South Dakota Politics

Daschle's day of cynicism

See this press release from Tom Daschle's office. Then see the rest of the story.

Daschle blocks all nominations

Howard Bashman has a roundup of the latest developments in the battle over judicial nominations.

Senator Daschle made the following howler on the Senate floor yesterday:

Democrats have sought to participate in the nomination process and work together with the administration and the majority in a bipartisan fashion to confirm public servants in the highest traditions of our Nation.
Regrettably, the administration has chosen to reject the course of bipartisanship, even though Democrats have tried to accommodate the President’s goal of filling judicial vacancies.

Senator Cornyn responded by noting that Senator Daschle has been blocking a BIPARTISAN majority who would confirm these judicial nominations, were it not for the funny math in the Senate where 41 is more than 59 (as Zell Miller notes in his book):

[N]ever before in the history of the United States of America have a handful of Democrats—handful of any
party—been able to successfully block a bipartisan majority from confirming President Bush’s highly qualified judicial nominees.

(Emphasis added.) Clearly, it is Senator Daschle who is really rejecting the course of bipartisanship.

Daily Kos ridicules Glodt

This AP story about Stephanie Herseth's "secret website" ignited a firestorm of scorn from Daily Kos, aimed at state GOP executive director Jason Glodt and his mental abilities. Thus Kos:

So... when you clicked on Herseth's public ad, on the public Daily Kos, on the public Internet, taking you to a public website, that can be accessed by the public -- you were actually visiting a secret web site.

Got that? Idiotic Republican logic at its best.

The point is that Stephanie Herseth does not have a link on her main website to the "secret site." Now why would that be? Could it be because Herseth would rather not have curious South Dakotans, trying to find out her views, come across links to the Berkeley-based Daily Kos, where they might find posts like this?

I know Jason Glodt. Jason Glodt is a friend of mine. And Jason Glodt is dumb like a fox.

Daschle almost killed the UVVA

The AP has a report reflecting on the passage of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act yesterday headlined "Conservatives Win Big With Fetus Bill." Excerpt:

[The UVVA] earlier in the day came within one vote of failing, when the Senate voted 50-49 to defeat an amendment by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

Tom Daschle voted to kill UVVA by supporting the Feinstein amendment, and then voted to support UVVA when it came up for a vote. It was a classic case of Tom Daschle having it both ways. Note that Senator Tim Johnson voted to defeat UVVA. It's amazing how these two show their true colors when an election is many years away.

Jeff Gannon reports

Jeff Gannon, resident DC expert on South Dakota politics, has a new story published today headlined "Daschle Losing Native American Support." The piece discusses the candidacy of Tim Giago, Tom Daschle's opponent in the Democratic primary, who officially announced his candidacy this week, as this AP story reports.

DVT has more on the dissipating Native American support for Tom Daschle.

AP exposes Herseth's secret website

The AP's Chet Brokaw has an intriguing report on political blogs headlined "GOP criticizes Democratic House candidate's Internet fund-raising." Excerpt:

Republicans have accused Democratic U.S. House candidate Stephanie Herseth of maintaining a secret Web page to receive campaign donations raised from ads on liberal groups' Internet sites.

But a Herseth campaign official scoffed at the charge, saying the Web page is not secret and can be found easily with a standard search of the Internet....

Jason Glodt, executive director of the South Dakota Republican Party, said the Herseth campaign arranged the special Internet donation site to prevent most South Dakotans from knowing about Herseth's relationship with such liberal groups....

The supposedly secret Web site is one of the first results when an Internet user does a standard search for the terms "blog" and "Herseth" on the Google search engine, [Herseth spokesman Russ] Levsen said.

You can access Herseth's "secret site" HERE. Note that there's no link to the "secret site" via Herseth's main website. None. The "Contribute" link on the main site leads HERE (Note the slight difference; there are no links to Daily Kos and Democratic Underground). That's why Glodt is calling the page WITH links to Daily Kos and Democratic Underground a "secret website."

A photo you won't see on Daschle's campaign website

This Reuters photo was taken today after a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new DNC headquarters in Washington.

UPDATE: Ryne McClaren dubs them "the three amigos."

Daschle votes for two poison pills to UVVA, then supports UVVA

As predicted, after voting FOR the Feinstein "single victim" poison pill amendment to the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (UVVA), and FOR the Murray poison pill amendment to UVVA, Senator Tom Daschle then voted to support the UVVA, which he had been working all afternoon and into the evening to undermine (note that the junior senator from South Dakota, Tim Johnson, voted for both poison pills and AGAINST UVVA). Once again, Tom Daschle is trying to have it both ways on a controversial issue, as he has done on guns, and on the Iraq war.

