South Dakota Politics

Daschle dodges six of seven debates in August

We are in the heart of the August congressional recess, and there have still been no debates between Senator Daschle and John Thune. As John Thune states in the Argus Leader today, he and Daschle should have met several times by now. Tomorrow morning, Daschle and Thune are scheduled to meet for a forum at Dakotafest to discuss only agricultural issues.

Thune has accepted all seven invitations to forums and debates during the month of August. Daschle has only accepted the one narrowly scoped forum to be held tomorrow. When Thune attends the other forums Daschle refuses to attend, Daschle instead sends a staffer with videocamera to record his every move.

Senator Daschle has been doing nothing but attending fundraisers in the Hamptons and Mississippi and attending rigidly choreographed campaign events in South Dakota during the congressional recess. The congressional recess will end September 7th with lots of footage of John Thune attending forums with an unoccupied stool beside him.

A 'cheeky' document

John Fund of the Wall Street Journal notes the emergence of the Sioux Falls Platform in an item headlined "A Prairie Revolt Against the 'Lamestream' Media." Excerpt:

There are two political wars being fought in South Dakota these days. One is between Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle and his GOP challenger, John Thune. The other involves an eclectic collection of Internet bloggers who are cranking out copy on the Senate race because they say the "lamestream" media is doing such a poor job of covering it. Over the weekend, bloggers took a leaf from the state's populist farmers of the 19th century and issued their own manifesto aimed at the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader, a Gannett paper they say has a print monopoly on statewide coverage of politics. The cheeky document accuses the Argus-Leader of "a pattern of chronic political bias" and of treating outside critics "with hostility." Noting that the paper is highly profitable, it calls for management to hire an ombudsman and more political reporters so the Senate race will be adequately covered from all sides. Don't expect to read much coverage of the petition in the Argus-Leader itself, although the bloggers appear poised to have the last laugh. In a slow but sure demonstration of the power of the market, more and more South Dakotans are turning to the Internet for their political news.

UPDATE: For more on "the New Populism" read this post from DVT a few weeks ago, noting that South Dakota is the birthplace of populism, and how there is a common thread of that populism in the Dakota Alliance's criticism of the print media monopoly that is the Argus Leader.

Detroit News blogs about Dakota Alliance

John R. LaPlante, a freelance writer who posts to the Detroit News weblog, says political blogs can have an influence in thinly populated states in a post headlined "Blogs Spice Up Political Journalism." Excerpt:

While it is easy for bloggers to over-estimate their importance, they can have an influence, especially in thinly populated states. Where there are few outlets in the tradtional media, the voice of one or more individuals on blogs can be especially powerful. This may be the case in South Dakota, where a collection of individuals is challenging the state’s dominant newspaper. Citing instances of political bias favoring Sen. Tom Daschle, the Dakota Blog Alliance Conference is calling on the Sioux Falls Argus Leader to create “a permanent ombudsman … to review and assess public complaints.”

This spurs a recollection of an interesting comment made by John Hinderaker at the conference about the role blogs played in the ouster of Trent Lott as Republican Leader of the Senate. Hinderaker thought the true measure of the blog's influence would be if they were to play a role in the ouster of the Democratic Leader of the Senate. That, of course, remains to be seen.

The Detroit News, like the Argus Leader, is a Gannett newspaper.

Cartoon in the Rapid City Journal

Steve Hildebrand's unclean hands

Steve Hildebrand, Tom Daschle's campaign manager, presumed to tell us this past weekend in a press release about "how we do things in South Dakota." Excerpt from the Hildebrand press release:

"Berating young staffers and referring to public officials with obscenities is not how we do things in South Dakota."

So what's Hildebrand's version of how we do things in South Dakota? One can easily discover the answer to this question by reading a piece in the Washington Post dated May 31, 2003. Excerpt:

Hildebrand said the campaign has assembled embarrassing information on several conservatives who are considering more attack ads against Daschle. The information includes videotape of a conservative activist discussing how he paid for his girlfriend's abortion.

It doesn't get much sleazier than that, especially when one considers that the so-called "videotape of a conservative activist discussing how he paid for his girlfriend's abortion" is in actuality videotaped testimony of Christian redemption in a public appearance by Rushmore Policy Council head Rob Regier.

Local radio talk show host Greg Belfrage has also been the target of Steve Hildebrand's attempts to stifle dissent.

Jeff Gannon, resident DC expert on South Dakota politics, reported last year on Daschle's "Mafia tactics and intimidation" to silence his opponents in South Dakota in a piece headlined "Critics: Daschle's Soft Image Masks Political Machine."

Redstate notes Argus Leader piece on blogs

I feel a bit sheepish to have overlooked this, but Redstate.org noted last week's piece in the Argus Leader on South Dakota blogs. Still, it's better late than never to bring Redstate's post headlined "Argus Leader acknowledges reality -- S.D. blogs" to your attention.

