South Dakota Politics

Marlon Brando

The Fargo-Grand Forks Forum has an interesting piece on Marlon Brando's activism on behalf of Native Americans, particularly in South Dakota, headlined "Brando remembered for off-screen activism." Excerpt:

Marlon Brando's movie career and his celebrity support of American Indians famously intersected when he refused to personally accept an Oscar for his role in "The Godfather.''

Instead, Brando sent a young woman to accept the award and serve as his voice, a voice that noted the "recent happenings at Wounded Knee" – a reference to armed activists' occupation of a village on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation in 1973....

In 1975, he went to Rapid City, S.D., to post a $30,000 cash bond for AIM leader Russell Means, who was charged in a shooting death of a Pine Ridge man. He also appeared at an AIM rally at the state capitol in Pierre, S.D.

Brando even has an often-forgotten cameo role in one of the darkest chapters in AIM history – the conviction of Leonard Peltier for the 1975 murders of two FBI agents at Pine Ridge.

Before fleeing to Canada, Peltier was stopped by police in Oregon; he was driving a recreational vehicle registered to Brando. When police searched the vehicle, they found a pistol belonging to one of the slain agents – later found to contain a fingerprint matched to Peltier.

Peltier, an Ojibwe from the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, was convicted of the murders by a federal jury in Fargo. Brando was one of a long list of celebrities who called for Peltier's release.

Vodkapundit on Daschle and Michael Moore

Vodkapundit has a post briefly discussing Senator Daschle's attendance at the premiere of Michael Moore's movie "Fahrenheit 9/11." Excerpt:

I'm guessing the real question regarding Moore's propaganda effort isn't how much it will hurt Bush--those who'd believe it were already voting against him--but rather how much the credibility of the Democratic politicians and media types who kowtowed to Moore last week will suffer in the aftermath. I suspect Tom Daschle in particular will rue his decision to attend the DC premiere.

Sibby reports on Daschle's visit to Mitchell today

Sibby has a posted a report with a photo of Daschle campaigning in Mitchell earlier today.

DVT analyzes Daschle's response to "Fahrenheit 9/11"

Don't miss DVT's latest tour-de-force, headlined "Daschle's Failure of Moral Leadership on Michael Moore."

John Edwards: "Tom is in the race of his life"

The White House Bulletin reports that Senator John Edwards recently sent out a fundraising e-mail on behalf of Senator Tom Daschle:

Sen. John Edwards' One America Committee today launched a fund raising campaign asking potential donors to "give as much as you can" to help Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle win a tough reelection campaign this year.

In an e-mail, Edwards wrote, "Tom is in the race of his life, and he needs your help to compete against millions from the Republican Party and third party groups that are attacking his record. Please give what you can - $50, $100 - as much as you can to help keep Tom Daschle fighting for us in the Senate. Because if Tom Daschle wins, we stand a good chance of gaining a Democratic Senate that John Kerry can work with as president."

Daschle's negative blog ads

The Campaign Web Review blog notes the recent switch in tactics in Tom Daschle's blog ads, and asks, "Why the shift from negative to positive?" Note that the editor of CWR is a former staffer for Al Gore, and yet still characterizes a Daschle blog ad as "negative." That's a more accurate description than the ostensibly objective David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, could bring himself to describe it (Scroll to bottom).

The Hill: Linda Daschle "top lobbyist"

The Capitol Hill publication The Hill has highlighted Linda Daschle as a "top lobbyist" for the aviation industry based on "conversations with the major players on K Street, congressional staffers and other Washington insiders." Excerpt from The Hill:

Linda Hall Daschle, wife of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), is a veteran when it comes to aviation issues. During President Bill Clinton’s first term, she served as second-in-command at the Federal Aviation Administration. Before that, Daschle lobbied at the ATA and then the AAAE. So even though she voluntarily does not lobby the Senate, her contacts in the aviation world and her knowledge of the issues are as good as anyone’s in the industry.

The Economist on Daschle and "Fahrenheit 9/11"

The Economist has a new piece headlined "Moore's Law." Excerpt:

But “Fahrenheit 9/11” also has some worrying implications for the Democrats. It reminds middle America that liberal activists like to blame their own country for the world's problems. So far no prominent Democrat has seen fit to denounce Mr Moore's view that the war on terrorism is a fraud (the silence from John Kerry has been deafening). Instead, party elders including Tom Daschle and Terry McAuliffe attended the film's premiere in Washington, DC, and other Democrats have helped publicise it.

