South Dakota Politics

Tom Daschle: A Strong Voice for the Entertainment Industry

Reuters has a report today headlined "High Stakes in November for Music Biz." Excerpt:

The top recipient from the entertainment industry is Democratic minority leader Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota ($417,470).

Daschle has received $613,314.00 in itemized campaign contributions from South Dakota citizens according to Political Money Line. This means he as taken about the same amount from the entertainment industry as he has from ALL OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

Rapid City Journal on debates

What is it about debates that makes South Dakota's Democratic candidates for federal office shrink from them like a vampire from a cross? First, the Rapid City Journal notes there will be "No House debate at State Fair" apparently because Herseth backed out citing scheduling concerns. Strangely, despite the fact that there is no House or Senate debate at the State Fair this year, all of the candidates are attending the fair today. The reason there are no debates at the State Fair cannot be blamed on the Republican candidates.

Elsewhere in the pages of the RCJ is a report headlined "Senate candidates spar over debates" that details the behind-the-scenes scrambling and contradictory statements of the Daschle campaign to avoid additional debates. Daschle makes the following comment in the piece:

"We have proposed that of the eight debates we have going, one take place on a reservation," Daschle said. "We've written to sponsors to ask them to consider the option."

Then that statement is contradicted by Dan Pfeiffer, Daschle's deputy campaign manager, who says that while they hadn't yet written to sponsors they were "on the verge" of doing so:

By Friday, Daschle's plan had unraveled, and the Daschle campaign sent no letters to debate sponsors.

"We were on the verge of doing it," Daschle's deputy campaign manager, Dan Pfeiffer, said.

Then Pfeiffer blames KSFY-TV's Mitch Krebs as the culprit for why no letters had been sent to debate sponsors:

The letter was not sent, Pfeiffer said, because Mitch Krebs of KSFY-TV in Sioux Falls told the campaign that the five media outlets had agreed not to move the debates out of the TV studio.

Then Mitch Krebs disputes Pfeiffer's assertion:

Krebs said Steve Hildebrand, Daschle's campaign manager, told him the campaign would prefer to keep the debate in the KSFY studio.

"I never heard anything about moving it to a reservation or anything about a letter going out," Krebs said.

Finally, the RCJ story gets to the nub of the matter: the Daschle campaign thinks there are too many debates as it is:

Daschle and his senior campaign staffers said they are unwilling to add any new debates because they believe eight is enough and a record number in modern South Dakota history.

"We want to do more than just spend time doing debates," said Hildebrand. "We don't have any more room on our schedule to do debates and other things we want to get done. He does a lot of these community dinners and coffees, which provide him with an opportunity to talk directly with voters without the confrontational setting of a structured debate."

As DVT sardonically notes of the whole sordid affair, "if Daschle debated he wouldn't have time for more canned, scripted, managed, and controlled events reciting boilerplate and not taking public questions." Indeed.

Ryne McClaren reports

Wow. Ryne McClaren has an exhaustively detailed report of his visit with Senator Daschle today in Custer, SD. Ryne asked Daschle about Zell Miller, DNC chair Terry McAuliffe (apparently in Daschle's world Terry McAuliffe is a critic! Who knew?), and the rumors regarding returning a portion of the Black Hills to the Sioux Nation. Kudos to Ryne, who did a fantastic job on this report. I don't think any reporters in the state have asked Daschle the questions Ryne asked him.

DVT notes Ryne's report of Daschle's coyness about the topic for discussion at the September 25 meeting between Daschle and South Dakota's tribal chairmen. "We're going to be discussing opening a dialogue," Daschle said.

Of course, the reason Daschle is having this meeting is because that was the agreed upon exchange for getting prominent Native American journalist Tim Giago out of the Senate race. The Washington Post reported at the time, in a story headlined "Daschle Gains Support of Rival" that:

While Giago would not go into detail about the issues he and Daschle discussed, he has said that he wanted Daschle to open dialogue on returning the sacred Black Hills to the tribes of the Sioux Nation, and to help remedy the lack of economic opportunities on the state's reservations, the poorest in the country. Giago had expressed distress that Daschle did not seem open to discussing the Black Hills.

Native Americans in South Dakota also think that the discussion will center on the status of the Black Hills.

Making stuff up

It looks like Argus Leader executive editor Randell Beck isn't the only mainstream media type to make things up. Power Line catches the AP in the shocking act of simply making things up, as reported in a post headlined "The Associated Press makes it up." Is this what the mainstream media were doing before blogs?

Randell Beck still silent

DVT notes that Argus Leader executive editor Randell Beck has yet to respond to the accusation that he made up the fact that his paper had covered Senator Daschle's fundraising trip to the Hamptons "at least twice." Instead, the AL blog's latest post is about polling. Apparently, Beck is studiously ignoring many e-mails asking him to provide the dates of the AL's coverage of the story.

I think this is one of the reasons DVT received 20,000 hits in a single day this week. A friend of mine noted that DVT was perhaps the second or third largest media outlet in South Dakota that day. More and more South Dakotans are turning to the blogs to get their political news.

Belfrage

Sioux Falls radio personality Greg Belfrage has a great discussion on his blog about which South Dakota mainstream media outlets are doing a great job of reporting all of the relevant political news, and which ones aren't.

Daschle cites "security concerns" for avoiding live audience

Did you know the Corn Palace in Mitchell is unsecure? That's the excuse Senator Daschle is using to avoid a debate before a live audience in Mitchell, according to an editorial in the Mitchell Daily Republic headlined "Daschle avoids Palace debate." Excerpt:

There won’t be a Daschle/Thune debate at the Corn Palace after all.