Nethercutt campaign discusses Daschle's ads

George Nethercutt is running for the Senate against Democratic incumbent Patty Murray in the state of Washington. Recently, the Nethercutt campaign noted that Murray's television ads look remarkably similar to Senator Daschle's television ads, prompting Nethercutt's campaign manager to ask "Is Patty running in Washington or South Dakota? It’s a long time since she had a bake sale, but there’s no excuse for using a cookie cutter."

Daschle and hugs

The USA Today had an article published last Thursday headlined "Squeezin' like it's Charmin" discussing political hugs. Senator Daschle's name surfaces twice in the story, relating to his hug of President Bush after September 11, 2001 and to the hug that never happened with Michael Moore.

Dakota Blog Alliance Conference roundup

First, be sure to read the Sioux Falls Platform, the document announcing an agenda for reform at the Argus Leader.

Kudos to Quentin Riggins for organizing a successful conference. Be sure to read his post "Chicken droppings the rest of the story."

DVT has posted a photo of the Dakota Alliance bloggers, and notes the upcoming announcement of the newest member of the Dakota Alliance, Jay Reding.

KSFY television covered the conference, as did KELO and the AP.

Sibby discusses Greg Belfrage's description of a "marriage made in heaven," the synergy between blogs and talk radio that cuts through the liberal bias in the mainstream media.

Ryne McClaren has a long drive back west.

John Hinderaker at Power Line has a post headlined "A Day in South Dakota."

Last, but not least, thanks to Long Shots Bar & Grill for providing post-conference adult beverages and appetizers.

UPDATE: Instapundit notes the Alliance "looks like they're becoming a force in South Dakota politics and journalism."

Chicken droppings?

Dick Wadhams, John Thune's campaign manager, is making the headlines locally and nationally for aiming a certain epithet at Senator Daschle for avoiding debates and sending a staffer "to slink around in the shadows and tape John Thune when Thune is the one who shows up for these events."

Dakota Blog Alliance Conference concludes

Well, today was spent meeting and greeting fellow Dakota bloggers at the Dakota Blog Alliance Conference. It was a privilege to finally meet John Hinderaker of Power Line in person. John very generously spent a big part of the day here in Sioux Falls, participating in the various presentations at the conference and delivering a very nicely done keynote address. Thanks for coming in, John.

Dakota Blog Alliance Conference

Be sure to attend the Dakota Blog Alliance Conference.

Grassley: "Daschle has served the nation poorly"

The Sioux City (IA) Journal published an article today headlined "Grassley: Bush needs to paint distinct picture for 10 percent undecideds" discussing President Bush's planned visit to Sioux City tomorrow. Excerpt:

Grassley added that Bush should recognize the geography of his visit and speak to the South Dakotans in attendance. U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota is locked in a re-election race with former Republican Congressman John Thune. Grassley said Daschle has served the nation poorly, bottling up key legislation and judicial appointments. Many good pieces of legislation, Grassley said, have been "essentially buried in a Daschle burial ground" through filibusters and other means.

In 2002, Senator Johnson used a Grassley quote in one of his television ads regarding livestock ownership by meatpackers. Grassley is known to be an independent-minded Republican. I don't think Daschle can easily shrug off this criticism by Grassley.

Grassley has also criticized Daschle for putting the interests of the Democratic Party before the interests of South Dakota corn farmers on ethanol, which can be read HERE and HERE.

Thune calls on Daschle to support CIA nominee

Yesterday, Investor's Business Daily had an editorial noting that Senator Daschle was "sharpening his knives" for a fight over the nomination of Porter Goss to head the CIA. Now, John Thune is calling on Senator Daschle not to obstruct the nominee:

"I know Porter Goss very well having served with him in Congress and I strongly support him to head the CIA," Thune said. "Senator Daschle's silence on whether he supports the Goss nomination is disconcerting given the deep national security concerns of our nation."

The AP has a story published yesterday headlined "CIA Nominee Goss Faces Tough Confirmation."

DVT: Argus Leader's profit margin 46% in 1997

DVT has been doing some masterful investigative work of late on the entrenched monopoly that is the Argus Leader. Lack of resources is one of the main excuses the editors of the AL have used through the years for not covering all the news that's fit to print in South Dakota. Now it seems apparent that the excuse is bogus, given the extraordinarily high profit margin that the AL has posted in the past.

Stefan Sharkansky published a post about this very subject last spring, in which he listed the profit margins of some of the largest publicly traded newspaper companies. Suffice it to say that the AL's profit margin is obscene compared even to that of Gannett, its parent organization, which is 18%. (Gannet Co. Inc., by the way, is the most profitable of the large publicly traded newspaper companies.)

Quote of the Day

"But, Tom Daschle has a very unique way of separating himself--he can be a national Democrat when he's in Washington, but when he's in South Dakota he's clearly a South Dakota Democrat." - NPR political editor Ken Rudin today on the Tavis Smiley Show. To hear the entire show, click HERE. To hear the quote cited above, go to the four minute mark.

