that Senator Daschle is now advertising on liberal out-of-state blogs soliciting out-of-staters to sign a petition urging out-of-staters to keep out-of-state ads off the air in South Dakota. If that's not enough to leave you awestruck by the cynicism of it all, there's also the matter of all of the out-of-state money Tom Daschle is raising. Quentin Riggins is on the case.