The AP is reporting: "Senate Passes Fetus Protection Bill."

Daschle votes for Feinstein poison pill amendment

The Feinstein "single victim" substitute amendment, which would have killed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, has failed 50-49, no thanks to Tom Daschle. Tom Daschle voted FOR the poison pill Feinstein substitute. Tom Daschle is wrangling to kill the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, and then will cynically vote for the UVVA when it comes up for a vote (just a prediction). If he truly supported the UVVA, he would have voted against the Feinstein poison pill amendment. He did the same thing on the gun manufacturer immunity bill. Note that he followed Feinstein's lead back then, too. It's a classic case of Tom Daschle having it both ways.

UPDATE: See Tom Daschle's letter to a constituent (pdf) last year regarding the UVVA.

ANOTHER UPDATE: The AP is reporting: "Fetus Protection Bill Nears Passage." Excerpt:

The Senate cleared the way for passing the Unborn Victims of Violence Act by defeating an amendment, backed by abortion rights lawmakers, that would have increased penalties but maintained that an attack on a pregnant victim was a single-victim crime.

(Emphasis added.) Daschle voted for the amendment, making him, as the AP asserts, an "abortion rights lawmaker."

DVT on a tear

DVT is on a tear today, particularly regarding Senator Tom Daschle's latest flip-flop on the war. Daschle really does say one thing in South Dakota and its 180 degree opposite in Washington. Start HERE and keep reading.

Debate begins on Unborn Victims of Violence Act

The Senate has begun debate on the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. A vote is expected later today. The AP has a story headlined "Senate Takes Up Fetus Protection Bill." Excerpt:

On the other side, NARAL Pro-Choice America delivered more than 130,000 petitions to senators urging defeat of the bill because the group said it would allow judges to rule that humans at any stage of development deserve protection, even when that protection trumps a woman's interest in ending a pregnancy.

"This would be the first time in federal law that an embryo or fetus is recognized as a separate and distinct person under the law, separate from the woman," said NARAL president Kate Michelman. "Much of this is preparing for the day the Supreme Court has a majority that will overrule Roe v. Wade."

On October 29, 2002, shortly before the mid-term elections, Tom Daschle sent out a mass fundraising e-mail on behalf of NARAL. You can access the e-mail by clicking HERE and scrolling halfway down the page. The e-mail is headlined "Last Chance to Keep Pro-Choice Leadership in the Senate." Excerpt:

I’ve seen the difference NARAL can make, and I believe you and countless others can help Senator Carnahan and other pro-choice candidates facing tough races. If you make an urgent donation to NARAL’s Save the Senate Campaign today, it will make an important difference for these candidates....

As the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, I’ve stood up for a woman’s right to choose, and the pro-choice leadership of the Senate has made a difference by safeguarding women’s rights from the anti-choice agenda of the Bush administration. Please give to NARAL today, so NARAL can mobilize the resources to get out the pro-choice vote on Election Day.

To get a glimpse of how NARAL feels about the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, click HERE.

Also, Michael Meehan, one of Tom Daschle's top advisers, is NARAL's vice president for politics, campaigns and strategy, essentially overseeing all of the organization's political operations, according to a report last year in Roll Call.

Stay tuned to C-Span 2 for developments as the debate progresses.

CORRECTION: It looks like Michael Meehan has moved from NARAL to become John Kerry's spokesman.

Unborn Victims of Violence Act debate begins

The Senate has scheduled the Unborn Victims of Violence Act for debate tomorrow. There are two poison pill amendments that will be introduced, the Feinstein "single victim" substitute, and an amendment by Senator Patty Murray that would effectively kill the bill. Watch Senator Daschle's voting behavior on these two amendments, as well as on the Act itself. Will he try to have it both ways, as he did on the gun manufacturer immunity bill a month ago?

Daschle donor only gives to those "who share his values"

Knight Ridder has a story headlined "Political donor generous with his trust, opinions and money" discussing Peter Buttenwieser, one of Tom Daschle's closest friends. Excerpt:

For a decade, [Buttenweiser] has been one of the top individual donors in America to political campaigns - ranked by some as No. 1. He gives away millions. Famously to Democratic candidates who share his values. Reliably to organizations that advance women's interests, such as Planned Parenthood and Emily's List. ...