BOMBSHELL: Kranz overheard priests' conversation; used info to aid Democratic campaign

In this election year, the matter of Catholic politicians who do not subscribe to the Church's pro-life stance on abortion has come to the forefront. It has become an issue largely because John Kerry, the Democratic candidate for president, is a Catholic politician who does not subscribe to the Church's pro-life position. The issue has become prominent in South Dakota as well, because these Catholic politicians include Senator Tom Daschle, who in 2002 sent out a fundraising letter on behalf of NARAL. This is a sea-change in Daschle's position on abortion, as he ran as a pro-life Democrat in 1978 (when he said "I am opposed to abortion. I do not support it. I have never supported it. It is an abhorrent practice. As a citizen and as a lifelong member of the Catholic faith I will do everything in my power to persuade others that abortion is wrong") and 1986 (when he said "I am unalterably opposed to abortion on demand"). In this election year, Daschle has been trying to have it both ways on the issue of abortion, as observed in a story last spring by Bob Mercer for the Aberdeen American News headlined "Anti-abortion group criticizes Daschle: Senate minority leader under fire for voting both for, against fetal rights."

Last week, Bishop Robert Carlson of the Sioux Falls Diocese published an article in the "Bishop's Bulletin" headlined "The responsibility to have a well informed faith life" declaring the following:

[Y]ou cannot vote for a politician who is pro-abortion when you have a choice and remain a Catholic in good standing....

In the Diocese of Sioux Falls, those who act in defiance of these fundamental principles of life should not be honored or invited to speak at Catholic colleges, schools or parishes, or hold any office such as lector, Eucharist Minister, usher, parish council member or religious education teacher.

This passage means that the Bishop of Senator Daschle's home diocese has ordered parishoniers not to vote for him, and that Senator Daschle cannot speak at Catholic colleges, schools or parishes. While this is an extremely controversial and newsworthy event, there has not been anything reported about it in the pages of the Argus Leader at the time of this writing.

What is so interesting about this issue is that it in many ways is history repeating itself. While researching the papers of Senator George McGovern, I discovered a memo dated April 24, 1979 written by a McGovern staffer named Cindy Kranz to another McGovern staffer named Judy Harrington. The memo relayed sensitive information overheard by David Kranz on the issue of the Catholic Church and its opposition to the pro-choice position of Senator McGovern, who was worried that the issue would sink his reelection bid in 1980. David Kranz, of course, is the current dean of South Dakota political reporters who at that time was the managing editor for the Mitchell Daily Republic. Cindy Kranz is David Kranz's sister.

The memo in question has the initials "GVC" scrawled in handwriting above the text, which are the initials of George V. Cunningham, who was McGovern's chief of staff. Beside the initials is scrawled the word "WOW!" indicating that the contents of the memo were a big deal to the higher ranking staffers for McGovern.

The text of the memo details how David Kranz overheard a conversation in the Mitchell Holiday Inn between two priests discussing strategy on McGovern and abortion, subsequently approached Bishop Dudley (the bishop of the Sioux Falls diocese at that time) about it, and then passed the information gleaned on to the McGovern staff. Kranz then wrote a story for the MDR which included a purported quote from the Bishop asking people "not to involve themselves with politics and personalities" regarding the abortion issue. The story was then picked up by the AP wire. You can read the pdf copy of the memo as well as the attached background story on why the priests were at the Mitchell Holiday Inn by clicking HERE. Excerpt from the memo:

While removing his coat, [David Kranz] overheard two priests talking, one of whom he recognized as Father James Wolf, Holy Name Church, Watertown. The other one was younger with a beard. They mentioned McGovern and the pro-life people and the younger one told Wolf they have to sit back and take stock of the situation before they do anything as a unit. At that point, my brother pretended to make a phone call to overhear the rest. It sounded as though they had discussed the situation in some committee meeting and finally the younger priest convinced Wolf that they shouldn't be too hasty about their plans.

With a chuckle, I commented to Dave that I should have "worked the meeting." He said he finished it for me. He talked to Bishop Dudley about the conversation and Dudley was just shocked and wanted to know who the priests were, but my brother kept his sources. Dudley said that the subject has never come up in this meeting or any committee meetings. He said he has written letters to the priests about pro-life, but is upset because the church is being misunderstood-by its own people, also. He says their goal is to advance life and not to mention or endorse any candidates toward that end. Although he said he cannot control what individual priests do on the altar, he will not issue any memo or mention any names when it comes down to elections. And, he will not encourage any such actions.

(Emphases added.) This memo indicates that Kranz was working as a McGovern operative, gathering and passing along intelligence to the McGovern campaign. He even tells the McGovern campaign who his sources are, but refuses to tell Bishop Dudley. As the memo states, the McGovern staffer wanted to "work the meeting" but David Kranz told the staffer that "he finished it for me." This behavior brings to mind a quote from a former lieutenant governor of South Dakota that "when George McGovern sneezes, it's Dave Kranz who catches the cold."

