South Dakota Politics

Was Argus Leader story on Dakota Blog Alliance Spiked?

DVT and Sibby are starting to get the impression that a story written about blogs in South Dakota for the Argus Leader by Jennifer Sanderson may have been spiked or is undergoing a massive overhaul by the AL's editors.

On Friday, July 30, (over a week ago) I sat with fellow bloggers Sibby and Q at the Black Sheep Coffee Shop in Sioux Falls to be interviewed by Jennifer Sanderson. Earlier in the week, Jen had interviewed Professor Jon Lauck of DVT as well as Ryne McClaren. The interview with Sibby, Q, and I lasted around two hours, and much of the discussion centered around criticism of the Argus Leader. Near the conclusion of the interview, we were told that the story would probably be published in the middle of the following week. I learned on Wednesday that the story was being given its final reading. It is now Saturday, and the story has still not been published.

Jennifer Sanderson and I knew each other when we were undergraduates at The University of South Dakota. Jen is a great person, and I think she is doing a great job at the Argus Leader, particularly in her new beat covering political advertisements in this high profile political year in South Dakota. I think she is a thorough reporter, and in observing her work, I believe she is making a determined effort to be objective. Jen is not the problem.

During the interview, I distinctly recall Jen commenting that "the Argus certainly is strong enough and its people have enough faith in their work to show another point of view." If this story on the Dakota Blog Alliance has been spiked (and I emphatically caution readers that there is still a high degree of uncertainty about whether that's the case), I think it would speak volumes about the strength and faith the editors of the AL have in their work.

Argus Leader violates its own policy

Sibby notes that the Argus Leader today violated its policy of quoting only political candidates and not their campaign staff. Naturally, the violation of this policy cut in favor of--you guessed it--Tom Daschle.

Dems threaten lawsuits whenever there's a critical ad

DVT notes (via Instapundit) that the Democrats are making a habit of using lawyers' threats to keep the Club for Growth's ads off the air.

Last year, something similar to this happened when the Club for Growth ran an ad in South Dakota informing South Dakotans that Senator Daschle had just purchased a $2 million home on ritzy Foxhall Road in Washington, DC. The Rapid City Journal published a story on the matter headlined "Anti-Daschle ads prompt complaints over copyright."

The Club for Growth's Stephen Moore wrote in a piece headlined "Tom’s House Is a Very, Very, Very Nice House" that Daschle "worked tirelessly to pull the ads off the airwaves."

His protests have been almost comical. His first complaint was that the ads are misleading because he really does favor lower taxes. Hmmm, that's news to anyone who even casually follows politics in Washington. For at least the past ten years, Daschle has voted against anything that even has the whiff of a tax cut. He was the deciding vote in the Senate for Bill Clinton's mega-tax hike.

Next we heard from the '60s rock group Crosby, Stills, and Nash, which accused us of copyright violation, by parodying their music, and demanded that we cease and desist from running these ads. The law is very clear that this kind of usage is no copyright violation. And doesn't it seem like just yesterday that liberals were fanatics on First Amendment rights. Now they do everything in their power to suppress political speech — if it comes from the right side of the political spectrum. .

Daschle skips Pierre debate to raise trial lawyer cash

DVT reports that Senator Daschle was in Oxford, Mississippi yesterday raising trial lawyer cash for his campaign. That's a rather unsettling reason to skip a forum with the South Dakota Association for Career and Technical Education in Pierre.

Trial lawyers, by the way, are Senator Daschle's biggest contributors. It's disappointing that Daschle prefers talking to his biggest contributors rather than to ordinary constituents in Pierre.

The Dakota Blog Alliance Conference

Be sure to clear your calendar for the Dakota Blog Alliance Conference on Saturday, August 14, at Augustana College. My presentation for the conference is tentatively titled "Blogs and the Argus Leader: Beyond Conventional Wisdom." Be there!

Quote of the Day

"What if all media and all the information you received was based on what a few powerful people in the community thought was fit for your consumption?" - Patrick Lalley, now the assistant managing editor for the Argus Leader, in an editorial for Tempest, July 3-16, 1991.

According to the Argus Leader blog, Lalley makes the decisions about what political stories are reported in the AL. In many ways, it's not news in South Dakota until Lalley says it's news. In that vein, note a significant story the Argus Leader skipped yesterday. Lalley must have decided that this wasn't fit for our consumption.

Daschle raising cash in the Hamptons

The New York Post has the following blurb in its "Hamptons Diary":

Last Sunday, Sens. Tom Daschle and Jon Corzine and former Dem prez hopeful Wesley Clark attended a gathering at Gail Furman's Sag Harbor home looking to raise cash for Daschle's tight South Dakota re-election contest.

UPDATE: Sibby makes the excellent point that Senator Daschle wanted to get as far away as possible from the East Coast when John Kerry accepted the nomination at the Demcratic Convention last week Thursday, but somehow found time to get to the Hamptons a little later in the week.

