Vacuum

Here's an Associated Press story entitled "Democrats moving on without Daschle."  Excerpt:

But Democrats face a tough rebuilding job after the November defeat of Sen. Tom Daschle by John Thune, two of the state's top political science professors said.

"I think Democrats are going to have a more difficult time of it because Tom Daschle basically had put together the statewide Democratic Party. He ran the leadership institutions. He certainly worked very hard to cull and train and cultivate the next generations of young Democratic officeholders," Bill Richardson, head of political science at the University of South Dakota, said.

"The Democratic Party really has a tremendous challenge," Bob Burns, South Dakota State University's political science head, agreed.

"There's a tremendous amount of organization and building and recruitment that has to occur in order for Democrats to regain some kind of foothold in state government, and that's not going to be easy," Burns said.

With Daschle gone, Sen. Tim Johnson will continue to be a leader in the Democratic Party. But Burns and Richardson said they expect that Democrats will look particularly toward Rep. Stephanie Herseth, who won the state's lone seat in the U.S. House, to rebuild the party.

"On the Democratic side, I think there's a real vacuum or void right now. I suppose it falls to Congresswoman Herseth to pick up the baton and provide the leadership on the Democratic side," Burns said. "I think Democrats are probably looking for a fresh face to develop that leadership."