Four months later, Kranz wrote a story on the issue of abortion and McGovern that appeared in the September 6 Mitchell Daily Republic. The AP picked up the story and beamed it around the state. The Kranz story ran in the September 7 edition of the Argus Leader under the headline "Dudley: 'Baby killer' tacky pro-life tactic." The story quoted Bishop Dudley to the effect that people ought not involve themselves with politics and personalities on abortion. You can read a pdf copy of the AP story, along with an attached correction (to be explained below) by clicking HERE. Excerpt:

The proclamation by the Life Amendment Political Action group that Sen. George McGovern and other U.S. senators are "baby killers" does not meet with the approval of Bishop Paul Dudley of the Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese....

Bishop Dudley said he was writing a letter to all clergy in his diocese asking the people of the parishes to treat the matter "with kindness and love" and not to involve themselves with politics and personalities.

The story caused an uproar. First, Kranz had mistakenly attributed the "baby killer" quote to the Life Amendment Political Action Committee. In fact, the quote had been made by "Americans for Life" which had no connection with South Dakota pro-life organizations. A curt correction was run the next day by the AP:

The Associated Press erroneously reported September 5 that the Life Amendment Political Action group had referred to Sen. George McGovern and others as baby-killers. The group which made the statement is known as Americans for Life.

Second, Bishop Dudley claimed to have been misquoted in the story by Kranz. Shortly after the publication of the AP story, the South Dakota Right to Life organization published an article in its newsletter headlined "Bishop Dudley Urges Political Involvement." You can read a pdf copy of the article by clicking HERE. The article included a letter Bishop Dudley had written in response to the AP story, which is excerpted below:

A recent AP news article has given rise to misunderstanding of my message on political involvement in the Right-to-Life issue. The article stated that I asked people "not to involve themselves with politics and personalities." That was misleading. I did state that I was writing to our priests and urging them to keep politics and personalities of politicians out of the pulpit. At the same time, I urged priests to motivate our people to fulfill their duties as citizens by getting involved in the political process.

Kranz was inaccurately quoting organizations and priests in his zeal to protect McGovern's political vulnerability on the issue of abortion. The Right to Life newsletter's article goes on to quote a letter to the publisher of the Mitchell Daily Republic and all daily newspaper editors written by the state coordinator of the Life Amendment Political Action Committee, which reads as follows:

This act of irresponsible journalism has had a devastating effect upon many people in the state of South Dakota. Attempts at correction have been spotty at best and unsatisfactory. Even the most concerted efforts at correction would never completely overcome the damaging effect of such careless reporting. One cannot be certain that the corrections reached everyone who heard or read the original report; and even if they could there is the overriding influence of first impressions.

It is hoped that Mr. Kranz will be informed of the seriousness of his act and reprimanded for such careless journalism.

Clearly, Kranz was making efforts to undermine conservative politicians and enhance the prospects of liberal politicians twenty years ago, and continues to do much the same thing today. This past Sunday, Kranz wrote a column on the tiff between Native American activist Russell Means and John Thune. Of course, Kranz never wrote anything at length about Russell Means' endorsement of Thune last winter. Kranz's rich history of bias continues unabated.

Welcome, Argus Leader readers

Well, I guess I get to eat a little crow. I will do so happily. The Argus Leader has a front page, top of the fold story on South Dakota blogs today headlined "Blogging: A venue to rant, rave and review." Excerpt:

[Jon Lauck's and Jason Van Beek's] blogs accuse the Argus Leader of selectively reporting negative stories about Thune and ignoring news that makes Daschle look less favorable. They contend personal relationships and a liberal slant on the editing desk color the Argus Leader's articles.

The newspaper's leadership has dismissed those charges as unfounded.

The charges are not unfounded. For compelling evidence of the AL engaging in selective reporting, read this simple analysis I posted several months ago. I think this selective reporting can be explained at least in part by the concept of institutional bias, which you can read about by clicking HERE. Also, I have listed the "Bombshell Memos" on the left-hand side of this blog, which contain telling passages about the bias of David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters.

Despite all of this, the publication of today's story on blogs in South Dakota redounds to the credit of the Argus Leader. Jennifer Sanderson is a talented reporter, and her efforts reflect positively on the Argus Leader.

Will the Argus Leader skip NYT story on Daschle in the Hamptons?

DVT notes a story in the New York Times today on Senator Daschle raising cash in the Hamptons headlined "The Democrats' A.T.M." Excerpt:

ASSEMBLED for cocktails at an elegant white house on Ferry Road was something of a Hamptons A-list, featuring dozens of the well-known regulars at Long Island's most exclusive summertime gatherings. Sprinkled in with these affluent second home-owners were a number of other faces that, while familiar, were assuredly not local: the guest of honor was Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, and also on hand were his New Jersey colleague, Jon Corzine, and the former presidential candidate Wesley Clark of Arkansas.

But just because these prominent Democrats were mere visitors to Long Island didn't stop them from feeling right at home. After about an hour of cocktails and a short but memorable performance of dueling poetry by the husband-and-wife actors Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson, Mr. Daschle got up on the back patio to speak to the attendees.