Mr Moore is a dangerous man to flirt with: remember how Wesley Clark's campaign collapsed when Mr Moore simultaneously endorsed the general and described Mr Bush as a deserter? Mr Moore has a long record of denouncing the United States to foreigners. The Republicans are citing him as proof of their charge that the Democrats are “a coalition of the wild-eyed”. If they have any sense, they may even steal a Moore cinematic technique: show the Democratic elite traipsing along the red carpet to see “Fahrenheit 9/11”, and then cut to a grainy shot of Mr Moore telling Britons that Americans are “possibly the dumbest people on the planet.”

Mr Moore is a formidable ally if all you want to do is attack Mr Bush. But the Democrats want to govern the country. With Messrs Bush and Kerry running neck-and-neck in the polls, they should be careful whom they hang out with.

(Emphasis added.)

Daschle for Vice President?

Did you know that Tom Daschle is on the long list of those being considered by John Kerry to be his running mate? The National Journal's "Hotline" reported this on June 23. Obviously, that's not going to happen, as a state law would require Daschle to give up his Senate seat in the unlikely event that Kerry would offer him the job.

Senator Allen notes Argus Leader's "uneven campaign coverage"

Jeff Gannon, resident DC expert on South Dakota politics, has a piece today headlined "Allen Upbeat on Holding Senate Majority." Excerpt:

[National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Senator George] Allen is most hopeful in the South Dakota race, where Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) faces Rep. John Thune (R-SD). Allen pointed out that Daschle has spent $6 million in campaign ads that started airing in June 2003 that have left him dead even with Thune. Thune has yet to run a single television ad. Allen told Talon News that he expected Thune to overcome the uneven campaign coverage of the state's largest newspaper, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

Daschle solicits out-of-staters to sign his anti-out-of-stater petition

Horologium notices that Senator Daschle is now advertising on liberal out-of-state blogs soliciting out-of-staters to sign a petition urging out-of-staters to keep out-of-state ads off the air in South Dakota. If that's not enough to leave you awestruck by the cynicism of it all, there's also the matter of all of the out-of-state money Tom Daschle is raising. Quentin Riggins is on the case.

Chamber of Commerce newspaper ads

According to a piece in The Hill, a Capitol Hill publication, headlined "Business ads targeting Daschle in South Dakota," the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is running ads in 11 South Dakota newspapers urging Tom Daschle to pass the corporate tax bill. I didn't see the ad in today's edition of the Argus Leader. If anybody has seen this ad, please let me know.

DVT scores pic of Daschle going to "Fahrenheit 9/11"

Be sure to see DVT's latest post, which contains a picture of Tom Daschle running late for the premiere of Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Daschle has a habit of hob-nobbing with Hollywood elite

First he paid homage to Michael Moore by attending the Washington premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11" last week. At noon today, according to the LA Times, Senator Tom Daschle will be attending a fundraiser lunch on his behalf in Brentwood, California, where various Hollywood luminaries will be "rallying to his side." Tom Daschle sure seems to be hob-nobbing with the Hollywood elite quite frequently of late.

According to the LAT report, Victoria Hopper, the wife of actor Dennis Hopper, will be one of the hosts. The Hoppers have a home on Venice Beach, and have held fundraisers there in the past. I wonder if the Hopper home is the venue for this Daschle fundraiser? That's awfully swank for a man who never tires of telling us he doesn't stray far from his roots.

The picture below is of Dennis and Victoria.

In the spring of 2003, Daschle was in California as a guest of the Director's Guild of America (DGA). While having an "intimate breakfast" with a throng of Hollywood elite that included Warren Beatty, Daschle discussed the problem of "runaway film production," an issue of pressing importance to South Dakota's working families.

Below is Daschle pictured with Warren Beatty.

But wait! There's more! There's also a picture of Daschle with actor Martin Sheen during a College Democrats rally in June 2002.

The question is, in the spirit of the Argus Leader assistant managing editor's promise that the AL will be "the singular source in the state for factual, unbiased news about the candidates," will there be a report in the pages of the AL on this glamorous Hollywood fundraiser? If no such report is forthcoming, the AL won't be such a "singular source" will it?

DOH: It's Martin Sheen Daschle is with, not Charlie. Sorry about that. I've made the correction. A reader also points out that Dennis Hopper claims to be a Republican and a Bush supporter. However, this link shows that Dennis Hopper is a "bundler" for John Kerry.