Ed Schultz Watch

Ed Schultz, the North Dakota radio personality touted as the liberal Rush Limbaugh, played a prominent role at the Democratic National Convention, with guest appearances by various Democratic figures, including Senator Daschle. The New Republic has a snippet regarding Schultz headlined "Radio Frequency" in this week's edition. Excerpt:

Down on the ground level of the FleetCenter, right where the commuter trains normally disgorge their passengers into North Station, Ed Schultz is doing his show from 2:00 to 6:00 every afternoon. One of the new breed of liberal talkers, Schultz, who's based in Fargo, North Dakota, landed a national syndication deal in January and is now heard on 37 stations across the country. That hardly puts him in the same universe as Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, but it's not a bad start. "If we keep up this pace, we'll break Limbaugh's record of 54 stations in his first year," Schultz said.

Some Colorado Dems unhappy with Daschle

From the Rocky Mountain News:

"Dear Sen. Daschle: Just because a few politicos in Washington, D.C., have anointed Ken Salazar as our Democratic candidate does not make it so. In Colorado, we believe in the vote." - Liz Gauthier, Mike Miles' campaign spokeswoman, in a letter to the South Dakota senator after he snubbed Miles in his speech in Boston.

For background information, click HERE.

Daschle bounced Dean at DNC convention

The New York Post reports that "former candidate Howard Dean was bounced when he tried to horn in on a chat between Tom Daschle and U2's Bono in a private meeting room under the stage at the Prudential Center."

Huggate reprise

See this from yesterday's St. Louis Post Dispatch (scroll down about halfway):

POLITICAL PICKINGS: When Time mag quoted moviemaker Michael Moore as saying that Sen. Tom Daschle "gave me a hug" at the D.C. premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11," a bunch of Daschle's constituents back home in South Dakota were appalled. Daschle denied all. Now, The Washington Post has tracked down the truth. Seems that hugger was Washington lawyer Cam Cowan, a near-double for Daschle.

Is Senator Daschle out of touch with SD?

"Seventy-five thousand South Dakotans lack health insurance." - Tom Daschle, in the latest post to his blog.

"Number of uninsured in state not known."- headline to an article by Bob Mercer in the Aberdeen American News, dated July 22, 2004.

Elsewhere in the category of Senator Daschle playing fast and loose with the facts, note that 50 state legislators are taking issue with Daschle taking all of the credit for distance learning. Apart from taking all the credit on distance learning, note too that Daschle voted against the bill with the distance learning provision.

No wonder he doesn't want to have debates.

(Via DVT.)

The Daschle Debate Debacle

Newsroom sources say the Bird has prepared a cover story on the Daschle Debate Debacle headlined "Dash Away. Dash Away." with details on Senator Daschle's avoidance of any head-to-head meetings with John Thune. That Aug. 9 edition will be in the mail on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Thune campaign has issued a press release headlined "Daschle Ducks Debates" which can be accessed by clicking HERE. DVT also has the press release posted in its entirety.

The first U.S. Senate forum that Senator Daschle has refused to attend is being held tomorrow in Pierre, and is sponsored by the South Dakota Association for Career and Technical Education. Given Daschle's recent self-congratulatory television ad on distance learning (he voted against final passage of the bill containing that provision), one would think he'd like to attend and explain his dissonant voting behavior.

Charlie Cook: Daschle's re-election bid now a toss-up

Political analyst Charlie Cook has a piece today headlined "Shell Game" discussing, among other things, Senator Daschle's re-election bid. Relevant excerpt:

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota is the only Democratic incumbent whose bid for re-election is now a toss-up. The three-term senator will face former Republican Rep. John Thune, who in 2002 came within 524 votes of ousting freshman Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson.

Democrats argue that Daschle will be a much tougher opponent for Thune than Johnson was. They point out that Daschle has a very long record of delivering for the state. Republicans contend, though, that as party leader, Daschle has put the needs of his national party over the needs of the state. They point specifically to the obstructionist tactics Democrats have used since losing control of the Senate. And Republicans will also try to prove that what Daschle does in Washington is very different from what he voices support for when he's back home.

Thune remains a very strong candidate and seems aware of some of the mistakes he made in 2002. He has restructured his campaign team and is working to make in-roads into Native American reservations, where Johnson trounced him. Thune has also worked hard to close the financial gap with Daschle, who had spent about $8.3 million as of mid-May. Daschle has also been on television for more than a year, with ads designed to show that his efforts in the Senate have improved the lives of average South Dakotans. Thune's television advertising began this month with spots featuring his two daughters talking about his record on issues important to South Dakota.