"I have wonderful friends, all of you," said Mr. Daschle, who is the Senate minority leader and faces a tough race for re-election this year. "The good news is that we have all of the money we need to win this election. The bad news is there's about $1 million still in supporters' pockets that needs to come out. You all have moved us along by reaching into your pockets tonight."

Gail Furman, a child psychologist and Democratic activist who played host to the Daschle event, said the senator collected more than $100,000 that evening.

It seems Senator Daschle is a strong voice for the liberal elite of the Hamptons. Will the Argus Leader report this story?

Jury still out

The jury is still out on whether the Argus Leader's story on South Dakota blogs has been spiked. As I wrote yesterday in my post on the subject of spiking, "there is still a high degree of uncertainty about whether that's the case."

Was Argus Leader story on Dakota Blog Alliance Spiked?

DVT and Sibby are starting to get the impression that a story written about blogs in South Dakota for the Argus Leader by Jennifer Sanderson may have been spiked or is undergoing a massive overhaul by the AL's editors.

On Friday, July 30, (over a week ago) I sat with fellow bloggers Sibby and Q at the Black Sheep Coffee Shop in Sioux Falls to be interviewed by Jennifer Sanderson. Earlier in the week, Jen had interviewed Professor Jon Lauck of DVT as well as Ryne McClaren. The interview with Sibby, Q, and I lasted around two hours, and much of the discussion centered around criticism of the Argus Leader. Near the conclusion of the interview, we were told that the story would probably be published in the middle of the following week. I learned on Wednesday that the story was being given its final reading. It is now Saturday, and the story has still not been published.

Jennifer Sanderson and I knew each other when we were undergraduates at The University of South Dakota. Jen is a great person, and I think she is doing a great job at the Argus Leader, particularly in her new beat covering political advertisements in this high profile political year in South Dakota. I think she is a thorough reporter, and in observing her work, I believe she is making a determined effort to be objective. Jen is not the problem.

During the interview, I distinctly recall Jen commenting that "the Argus certainly is strong enough and its people have enough faith in their work to show another point of view." If this story on the Dakota Blog Alliance has been spiked (and I emphatically caution readers that there is still a high degree of uncertainty about whether that's the case), I think it would speak volumes about the strength and faith the editors of the AL have in their work.

Argus Leader violates its own policy

Sibby notes that the Argus Leader today violated its policy of quoting only political candidates and not their campaign staff. Naturally, the violation of this policy cut in favor of--you guessed it--Tom Daschle.

Dems threaten lawsuits whenever there's a critical ad

DVT notes (via Instapundit) that the Democrats are making a habit of using lawyers' threats to keep the Club for Growth's ads off the air.

Last year, something similar to this happened when the Club for Growth ran an ad in South Dakota informing South Dakotans that Senator Daschle had just purchased a $2 million home on ritzy Foxhall Road in Washington, DC. The Rapid City Journal published a story on the matter headlined "Anti-Daschle ads prompt complaints over copyright."

The Club for Growth's Stephen Moore wrote in a piece headlined "Tom’s House Is a Very, Very, Very Nice House" that Daschle "worked tirelessly to pull the ads off the airwaves."

His protests have been almost comical. His first complaint was that the ads are misleading because he really does favor lower taxes. Hmmm, that's news to anyone who even casually follows politics in Washington. For at least the past ten years, Daschle has voted against anything that even has the whiff of a tax cut. He was the deciding vote in the Senate for Bill Clinton's mega-tax hike.

Next we heard from the '60s rock group Crosby, Stills, and Nash, which accused us of copyright violation, by parodying their music, and demanded that we cease and desist from running these ads. The law is very clear that this kind of usage is no copyright violation. And doesn't it seem like just yesterday that liberals were fanatics on First Amendment rights. Now they do everything in their power to suppress political speech — if it comes from the right side of the political spectrum. .

Daschle skips Pierre debate to raise trial lawyer cash

DVT reports that Senator Daschle was in Oxford, Mississippi yesterday raising trial lawyer cash for his campaign. That's a rather unsettling reason to skip a forum with the South Dakota Association for Career and Technical Education in Pierre.

Trial lawyers, by the way, are Senator Daschle's biggest contributors. It's disappointing that Daschle prefers talking to his biggest contributors rather than to ordinary constituents in Pierre.

The Dakota Blog Alliance Conference

Be sure to clear your calendar for the Dakota Blog Alliance Conference on Saturday, August 14, at Augustana College. My presentation for the conference is tentatively titled "Blogs and the Argus Leader: Beyond Conventional Wisdom." Be there!

Quote of the Day

"What if all media and all the information you received was based on what a few powerful people in the community thought was fit for your consumption?" - Patrick Lalley, now the assistant managing editor for the Argus Leader, in an editorial for Tempest, July 3-16, 1991.

According to the Argus Leader blog, Lalley makes the decisions about what political stories are reported in the AL. In many ways, it's not news in South Dakota until Lalley says it's news. In that vein, note a significant story the Argus Leader skipped yesterday. Lalley must have decided that this wasn't fit for our consumption.