(Emphasis added.) According to opensecrets.org, Buttenwieser has given Daschle's 2004 campaign $4000. The Knight Ridder piece then quotes Senator Tom Daschle regarding Buttenwieser's lack of cynicism:

"We've talked about that many times," says Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, one of Buttenwieser's closest friends. "His lack of cynicism, that's a gift ... . Peter remembers the victories and forgets the losses. You have to be somewhat of the eternal optimist - and he is."

Daschle calls Buttenwieser an idealist. "I believe that Peter appreciates he is making a big difference," he says. "And that's all he wants."

One wonders whether Buttenwieser will pressure Daschle to kill the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which will be debated in the Senate tomorrow. After all, the man thinks Emily's List, a radical pro-abortion PAC, is great, and so for that matter, does Tom Daschle (See this link where Daschle praises Emily's List).

Daschle curries favor with Buzzflash

Tom Daschle sent Buzzflash a copy of the statement he made on the floor of the Senate yesterday, blasting the Bush administration for "attacking good people for telling the truth." He also e-mailed the statement to those on his DASHPAC e-mail list, and the DSCC's blog has the statement. The "Buzzflash Note" is a priceless backhanded compliment:

BuzzFlash readers know that we have been highly critical of Tom Daschle's performance as Minority Leader in the Senate. In fact, we have repeatedly called for his resignation in editorials and headlines. However, his Senate office sent us the following statement that Daschle made on the Senate floor this week, and we want to say, finally, "Good job Senator Daschle!"

We hope that this indicates a new trend in Daschle's stance, and that we will see fewer comments that end up being used on the Bush/Cheney weblog to indicate that Daschle supports many of Bush's policies, including his conduct of the Iraq War.

But we are open minded and glad to give credit where credit is due.

As far as the following statement by Senator Daschle, BuzzFlash says, "Keep it up, Senator! Nicely said, indeed."

(Emphasis added.) Could this be an indication that Daschle's people are frequently reading the Dakota Alliance of blogs?

Of course, Daschle has his own problems with attacking good people for telling the truth.

Family member lobbying in Kentucky

A situation has arisen in Kentucky that bears a striking resemblance to the situation Tom Daschle finds himself in with regard to his lobbyist wife. The story, appearing in the Louisville Courier-Journal, is headlined "Senate leader's spouse is lobbyist."

Interestingly, Larry Sabato, an expert on politics who is frequently quoted by Argus Leader reporters, had some scathing comments about this situation. Excerpt:

Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said, "I see conflicts galore in this relationship."

"When she speaks to the executive branch officials, surely these officials and the governor know she's married to the president of the Senate. And what she says to the president of the Senate really matters on their agencies' funding and other pending legislation," Sabato said. "It would be awfully difficult to say no to her I would think."

An AP report headlined "Watchdog Group Questions Senate President's Wife's Job" also mentions Saboto's comments.

David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, most recently quoted Sabato in a story published February 9. Kranz quotes him frequently. As spousal lobbying will inevitably come up as an issue in the Senate race here in South Dakota, it's reasonable to expect Kranz to get a quote from Sabato regarding Linda Daschle's lobbying.

Giago to announce tomorrow

Tim Giago, the Native American journalist opposing Tom Daschle in the Democratic primary, will make his candidacy official at an event tomorrow in Kyle, SD. It will be interesting to see if there will be any mention of the event in the Argus Leader either tomorrow or Thursday.

Daschle makes excuses for bungling energy bill

The Black Hills Pioneer publishes a letter by Tom Daschle today under the headline "Removing Protections for Polluters in Energy Bill Will Boost Ethanol Production." Excerpt:

Some say that the energy bill would have become law if two more senators had voted to end debate, but that is not the case. One of the leaders of the opposition, Senator Gregg recently announced, "We actually had a lot more than six [Republican votes]...If they had won the cloture motion, we would have killed the bill on a point of order [CQ Today, 11/26/03, p. 12]."

But what about the comments of Senator Chuck Grassley regarding Daschle's failure to deliver on ethanol? Grassley takes a back seat to no one in being a champion for ethanol, and said the following:

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who often is complimented by Sen. Daschle for bipartisan work on legislative measures, said the Senate vote "was plain and simple a Democrat filibuster. This bill could pass if Democrat leaders would help. The Democratic leadership has clout, and if he had tried, Sen. Daschle could have gotten a few more votes for ethanol. Only 13 Democrats voted to stop filibuster. That's hardly more than one-fourth. But almost 90 percent of Republicans voted to stop the filibuster."

