The unique power of SD's two Senate seats

Sibby has posted an interesting column from a free-lance writer. Excerpt from the column:

[T]hanks to the wisdom of our founding fathers, South Dakotans can affect change well beyond the geographical boundaries of their state. The framers of our Constitution designed Congress so that the interests of South Dakota (and other states whose populations are comparatively small) are protected through the establishment of equal representation in the Senate. This gives South Dakota a tremendous amount of clout in the United States Congress and the nation as a whole.

Based on 2000 census data, South Dakota is generously blessed with one vote in the Senate for every 377,422 of its citizens. That’s nearly 45 times greater representation than California with only one vote for every 16,935,824 people. Consider that other bastions of liberal thought like New York have only one vote for every 9,488,228 residents and Massachusetts has only one vote for every 3,174,548 of its citizens. South Dakotans would be well served to ensure that this tremendous influence is used for their advantage – not for the advantage of those who oppose their values -- or for the personal benefit of Tom Daschle’s political career.