Daschle raising cash in the Hamptons

The New York Post has the following blurb in its "Hamptons Diary":

Last Sunday, Sens. Tom Daschle and Jon Corzine and former Dem prez hopeful Wesley Clark attended a gathering at Gail Furman's Sag Harbor home looking to raise cash for Daschle's tight South Dakota re-election contest.

UPDATE: Sibby makes the excellent point that Senator Daschle wanted to get as far away as possible from the East Coast when John Kerry accepted the nomination at the Demcratic Convention last week Thursday, but somehow found time to get to the Hamptons a little later in the week.

Ed Schultz Watch

Ed Schultz, the North Dakota radio personality touted as the liberal Rush Limbaugh, played a prominent role at the Democratic National Convention, with guest appearances by various Democratic figures, including Senator Daschle. The New Republic has a snippet regarding Schultz headlined "Radio Frequency" in this week's edition. Excerpt:

Down on the ground level of the FleetCenter, right where the commuter trains normally disgorge their passengers into North Station, Ed Schultz is doing his show from 2:00 to 6:00 every afternoon. One of the new breed of liberal talkers, Schultz, who's based in Fargo, North Dakota, landed a national syndication deal in January and is now heard on 37 stations across the country. That hardly puts him in the same universe as Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, but it's not a bad start. "If we keep up this pace, we'll break Limbaugh's record of 54 stations in his first year," Schultz said.

Some Colorado Dems unhappy with Daschle

From the Rocky Mountain News:

"Dear Sen. Daschle: Just because a few politicos in Washington, D.C., have anointed Ken Salazar as our Democratic candidate does not make it so. In Colorado, we believe in the vote." - Liz Gauthier, Mike Miles' campaign spokeswoman, in a letter to the South Dakota senator after he snubbed Miles in his speech in Boston.

For background information, click HERE.

Daschle bounced Dean at DNC convention

The New York Post reports that "former candidate Howard Dean was bounced when he tried to horn in on a chat between Tom Daschle and U2's Bono in a private meeting room under the stage at the Prudential Center."

Huggate reprise

See this from yesterday's St. Louis Post Dispatch (scroll down about halfway):

POLITICAL PICKINGS: When Time mag quoted moviemaker Michael Moore as saying that Sen. Tom Daschle "gave me a hug" at the D.C. premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11," a bunch of Daschle's constituents back home in South Dakota were appalled. Daschle denied all. Now, The Washington Post has tracked down the truth. Seems that hugger was Washington lawyer Cam Cowan, a near-double for Daschle.

Is Senator Daschle out of touch with SD?

"Seventy-five thousand South Dakotans lack health insurance." - Tom Daschle, in the latest post to his blog.

"Number of uninsured in state not known."- headline to an article by Bob Mercer in the Aberdeen American News, dated July 22, 2004.

Elsewhere in the category of Senator Daschle playing fast and loose with the facts, note that 50 state legislators are taking issue with Daschle taking all of the credit for distance learning. Apart from taking all the credit on distance learning, note too that Daschle voted against the bill with the distance learning provision.

No wonder he doesn't want to have debates.

(Via DVT.)

The Daschle Debate Debacle

Newsroom sources say the Bird has prepared a cover story on the Daschle Debate Debacle headlined "Dash Away. Dash Away." with details on Senator Daschle's avoidance of any head-to-head meetings with John Thune. That Aug. 9 edition will be in the mail on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Thune campaign has issued a press release headlined "Daschle Ducks Debates" which can be accessed by clicking HERE. DVT also has the press release posted in its entirety.

The first U.S. Senate forum that Senator Daschle has refused to attend is being held tomorrow in Pierre, and is sponsored by the South Dakota Association for Career and Technical Education. Given Daschle's recent self-congratulatory television ad on distance learning (he voted against final passage of the bill containing that provision), one would think he'd like to attend and explain his dissonant voting behavior.

Charlie Cook: Daschle's re-election bid now a toss-up

Political analyst Charlie Cook has a piece today headlined "Shell Game" discussing, among other things, Senator Daschle's re-election bid. Relevant excerpt:

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota is the only Democratic incumbent whose bid for re-election is now a toss-up. The three-term senator will face former Republican Rep. John Thune, who in 2002 came within 524 votes of ousting freshman Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson.

Democrats argue that Daschle will be a much tougher opponent for Thune than Johnson was. They point out that Daschle has a very long record of delivering for the state. Republicans contend, though, that as party leader, Daschle has put the needs of his national party over the needs of the state. They point specifically to the obstructionist tactics Democrats have used since losing control of the Senate. And Republicans will also try to prove that what Daschle does in Washington is very different from what he voices support for when he's back home.

Thune remains a very strong candidate and seems aware of some of the mistakes he made in 2002. He has restructured his campaign team and is working to make in-roads into Native American reservations, where Johnson trounced him. Thune has also worked hard to close the financial gap with Daschle, who had spent about $8.3 million as of mid-May. Daschle has also been on television for more than a year, with ads designed to show that his efforts in the Senate have improved the lives of average South Dakotans. Thune's television advertising began this month with spots featuring his two daughters talking about his record on issues important to South Dakota.