Grassley also had this to say:

“If a Democrat leader can deliver 46 out of 49 votes to keep the president’s good judges from being approved,” Grassley said, “he surely ought to be able to deliver 15 out of 49 votes for the energy bill when it’s so important to South Dakota.”

Also, see this.

Daschle blasts Bush's "abuse of power"

Senator Tom Daschle was on the Senate floor this morning blasting the Bush administration for its "abuse of power" in countering the allegations of Richard Clarke, according to a Reuters story headlined "Clarke Denies Playing Election-Year Politics." Excerpt:

On Capitol Hill, Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota took to the Senate floor to accuse the White House of "abuses of power."

He equated the effort to discredit Clarke to a similar move against former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill over a tell-all book in January and the leaking of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame when her husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson, accused Bush of hyping pre-war intelligence on Iraq.

"I think the people around the president crossed into dangerous territory. We are seeing abuses of power that cannot be tolerated. The president needs to put a stop to it right now. We need to get to the truth and the president needs to help us do that," Daschle said.

Of course, Daschle has his own problems with "abuse of power" back home, as Jeff Gannon, resident DC expert on South Dakota politics, has detailed.

John Thune lobbies for ethanol

The Hill has a blurb today on John Thune's lobbying activity for Broin Cos., a South Dakota ethanol company important to South Dakota's agricultural economy:

Lobbyist and former Rep. John Thune (R-S.D.), who is running for Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle’s (D-S.D.) seat this fall, is representing the Broin Cos. on “improving EPA support and regulation of the ethanol industry,” lobbying records show.

It's nice to know somebody is working to help the ethanol industry in South Dakota, unlike a certain someone who goes off to sign books when the ethanol industry needs him most.

Daschle and judicial nominations

Tomorrow's edition of The Hill has a report headlined "Daschle: Move Dem nominees." Excerpt:

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) is threatening to stall President Bush’s judicial nominees if the president does not take action soon to appoint more than a dozen Democrats to government boards and commissions. ...

“There has to be a reciprocal treatment of nominees,” Daschle said in a brief floor statement last week. “It will be very, very difficult for us to move forward on nominations in the future if the matter isn’t resolved.”

So Tom Daschle filibusters nearly all of the nominations to the federal appeals court by President Bush, and expects to be taken seriously when he demands that his Democratic cronies be appointed to federal offices. You have to hand it to the guy for his ability to make the statement above with a sraight face.

Rep. Katherine Harris in Rapid City

Katherine Harris, the former Florida Secretary of State who became famous during the 2000 post-election fiasco, was in Rapid City yesterday to support Larry Diedrich. The Rapid City Journal has a story headlined "Harris stumps for Diedrich."

Interestingly, during the post-election fiasco in 2000, Tom Daschle urged Harris to recuse herself because of "problems of perception" according to a story in the LA Times at the time.

"She has a very tough job to do, but I wonder if it may not be time to recuse herself," Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said earlier this week. "I certainly wouldn't allege any wrongdoing, but I think there is a very serious problem of perception."

Abourezk v. ProBush.com lawsuit moves forward

According to a blurb in Saturday's Argus Leader (not online), the case of Abourezk v. ProBush.com has survived a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Former U.S. Senator Jim Abourezk of South Dakota, Tom Daschle's mentor, sued the editor of ProBush.com for defamation after the site put the senator on a list of "traitors." The case has garnered interest from constitutional law scholars Eugene Volokh and Glenn Reynolds. To read the briefs and motions filed in the case, go to ProBush.com and scroll about halfway down. For more background, click HERE.

UPDATE: The AP has a report.

Stuart Smalley a Daschle Speechwriter?

According to a story in today's edition of the New York Times Magazine, headlined "Al Franken, Seriously," uber-liberal "satirist" Al Franken has helped Tom Daschle with speeches:

The great political satirists -- Dick Gregory, Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce -- have all worked from a depth of emotion. But few if any have had the opportunities that Franken is enjoying, thanks both to his establishment sensibility and the fact that he's living in an era when the lines between politics, entertainment and media are blurred. He and his family were regulars at the Renaissance Weekend retreat the Clintons made famous during their years in the White House; he counts Bill and Hillary Clinton as friends and has helped Hillary Clinton and Tom Daschle, the Senate minority leader, with speeches.