Observers disagree on where this race stands. Daschle supporters say that he has spent the past year building a very solid foundation and enjoys a lead in the low teens. As evidence, they point to a mid-May Zogby International survey that gave Daschle a 52 percent to 39 percent advantage. Republicans contend that the race is much closer. They point to a Mason-Dixon poll, also taken in May, that showed Daschle ahead by just 2 points, 49 percent to 47 percent.

Either way, the South Dakota race should be undeniably close, once Thune's ads go on the air.

The mid-May Zogby International survey that Daschle's supporters are pointing to was demonstrated to be unreliable by the June 1st special election in South Dakota. The Zogby poll showed Stephanie Herseth leading Larry Diedrich 52% to 41%. Herseth barely won that election, beating Diedrich by a whisker, 50.57% to 49.43%. (By the way, I received a flyer from the Herseth campaign today, the first I've seen since the special election.)

I think that Zogby poll has instilled a false sense of security in the Daschle campaign.

FLASHBACK

Sheryl Gay Stolberg's story in New York Times Magazine yesterday reminded me of the comprehensive piece she wrote about the Daschle v. Thune race back in January headlined "Daschle, Democrats' Leader, Faces Tough Race in South Dakota" that's worth re-reading. Note the first sentence of the piece:

Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader of the Senate, says he has a motto for his campaigns: "Only the paranoid survive."

Deeper into the piece, we find the following passage:

"I'm very confident of our ability to win this race, as I have been with every race we've undertaken," [Daschle] said. "Only the paranoid survive, but you've got to have this internal confidence and I do, because I believe that I have done a good job."

It's also worth reading Timeswatch.org's analysis of the piece.

UPDATE: Timeswatch.org has a comprehensive list of Stolberg's stories on Daschle in 2004, including yesterday's, HERE.

Daschle wanted lots of debates in 1986

A reader sent along the following excerpts from an August 29, 1986 Argus Leader editorial headlined "Time to quite debating debates, start debating":

First line: "It makes you wonder. When two lawmakers can't work out something as simple as campaign debates, how are they going to solve the nation's more pressing problems?"

Best quote: "Abdnor wants two or more debates' Daschle prefers eight or more. Daschle, the smooth talker of the two, is scoring political points by keeping his eagerness for so many debates before the public."

There's also the following interesting excerpt from an August 30, 1986, AP story in the Watertown Public Opinion:

Before the two U.S. Senate candidates appeared Friday at a question-and-answer session sponsored by the South Dakota 4-H organizations, Daschle approached Abdnor and suggested they compromise and hold four televised debates before the November election. Daschle said the compromise would be fair because he wants six debates but Abdnor has said he only wants two. 'Let's agree to four,' Daschle told Abdnor. 'Will you come halfway with me?"

Kranz Watch

DVT is noting how quickly David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, ran a quote from Senator Jim Abdnor in his column yesterday that was helpful to Daschle, without asking Abdnor about it first. Conversely, when a quote from an Atlantic Monthly reporter was published that was damaging to Tom Daschle, Kranz bent over backwards to downplay the quote, actually calling the reporter and getting him to elaborate before running the quote. In the Kranz world, Abdnor doesn't deserve a chance to elaborate.

Frankly, what Kranz is doing is what we Dakota Alliance bloggers do everyday. We emphasize certain facts and downplay others because we don't pretend to be objective observers. The thing is, Kranz does pretend to be objective, and in theory should be treating Daschle and Thune to the same kind of coverage. Clearly, that's not happening.

Former Daschle staffer ridiculed Governor Rounds' "Day of Prayer"

Amy Sullivan is a former staffer to Senator Daschle, who worked extensively with him on the issue of partial birth abortion in the late 1990's. Since that time, religion has been her niche within the Democratic Party, and more recently she has urged John Kerry to stop ceding the religious mantle to Republicans.

With that in mind, it's interesting to note her ridicule directed toward Governor Rounds' announcement of a statewide day of prayer for rain two months ago, after being informed of it by some Herseth staffers who previously worked for Daschle. Even more interesting is her update to the post, hastily assuring us that Senator Daschle and Congresswoman Herseth don't feel the same way.

On a somewhat related note, it's reassuring to see that Ms. Sullivan's blog archives have been re-published.

NYT on Daschle's convention speech

The NYT had an interesting passage regarding Senator Daschle's convention speech in an op-ed headlined "A Show Called Hope." Excerpt:

On Tuesday night there was the Senate minority leader, Tom Daschle, on the podium saying - I wrote it down - "Americans aren't asking for special deals from Washington!" That giant snorting sound you heard was a year's worth of California chardonnay being expelled from the nasal passages of 15,000 K Street lobbyists.

Daschle, of course, is quite familiar with K Street lobbyists, as he's married to one of the most influential lobbyists in Washington. No one can seriously doubt that her influence is a function of her relationship with "Mr. Democrat."