Observers disagree on where this race stands. Daschle supporters say that he has spent the past year building a very solid foundation and enjoys a lead in the low teens. As evidence, they point to a mid-May Zogby International survey that gave Daschle a 52 percent to 39 percent advantage. Republicans contend that the race is much closer. They point to a Mason-Dixon poll, also taken in May, that showed Daschle ahead by just 2 points, 49 percent to 47 percent.

Either way, the South Dakota race should be undeniably close, once Thune's ads go on the air.

The mid-May Zogby International survey that Daschle's supporters are pointing to was demonstrated to be unreliable by the June 1st special election in South Dakota. The Zogby poll showed Stephanie Herseth leading Larry Diedrich 52% to 41%. Herseth barely won that election, beating Diedrich by a whisker, 50.57% to 49.43%. (By the way, I received a flyer from the Herseth campaign today, the first I've seen since the special election.)

I think that Zogby poll has instilled a false sense of security in the Daschle campaign.

FLASHBACK

Sheryl Gay Stolberg's story in New York Times Magazine yesterday reminded me of the comprehensive piece she wrote about the Daschle v. Thune race back in January headlined "Daschle, Democrats' Leader, Faces Tough Race in South Dakota" that's worth re-reading. Note the first sentence of the piece:

Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader of the Senate, says he has a motto for his campaigns: "Only the paranoid survive."

Deeper into the piece, we find the following passage:

"I'm very confident of our ability to win this race, as I have been with every race we've undertaken," [Daschle] said. "Only the paranoid survive, but you've got to have this internal confidence and I do, because I believe that I have done a good job."

It's also worth reading Timeswatch.org's analysis of the piece.

UPDATE: Timeswatch.org has a comprehensive list of Stolberg's stories on Daschle in 2004, including yesterday's, HERE.

Daschle wanted lots of debates in 1986

A reader sent along the following excerpts from an August 29, 1986 Argus Leader editorial headlined "Time to quite debating debates, start debating":

First line: "It makes you wonder. When two lawmakers can't work out something as simple as campaign debates, how are they going to solve the nation's more pressing problems?"

Best quote: "Abdnor wants two or more debates' Daschle prefers eight or more. Daschle, the smooth talker of the two, is scoring political points by keeping his eagerness for so many debates before the public."

There's also the following interesting excerpt from an August 30, 1986, AP story in the Watertown Public Opinion:

Before the two U.S. Senate candidates appeared Friday at a question-and-answer session sponsored by the South Dakota 4-H organizations, Daschle approached Abdnor and suggested they compromise and hold four televised debates before the November election. Daschle said the compromise would be fair because he wants six debates but Abdnor has said he only wants two. 'Let's agree to four,' Daschle told Abdnor. 'Will you come halfway with me?"

Kranz Watch

DVT is noting how quickly David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, ran a quote from Senator Jim Abdnor in his column yesterday that was helpful to Daschle, without asking Abdnor about it first. Conversely, when a quote from an Atlantic Monthly reporter was published that was damaging to Tom Daschle, Kranz bent over backwards to downplay the quote, actually calling the reporter and getting him to elaborate before running the quote. In the Kranz world, Abdnor doesn't deserve a chance to elaborate.

Frankly, what Kranz is doing is what we Dakota Alliance bloggers do everyday. We emphasize certain facts and downplay others because we don't pretend to be objective observers. The thing is, Kranz does pretend to be objective, and in theory should be treating Daschle and Thune to the same kind of coverage. Clearly, that's not happening.

Former Daschle staffer ridiculed Governor Rounds' "Day of Prayer"

Amy Sullivan is a former staffer to Senator Daschle, who worked extensively with him on the issue of partial birth abortion in the late 1990's. Since that time, religion has been her niche within the Democratic Party, and more recently she has urged John Kerry to stop ceding the religious mantle to Republicans.

With that in mind, it's interesting to note her ridicule directed toward Governor Rounds' announcement of a statewide day of prayer for rain two months ago, after being informed of it by some Herseth staffers who previously worked for Daschle. Even more interesting is her update to the post, hastily assuring us that Senator Daschle and Congresswoman Herseth don't feel the same way.

On a somewhat related note, it's reassuring to see that Ms. Sullivan's blog archives have been re-published.

NYT on Daschle's convention speech

The NYT had an interesting passage regarding Senator Daschle's convention speech in an op-ed headlined "A Show Called Hope." Excerpt:

On Tuesday night there was the Senate minority leader, Tom Daschle, on the podium saying - I wrote it down - "Americans aren't asking for special deals from Washington!" That giant snorting sound you heard was a year's worth of California chardonnay being expelled from the nasal passages of 15,000 K Street lobbyists.