Glassman: Daschle "paid homage" to Michael Moore

James K. Glassman, a columnist for Scripps Howard News Service, has an excellent column out today headlined "Wild-eyed Democrats." Excerpt:

So Moore is radical and a hater. But we've had a lot of those in our history. The big difference is that Moore is now embraced by the Democratic Party's establishment. Among those paying homage at his film's Washington opening were Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe and Florida Sen. Bob Graham, a Democrat. What on earth are these people doing at a Michael Moore premiere? They're scared. America has been undergoing a sea change over the past quarter-century, and Democrats, in this election, are trying to turn back the tide. Whatever it takes.

(Emphasis added.) Yes, much as Tom Daschle is trying to give South Dakotans the impression that he was just casually going out to the movies last Wednesday night, that's hardly the case. According to the Daschle campaign blog, it's "absurd" for us to assume Daschle endorses Michael Moore's views (see the June 25 post by Dan Pfieiffer). Oh, really? Well, why can't Daschle publicly say that he doesn't endorse Michael Moore's views then, instead of making some lame comment about "sparking debate"? The answer is simple: because to do so would outrage the base of the Democratic Party, and cost him his leadership post.

The Washington premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11" was politically symbolic for the Democrats. If Tom Daschle had not shown up, that would have been big news, because it would have been seen as a public disavowal of Michael Moore by a Democratic leader. Tom Daschle was not just casually going to the movies. He was engaging in an act of political symbolism that his duties as Democratic Leader required.

In a telling passage, liberal columnist Maureen Dowd reported that Senate Democrats, Daschle presumably among them (he is, after all, their leader) delayed final passage of a defense spending measure in order for him and his colleagues to attend the premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11." Thus Dowd:

While Democratic lawmakers delayed final passage of a defense spending bill so they could mingle with Michael Moore, the once sweat-free Bushies were acting jangly.

Daschle delaying final passage of a defense spending bill so he could mingle with Michael Moore. I think that speaks volumes.

Daschle fundraising letter says Bush agenda "reckless," Kranz fails to report

This past Sunday, David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, quoted a recent Thune fundraising letter at length. It's interesting to note that Kranz never reported one word of a Daschle fundraising letter sent this past February in which Daschle makes the following comment:

"The White House views me as the chief impediment to President Bush's reckless agenda, and they will stop at nothing to defeat me this November."

You can read the entire text of the Daschle letter by clicking HERE.

It's interesting how Daschle tells his liberal supporters that the Bush agenda is "reckless," but when he's at home in South Dakota he boasts about supporting Bush 75 percent of the time.

At any rate, Kranz never reported one word of this letter. According to DVT, at the time this Daschle letter came out, Kranz made the claim that he didn't report on fundraisers. Obviously, there's selective reporting going on here. It's yet another example of Kranz's outrageous bias while holding himself out as an objective observer.

Give your friends the Bird!

The Bird, South Dakota's newest statewide opinion journal, hits news stands today. Be sure to pick up your complimentary copy, and then subscribe. In the coming months, the Bird will become a must-read for cutting edge analysis on issues, events, and figures on the South Dakota political scene.

And don't miss the Bird blog!

Support Dusty Johnson

Sibby has a great post about Dusty Johnson, the Republican candidate for the Public Utilities Commission. Dusty is a longtime friend and fellow USD alumnus, and one of the smartest guys I know. Be sure to help him out in any way you can as the election approaches.

DVT outs "Bob the Daschle Guy"

Don't miss DVT's amusing photograph of "Bob the Daschle Guy." Bob is a Daschle operative apparently tasked with following John Thune around with a video camera, documenting his every move.

Kranz Watch

Quentin Riggins and DVT do a fine job of dissecting David Kranz's latest column. David Kranz, of course, is the dean of South Dakota political reporters. DVT makes the excellent point that while Kranz was quick to disclose his sources on a piece of information damaging to Tom Daschle, Kranz doesn't tell us today how he obtained a copy of John Thune's national fundraising letter. "Do you suppose the Daschle campaign gave it to him?" DVT queried. Answer: "Of course they did, silly."

Clearly, there are many layers to David Kranz's pro-Daschle bias. But I think the Dakota Alliance is doing a masterful job of peeling away these layers and exposing Kranz for the Daschle shill that he is.

The Four Directions Committee and the Mashantucket Pequots

The Hartford Courant has an extremely interesting story today headlined "Pequot Role Seen In Crucial Election." (Registration required.)

The Mashantucket Pequots have become behind-the-scenes players in one of the highest profile political races in the country - the fall South Dakota elections, which could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.

Organizers of an Indian voter registration campaign say the influential Mashantuckets are blocking their fund-raising efforts, a contention the Pequots deny....

