The Washington Post has a piece in today's edition headlined "Daschle's Senate Role Dominates S.D. Race; Rival Says Minority Leader Answers to Liberals." It's a generally good piece, although I agree with Hugh Hewitt that there's a major oversight in the story. I think the WaPo story makes an important point about "Daschle fatigue" that is worth exploring further by the Dakota Alliance as election day nears. Relevant excerpt:
At the Roadhouse Cafe in Watertown, where Daschle would host a community picnic a few hours later, Derek Stone and Lew Tollefson represented the types of voters that worry Democrats. Stone, the 24-year-old manager of cafe's convenience store counter, said he is an undecided voter who leans Democratic. He is sick of campaign commercials and phone calls -- "You can't listen to the radio more than five minutes without hearing one of them," he said -- but he doesn't blame Thune. Daschle "has been there a long time," Stone said, echoing a Thune campaign theme. "I think it's time for somebody else to have a chance, see what they can do."Lunching at a nearby table, Tollefson, 50, said he has voted for Ronald Reagan, Bush and the president's father but also for Democrats Bill Clinton and George S. McGovern (the last South Dakotan with Daschle's prominence). Like a remarkable number of residents, he has met both Daschle and Thune, and he praised the minority leader for "bringing big [federal] dollars into the state." But Tollefson, who owns a business that makes components for telecommunications products, said he will vote for Thune. "I've met him, I like him. He's a wholesome guy," he said. "I'm not a liberal Democrat. I'm afraid Tom is."
(Emphases added.) It is rather remarkable that it's the Washington Post that coined the phrase "Daschle fatigue," rather than the bloggers. It's also worth noting that only one person (Karl Mundt) has been elected to a fourth term in the Senate in the state's history. Both George McGovern and Larry Pressler were defeated when they sought a fourth term. I think the notion that it's time for a changing of the guard will definitely be a factor in this race.
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