Daschle, of course, is quite familiar with K Street lobbyists, as he's married to one of the most influential lobbyists in Washington. No one can seriously doubt that her influence is a function of her relationship with "Mr. Democrat."

Local high school student in the NYT

A Vermillion area high school student is pictured in today's edition of the New York Times in a story headlined "American Indians Expand College Hopes."

Where's Tom?

It looks like Tom Daschle is trying to get through the next four weeks of his congressional recess without having to debate John Thune. Perhaps it's time to borrow a page from Paul Wellstone's playbook and run an ad called "Where's Tom?" fashioned after Wellstone's classic "Where's Rudy?" ad in 1990. (To see the classic Wellstone ad, click HERE and scroll to the bottom.)

By the way

Isn't the drawing of Senator Daschle and John Thune in today's New York Times Magazine bizarre? It doesn't look like either of them.

The story in NYT Mag is headlined "Hunting Mr. Democrat."

True blue or Blue Dog?

Stephanie Herseth in South Dakota, quoted by the AP:

"The most effective vehicle for me to work in a bipartisan way in advancing rural interests is through the Blue Dog Democratic caucus, a group of more conservative, moderate Democrats who've worked effectively in reaching across the aisle with their Republican colleagues in the House to advance those issues that are important to rural America"

Stephanie Herseth in Boston, Massachusetts, speaking to the New York delegation at the Democratic Convention, quoted by Roll Call:

“It sure is a treat for someone from South Dakota, one of the country’s smallest delegations to address one of the country’s biggest delegations,” [Herseth] said.

But then she sounded more like a true believer. Speaking of her own special election victory two months ago, she said, “A true blue Democrat was elected in a red-blood red state.”

Outside of South Dakota, Herseth says she's a "true blue" Democrat. Inside South Dakota, Herseth says she's a conservative "Blue Dog" Democrat. Hopefully, Larry Diedrich will ask Herseth about the distinction between the two types of Democrats in the coming months.

(Via Sibby and Q.)

Yours truly on South Dakota Public Radio

If you haven't already, be sure to listen to the feature on local blogs by South Dakota Public Radio's Kevin Vandenbroek, which includes an interview with yours truly. You can listen to the feature, entitled "Blogs...and South Dakota politics" by clicking HERE. The piece was broadcast last Monday.

Beck on 'Only the paranoid survive'

Argus Leader executive editor Randell Beck has a column today in which he explicitly mentions the Dakota Blog Alliance under the headline "Er - not enough politics?" In the piece, Beck is particularly skeptical of a quote "purported" to be from Tom Daschle that is emblazoned on the Dakota Alliance T-shirt, to wit: "Only the paranoid survive." It seems Beck can't quite believe someone as wonderful as Tom Daschle would actually say something like that. Relevant graf from Beck's piece:

The front of the bright green shirt, which I plan to wear proudly in the privacy of my own home, is emblazoned with the words "Dakota Blog Alliance."

On the back are several Web addresses (example: www. idespiseeveryonewhodoesntagreewithme.com), and this quote, purporting to be from Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D.: "Only the paranoid survive.''

My first instinct was to doubt the veracity of the quote, but I managed to trace it to an October 2001 article in the Argus Leader in which Daschle, speaking about efforts to turn the old Homestake gold mine in Lead into a national laboratory, said: "There is a saying that only the paranoid survive. We will continue to stay paranoid until it is ribbon-cutting time.''

Although Webster's defines paranoia as a "mental disorder marked by delusions,'' one presumes the senator used the word back then to describe the kind of brazen, over-the-top political vigilance that sometimes is called for to see a public issue or project through.

The word crept into Daschle's language again in an August 2003 campaign swing through South Dakota. Referring to the difficulty of persuading Republican voters to cross over to vote for him in 2004, Daschle said: "Only the paranoid survive.''

In retrospect, one is hard-pressed to evaluate whether the senator was joking or meant what he said, but one thing seems clear: The bloggers have picked up the sound bite.

According to a piece in today's New York Times Magazine written by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, the quote "only the paranoid survive" is the Daschle campaign's motto:

In January, shortly after Thune announced his candidacy, the minority leader told me his motto for campaigns: ''Only the paranoid survive.''

I don't think one has to be hard-pressed to evaluate whether the senator was joking or meant what he said. It's just difficult for Beck to fit the fact that Daschle frequently makes that comment into his preconceived notions about Daschle. (I think in Beck's worldview, it's only possible for Republicans to say something like that.)

Meanwhile, David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, actually quotes the New York Times Magazine's story on the Daschle v. Thune race in today's edition of the Argus Leader. Once again, one can readily observe how quickly the Argus Leader's editors will publish something that negatively reflects on John Thune, but are automatically skeptical of anything that negatively reflects on Tom Daschle. This time, the AL has managed to follow up a story on the exact same day that it is published, rather than the following day. That has to be a record.

Presumably, Beck read the New York Times Magazine's story on the Daschle v. Thune race if he allowed Kranz to quote from it in today's edition of the Argus Leader. I guess he must have skimmed over that "only the paranoid survive" bit.