South Dakota Politics

Daschle in Vermillion today

Senator Daschle held a barbecue today here in Vermillion at Prentis Park around noon. I strolled in late, hung out for awhile, and took the picture shown above. I also had a nice chat with Bob the Daschle Guy as I was leaving. He's a mensch. He told me his parents love to see his picture on the Dakota Alliance blogs. I'm glad to hear they're readers.

Brokaw in Yankton

I enjoyed reading a piece slated to appear in tommorrow's Minneapolis Star-Tribune headlined "You can go home again, and Tom Brokaw often does." Excerpt:

[Tom Brokaw] says he gets the grounding he needs to do his high-profile job from his Midwestern roots.

"It helps me do what I do when I sit in that big chair every night at 6:30 surrounded by all these monumental events that are going on around the world," he said.

"It really always helps keep the rest of my life in some perspective to know what's going on in these communities in the heartland and about the pace of life here and the kind of long view about what they want to do. They don't get hysterical about the day-to-day news as those of us who live in New York. ... They kind of reserve their judgment and take in lots of information before deciding or coming to a conclusion about something."

Moorewatch weighs in

Moorewatch says Michael Moore's seemingly false claim that he hugged Tom Daschle and that Daschle apologized to him for supporting the war is just more evidence that Moore is a pathological liar.

Meanwhile, The New Republic's Jason Zengerle has a piece in next week's edition alluding to Time magazine's report of Moore's claim. I e-mailed Zengerle about Daschle's denial, and he responded that his editors would look into it and maybe publish a correction. Good for them.

SDP in Washington Times

Look, mom! SDP gets mentioned in today's Washington Times!

Drudge links to story of Daschle's denial

Now Drudge has linked to the Rapid City Journal's online report that Tom Daschle has denied hugging Michael Moore after the Washington premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11" as reported in Time magazine's cover story this week.

Instapundit links to Hugh Hewitt's piece on Dakota Alliance

Instapundit notes Hugh Hewitt's observation that "The influence of blogging on politics is nowhere more obvious than in South Dakota."

To underscore that point, the Rapid City Journal is reporting in its online edition that Daschle is denying ever hugging or talking to Michael Moore in his life.

NYT on SD Senate race and same-sex marriage

The New York Times has a piece for tomorrow's edition headlined "Senate Braces Itself for Fight on Gay Marriage." Excerpt:

The political implications for the debate in Congressional races became clear on Thursday as well. John Thune, a former House member challenging the Senate Democratic leader, Tom Daschle, in South Dakota, traveled the state to express his support of the amendment. His aides said he would air his first radio advertisement of the campaign on Friday focusing on that subject.

"Tom Daschle ought to be terrified of this issue," said Dick Wadhams, Mr. Thune's campaign manager.

In a statement, Mr. Daschle said the existing federal law had not been tested and predicted it would be upheld. "The regulation of marriage has long been under the purview of the states, and I believe that is where it should remain," he said.

Thune lobbies Daschle to vote for FMA

John Thune traveled around the state today holding press conferences announcing his support for the Federal Marriage Amendment, and urging Tom Daschle to support it as well. Sibby has a report (with pictures) on Thune's press conference in Mitchell today.

Thune also held a press conference in Rapid City, and KOTA, a local TV station, has this report.

KELO-TV reported on the Thune press conference held in Sioux Falls.

The Washington Post has a story for tomorrow's edition headlined "Congress to take up proposals to ban gay marriage." Excerpt:

The issue is prominent in some congressional races, such as the Senate race in South Dakota, where Republican John Thune is pressing Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle to support a constitutional amendment. Daschle, like Kerry, has said states should deal with the issue.

Thanks, Hugh

I'd like to echo DVT's words of thanks to Hugh Hewitt for his tremendous piece in today's Daily Standard, the online version of the Weekly Standard. I especially like the following excerpt from Hewitt's piece:

The influence of blogging on politics is nowhere more obvious than in South Dakota. Tom Daschle has long sold himself as a moderate to South Dakota voters, and has done so with the assistance of a very friendly local press. But now the locals get the news via a stream of serious reporters trawling the national press and internet sites for the real news on the hyper-partisan Daschle. The result is that, for the first time in Daschle's political life, he will have to run on his record, not on what he presents as his record.

Well put.

UPDATE: John Thune was a guest on Hugh Hewitt's national radio show today, and a source tells me the Dakota Alliance was a topic of conversation.

Hugh Hewitt plugs Dakota Alliance

Hugh Hewitt is taking note of Senator Daschle's embrace of Michael Moore in a piece headlined "Trouble in South Dakota." Hugh also takes the opportunity to point out the effect of the Dakota Alliance on the Senate race in South Dakota. Unfortunately, I have to get back to studying for the bar exam. More on this later.

Same-sex marriage issue ripens

John Thune's campaign issued a press advisory today announcing press conferences Thune will hold around the state tomorrow. Thune will discuss his support of the federal marriage amendment which will be debated in the Senate next week. The press conferences will be held in Sioux Falls, Mitchell and Rapid City. You can read a copy of the press advisory HERE.

