Roll Call, a Capitol Hill publication, has a piece today headlined "Thune to Get Star Billing This Week." Excerpt:
Wherever he goes in New York this week, former Rep. John Thune (R-S.D.) will receive a hero’s welcome.The city’s most famous statesman — former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) — will appear as the guest of honor at a sold-out brunch fundraiser for Thune’s Senate campaign Tuesday at Chelsea Piers. The event, according to informed sources, is aimed at so-called “Rangers” and “Pioneers” — those who have helped bundle hundreds of thousands of dollars to President Bush.
The Giuliani fundraiser is just one of several appearances Thune will be making this week. But his status as a hot commodity appears to have as much to do with the man he is trying to defeat — Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D) — as with Thune himself.
“In his own right John is an admirable guy, but beyond that, the fact that he is taking on Daschle has a tremendous amount of symbolism to it,” said Dirk Van Dongen, president of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors.
Thune has a full complement of events on his plate, beginning today, when he speaks from the convention podium during the opening session along with half a dozen other Republican Senate contenders.
After the Chelsea Piers fundraiser Tuesday, Thune will appear at a Jewish GOP fundraiser and then at a National Republican Senatorial Committee press event at 2 p.m.
On Wednesday afternoon, Thune will attend a “retirement party” fundraiser for Daschle, sponsored by the NRSC.
“We want to spread a message about why it’s important to replace Tom Daschle in the Senate if we want to get anything done,” Thune said in an interview late last week. “We are going to see a lot of people who might be inclined to contribute to the campaign.”
To Republicans, Daschle has emerged as the symbol of Democratic roadblocks to GOP initiatives in the Senate and, as a result, has been the target of a prolonged media campaign designed to undermine his own chances of re-election.
Currently, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Medical Association and a group called You’re Fired are running advertisements against Daschle. The NRSC has reserved more than $2 million worth of air time for an independent expenditure ad campaign set to begin Sept. 7.
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