The controversy surfaced last week when Henry Buffalo, a Chippewa Indian who is a lawyer for a Minnesota tribe, berated the Pequots at an open session of the National Congress of American Indians for trying to thwart the registration and get-out-the-vote campaign. Political observers say Indian voters in Western and Midwestern states could play a pivotal role in congressional and presidential elections this fall.

Buffalo blasted the Pequots for assuming that the Rapid City-based "Four Directions Committee" was merely a front for the Democrats. Speaking at a meeting at Mohegan Sun, he said the Pequots told Sodak Gaming Inc., a supplier of slot machines based in Rapid City, not to make a $100,000 donation to the campaign. The Pequots are one of Sodak's best customers.

"The Pequots told Sodak, `Don't give money to Four Directions.' That is absolutely outrageous," said Buffalo, lawyer for the Minnesota-based Prairie Island Indians, a leading supporter of the South Dakota registration drive. He said the Pequots - whose wealth from Foxwoods Resort Casino makes them influential among potential donors - have made it hard to raise money for the project.

I'll have more on this later.

Argus Leader executive editor not fond of blogs

Randell Beck, executive editor of the Argus Leader, serves up another moronic column today, replete with guffaw-inducing passages like the following:

She [Randell Beck's wife] does not, to the best of my knowledge, maintain one of those Internet blogs from which she hurls venomous attacks on those who dare disagree with her view of the world.

Aww, c'mon Randell. We bloggers are obviously just trying to spark debate. I thought that was a good thing. You know, First Amendment and all of that.

Randell Beck, of course, is pure as the driven snow when it comes to launching venomous attacks. Take the following comment he recently made on a local radio show, where, practically in the same breath, he decries name-calling and then calls people names:

That men and women can debate issues of great importance without getting down into the gutter, without calling each other names. And I really do think that represents the way we in South Dakota feel about debating the issues of the day. But there’s a small group of people—and you know, some of them don’t live in South Dakota, not everybody out there knows that. You know there’s a couple of yahoos in Minneapolis and there’s a guy out in Denver, there’s people from outside the walls of South Dakota who are perpetuating this hate campaign.

After Beck's venomous attack, he got blog-swarmed. Andrew Sullivan was taken aback by Beck's obtuseness. It even caught the attention of Mark Steyn.

Elsewhere in Beck's column is this guffaw-inducing quote:

"This newspaper will be the singular source in the state for factual, unbiased news about the candidates and where they stand,'' said assistant managing editor Patrick Lalley, who coordinates our political coverage.

Earth to Patrick Lalley: nobody's buying it. Patrick Lalley, the guy Beck now says is "coordinating" the AL's political coverage, is the same guy who has in the past offhandedly referred to Republicans as "evil." Gee, do you think that sentiment might shade the AL's coverage of the 2004 campaigns just a teensy bit? A reasonable person could believe that it's unlikely that Lalley can separate himself from his strongly held feelings as he makes split-second decisions in the day-to-day chaos of the newsroom.

One of the worst biases exhibited by the editors of the Argus Leader is the bias of omission. That is, there are many stories regarding South Dakota politics (usually stories negatively reflecting on Tom Daschle) that simply go unreported in the pages of the AL. (For a recent compelling example, click HERE.) It's not just about the fact that what makes it into the pages of the Argus Leader is often biased, it's the fact that there's so much that doesn't even make it into its pages.

Hopefully, the pattern of the Argus Leader's bias of omission will end after July 4, when Beck claims that the election season begins "in earnest." But if today's article by David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, is any guide, don't hold your breath. Once again, Kranz omits negative news about Daschle and reports negative news about Thune. Daschle's negativity a little over a week ago in using the same tactics as Tom Delay goes unmentioned, while Thune's negativity gets a blaring headline.

Daschle: "Michael Moore obviously intends to spark debate"

On Friday at 6PM, KELO-TV had a 2 minute story (beginning at the 6:35 mark) about "Fahrenheit 9/11" opening in Sioux Falls, and mentioned the fact that Tom Daschle was invited to a "private screening" of the film with "other members of Congress." (You can read KELO's transcript HERE.) Interestingly, Daschle told KELO that "he was not able to sit through the entire movie" but that Michael Moore's Bush-bashing movie "obviously intends to spark debate."

In Tom Daschle's worldview, when someone like Michael Moore distorts President Bush's record, it's "intended to spark debate," but when another Moore--Stephen Moore--runs an ad in South Dakota pointing out that Tom Daschle lives in a $2 million mansion in DC, it's a "negative personal attack."

I guess one man's intention to spark debate is another man's negative personal attack.