On the subject of the debate next week in the Senate, Jeff Gannon, resident DC expert on South Dakota politics, has a piece published today headlined "FMA Vote Threatens Daschle's 100% Pro-Gay Rating." Excerpt:

Passage of the FMA is uncertain in the Senate, since it will require 67 votes. Daschle will have to decide whether to allow a floor vote or prevent it with a filibuster. The choice is fraught with peril since the South Dakota senator realizes whatever he does will impact either his chances of reelection or his position as Minority Leader.

Late last month, the Boston Globe had an interesting passage regarding Daschle's dilemma in a story headlined "Mitt leads GOP ploy on gay unions." Relevant graf:

A week ago at a Republican Leadership Caucus, Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania pressed the case for an accelerated vote on the marriage amendment. According to one account of the session, relayed by a Democratic consultant who is working with Federal Marriage Amendment opponents, senior Republican senators, including Ted Stevens of Alaska and John Warner of Virginia, expressed reluctance about such a vote. However, Santorum prevailed, saying he wanted to force Kerry and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota to vote. Santorum told colleagues that polling data from South Dakota indicate Daschle's vote against such an amendment could cost him the election.

In May, Democratic strategist Jeff Trammell stated that Senator Daschle was "solid as a rock” in his opposition to a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, according to a story in the Washington Blade headlined Democrats disavow claim they might ‘cave’ on FMA." Excerpt:

Trammell said he spoke in person with Daschle last week.

“He’s as solid as a rock,” in his opposition to a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, Trammell said.

UPDATE: Mike Madden of the Argus Leader's DC Bureau had a piece in yesterday's edition of USA Today headlined "Gay marriage vote could prove politically perilous."

Kranz Watch

Last week, David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, reported in a piece headlined "'Fahrenheit 9/11' not flattering portrayal of Daschle" that Senator Tom Daschle, who was personally invited by Michael Moore to the movie's premiere, "left early." Excerpt from the Kranz piece:

[A]rea residents who saw the film say there may be a reason why Daschle left the movie early.

As DVT rightly points out, Daschle didn't leave early, as reported in the cover story of Time magazine this week. Instead, Daschle stayed until the end of the movie, hugged Michael Moore, and told Moore how bad he felt about supporting the war. Relevant excerpt from the Time cover story:

Moore does not spare the Democrats entirely in his film. Most Democratic Senators, including Kerry, not only voted for the Iraq war but until recently refused to criticize the President's decision to invade. Among the clips in Fahrenheit 9/11 is one of minority leader Tom Daschle last year urging other Senators to follow his lead and vote for Bush's Iraq war.

Two weeks ago, at the Washington premiere, Moore sat a few rows behind Daschle. Afterward, says Moore, "he gave me a hug and said he felt bad and that we were all gonna fight from now on. I thanked him for being a good sport."

Will Kranz report on this development in his Wednesday column? Answer: no way. There's absolutely no way to spin this without damaging Daschle, so Kranz will conveniently ignore it. Typical.

Michael Moore: Daschle "felt bad" about supporting war

Time Magazine's cover story in the July 12 edition headlined "The World According to Michael" contains the following passage:

Moore does not spare the Democrats entirely in his film. Most Democratic Senators, including Kerry, not only voted for the Iraq war but until recently refused to criticize the President's decision to invade. Among the clips in Fahrenheit 9/11 is one of minority leader Tom Daschle last year urging other Senators to follow his lead and vote for Bush's Iraq war. Two weeks ago, at the Washington premiere, Moore sat a few rows behind Daschle. Afterward, says Moore, "he gave me a hug and said he felt bad and that we were all gonna fight from now on. I thanked him for being a good sport."

(Emphasis added.) Last week, David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, broadly hinted that Tom Daschle left the premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11" early because he was upset at Moore's portrayal of him in the film. Now we learn that not only was Tom Daschle not upset, he told Michael Moore he "felt bad" about voting for the war.

This past Saturday, a Daschle staffer was quoted in the Rapid City Journal to the following effect:

Daschle spokesman Ted Miller said the senator still believed he voted correctly on the Iraq war vote.

Wow. It's another classic case of Daschle saying one thing in DC and its 180 degree opposite in South Dakota.

UPDATE: You can read the entire Time piece at CNN.com.

"The Other Side of Tom Daschle"

University of South Dakota School of Law alumnus Talmage Ekanger (Class of 2003) has written a book entitled "The Other Side of Tom Daschle," which may be mailed to every household in South Dakota, according to a blurb in Robert Novak's latest column:

Seeking to defeat Senate Democratic Leader Thomas Daschle for re-election in South Dakota, conservative publisher Jameson Campaigne of Ottawa, Ill., is soliciting funds to mail a book called The Other Side of Tom Daschle to every one of 290,000 households in Daschle's state.

The book is written by lawyer Talmage Ekanger, a Federalist Society member from Milbank, S.D., and is published by Campaigne's Green Hill Publishers. It purports to contrast South Dakota's conservatism with Daschle's record in Washington. Its chapters include ''Abortion Any Time for Any Reason,'' ''Daschle vs. Catholic Church'' and ''Waving the Homosexual Agenda.''

Polls indicate that Daschle is in a close race for a fourth term with his Republican opponent, former Rep. John Thune.

You can digest more details of Ekanger's work HERE.

Rapid City Journal political reporter Denise Ross reported on the development of this book project last September, which caught the attention of the Washington Post.