The Mike Madden report in today's Argus Leader headlined "National Democrats buying ads in state" captures the stunning hypocrisy of Tom Daschle:
The national Democratic Party is buying hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of television ads in South Dakota, despite a pledge by Sen. Tom Daschle to keep outside allies off the airwaves....For months, Daschle has blamed Thune for not stopping national Republicans and other groups that support him from advertising in South Dakota. Both Daschle and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which bought the new ads, have said the DSCC would not get involved in the ad war here.
Now Thune says the new Democratic Party ads show Daschle saying one thing at home and doing another in Washington....
The DSCC ads could neutralize one of Daschle's arguments against Thune, who had refused to join Daschle in a pledge to keep outside groups off the state's television sets. All along, Thune had said he couldn't control such groups and that they were likely to buy ads whether the candidates wanted them to or not.
DVT notes that Daschle savagely attacked Thune with TV ads for saying he couldn't control third party groups, but now Daschle's campaign spokesman says "due to campaign finance laws, candidates aren't allowed to coordinate with outside groups." Well, that's what Thune said all along, but Daschle tried to score some cheap political points by grandstanding on this issue. Not long ago, I heard a commentator say that Senate Dems were "counting on Daschle to hang on by his fingernails." This ad buy is a telling indication that Senate Dems are no longer counting on Daschle to hang on by his fingernails. Daschle's internal polls must be showing he's lost his grip.
Recent Comments