Local high school student in the NYT

A Vermillion area high school student is pictured in today's edition of the New York Times in a story headlined "American Indians Expand College Hopes."

Where's Tom?

It looks like Tom Daschle is trying to get through the next four weeks of his congressional recess without having to debate John Thune. Perhaps it's time to borrow a page from Paul Wellstone's playbook and run an ad called "Where's Tom?" fashioned after Wellstone's classic "Where's Rudy?" ad in 1990. (To see the classic Wellstone ad, click HERE and scroll to the bottom.)

By the way

Isn't the drawing of Senator Daschle and John Thune in today's New York Times Magazine bizarre? It doesn't look like either of them.

The story in NYT Mag is headlined "Hunting Mr. Democrat."

True blue or Blue Dog?

Stephanie Herseth in South Dakota, quoted by the AP:

"The most effective vehicle for me to work in a bipartisan way in advancing rural interests is through the Blue Dog Democratic caucus, a group of more conservative, moderate Democrats who've worked effectively in reaching across the aisle with their Republican colleagues in the House to advance those issues that are important to rural America"

Stephanie Herseth in Boston, Massachusetts, speaking to the New York delegation at the Democratic Convention, quoted by Roll Call:

“It sure is a treat for someone from South Dakota, one of the country’s smallest delegations to address one of the country’s biggest delegations,” [Herseth] said.

But then she sounded more like a true believer. Speaking of her own special election victory two months ago, she said, “A true blue Democrat was elected in a red-blood red state.”

Outside of South Dakota, Herseth says she's a "true blue" Democrat. Inside South Dakota, Herseth says she's a conservative "Blue Dog" Democrat. Hopefully, Larry Diedrich will ask Herseth about the distinction between the two types of Democrats in the coming months.

(Via Sibby and Q.)

Yours truly on South Dakota Public Radio

If you haven't already, be sure to listen to the feature on local blogs by South Dakota Public Radio's Kevin Vandenbroek, which includes an interview with yours truly. You can listen to the feature, entitled "Blogs...and South Dakota politics" by clicking HERE. The piece was broadcast last Monday.

Beck on 'Only the paranoid survive'

Argus Leader executive editor Randell Beck has a column today in which he explicitly mentions the Dakota Blog Alliance under the headline "Er - not enough politics?" In the piece, Beck is particularly skeptical of a quote "purported" to be from Tom Daschle that is emblazoned on the Dakota Alliance T-shirt, to wit: "Only the paranoid survive." It seems Beck can't quite believe someone as wonderful as Tom Daschle would actually say something like that. Relevant graf from Beck's piece:

The front of the bright green shirt, which I plan to wear proudly in the privacy of my own home, is emblazoned with the words "Dakota Blog Alliance."

On the back are several Web addresses (example: www. idespiseeveryonewhodoesntagreewithme.com), and this quote, purporting to be from Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D.: "Only the paranoid survive.''

My first instinct was to doubt the veracity of the quote, but I managed to trace it to an October 2001 article in the Argus Leader in which Daschle, speaking about efforts to turn the old Homestake gold mine in Lead into a national laboratory, said: "There is a saying that only the paranoid survive. We will continue to stay paranoid until it is ribbon-cutting time.''

Although Webster's defines paranoia as a "mental disorder marked by delusions,'' one presumes the senator used the word back then to describe the kind of brazen, over-the-top political vigilance that sometimes is called for to see a public issue or project through.

The word crept into Daschle's language again in an August 2003 campaign swing through South Dakota. Referring to the difficulty of persuading Republican voters to cross over to vote for him in 2004, Daschle said: "Only the paranoid survive.''

In retrospect, one is hard-pressed to evaluate whether the senator was joking or meant what he said, but one thing seems clear: The bloggers have picked up the sound bite.

According to a piece in today's New York Times Magazine written by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, the quote "only the paranoid survive" is the Daschle campaign's motto:

In January, shortly after Thune announced his candidacy, the minority leader told me his motto for campaigns: ''Only the paranoid survive.''

I don't think one has to be hard-pressed to evaluate whether the senator was joking or meant what he said. It's just difficult for Beck to fit the fact that Daschle frequently makes that comment into his preconceived notions about Daschle. (I think in Beck's worldview, it's only possible for Republicans to say something like that.)

Meanwhile, David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, actually quotes the New York Times Magazine's story on the Daschle v. Thune race in today's edition of the Argus Leader. Once again, one can readily observe how quickly the Argus Leader's editors will publish something that negatively reflects on John Thune, but are automatically skeptical of anything that negatively reflects on Tom Daschle. This time, the AL has managed to follow up a story on the exact same day that it is published, rather than the following day. That has to be a record.

Presumably, Beck read the New York Times Magazine's story on the Daschle v. Thune race if he allowed Kranz to quote from it in today's edition of the Argus Leader. I guess he must have skimmed over that "only the paranoid survive" bit.