Instead, the Oct. 18 debate will stay at the KSFY studio in Sioux Falls as originally planned.

Although there was initial support for the idea, the Daschle camp resisted, saying it was concerned about security and crowd control. Those concerns were echoed by the television sponsors.

The Aug. 18 Dakotafest debate was before a live audience, and even though Daschle had what seemed like all of his 100 staffers there to cheer him on, there were far more Thune supporters who just wandered in without being contacted by the Thune campaign. It's likely that would have happened again in the Corn Palace, so it seems Daschle is afraid to face a live audience when his record is effectively being questioned.

MTBE, ethanol, and the energy bill

At the Dakotafest debate in Mitchell on Aug. 18, Senator Daschle made the following comment about why he has been unable to deliver enough votes to pass the energy bill, with its important ethanol provisions:

"Unfortunately you have Republican leadership on the other side who say that their price for ensuring that we pass energy this year is to exempt the oil companies and the manufacturers of methyl tertiary butyl ether [MTBE] from any liability for the damage created in now 43 states costing more than $200 billion. So we have a problem. The Republican leadership continues to insist that that be done. I said 'You take that out, we will pass an energy bill, I will get the other votes.'”

In fact, the MTBE safe harbor provision WAS taken out of the energy bill last spring, and Senator Daschle still couldn't get the other votes to defeat a Democratic-led filibuster. Even the Houston Chronicle reported this fact in an April 29, 2004 report headlined "Energy bill falls short yet again; MTBE pulled out, but Senate balks." Excerpt:

In an unsuccessful bid to win support for his proposal, [Senator Pete] Domenici had stripped out a disputed provision from last year's stalled energy bill that would have granted legal protections to makers of the gasoline additive methyl tertiary-butyl ether, more commonly known as MTBE....

MTBE makers pointed to Thursday's vote to argue that the controversial provision cannot be blamed for the legislation's failure last year.

"It proves the point that the MTBE safe harbor is not the factor that stands in the way of comprehensive energy legislation," argued Frank Maisano, a spokesman for the MTBE manufacturers.

When Daschle blames the death of the energy bill on MTBE, he's clearly not telling the truth to South Dakota voters. Daschle promised that he'd "get the other votes" if the MTBE provision was taken out, but when it was taken out, the energy bill still failed. Where was Senator Daschle's vaunted clout?

UPDATE: To view the Senate Roll Call vote on the energy bill without the MTBE safe harbor provision, click HERE.

Thune surging

The Washington Times has a report today headlined "Polls show Thune catching up to Daschle in S. Dakota." Excerpt:

[Thune campaign manager] Mr. Waddams attributed Mr. Thune's gains to positive advertisements and Mr. Daschle's brand of politics to "say one thing at home and do another in Washington."

"He talked about his stance against gay marriage in South Dakota, then voted against the gay marriage amendment; when he ran in 1978 for the House he was pro-life; now he can be found writing letters for the National Abortion Rights Action League," Mr. Waddams said.

"Republicans for Daschle" list contains at least one Thune supporter

Denise Ross, political reporter for the Rapid City Journal, has a report today headlined "Thune pans Daschle's GOP list" detailing the latest Daschle debacle:

A random check of 11 Republicans for Daschle by the Rapid City Journal found one who was not aware she was on the list, one Thune supporter and a Daschle supporter who asked to have his name removed.

Further into the story, Steve Hildebrand, Daschle's campaign manager makes the following unfortunate comment:

"We feel very confident about the list. You can go to our (campaign) office and call 100 of them and see how phony it is."

Looks like you only have to call eleven to see how phony it is.

It seems Thune campaign manager Dick Wadhams was correct when he commented "There may be quite a few folks quite surprised their names are on there."

DNC chairman upset with Daschle

Terry McAulliffe was on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Mathews yesterday, and had this to say about Senator Daschle:

TERRY MCAULIFFE, DNC CHAIRMAN: No, Zell Miller is the Darth Vader of the Democratic Party. He went to the dark side a long time ago. He ought to leave the party. He's never gone to the Senate caucus meetings. He supports Republicans. He's been with George Bush from day one. Chris, this is about him selling books. If he left and went over to the Republican Party he wouldn't sell any books. This is a material deal for Zell Miller. He ought to get out. Quit selling books and move on.

MATTHEWS: Why don't you tell that to senator -- Senator Daschle the leader of your party in the Senate and tell him to skip calling himself a Democrat?

MCAULIFFE: I agree. My message to Tom Daschle and everybody else, Zell Miller, he supports George Bush. We're here, we're supporting John Kerry, and if you're not with us, then get out and go to the other party where you belong.

You can read the entire transcript HERE.

It seems that the Democratic base is none too happy with Daschle cynically tying himself to President Bush. That's why, even if Daschle were to win re-election, it's likely he'll be ousted from his leadership post.

Daschle winks, Kerry nods

The Argus Leader's Mike Madden is reporting a story headlined "Kerry camp says Daschle ad is fine" regarding Daschle's controversial ad showing him hugging President Bush. For a refresher on how Kerry and Daschle really feel about President Bush, recall the following photograph taken last spring:

This Reuters picture was taken March 11, 2004, at the conclusion of a press conference in which John Kerry refused to apologize for calling President Bush and his advisers “the most crooked ... lying group I’ve ever seen.” Tom Daschle didn't take the opportunity to decry the "startling meanness" of Kerry's comment, and instead shook hands with Kerry and mugged for the cameras.

Daschle refuses to release names

The Rapid City Journal is reporting that Senator Daschle's camp refuses to publicly release the names of the Republicans who support him. Excerpt from the RCJ report:

The campaign manager for Daschle's Republican challenger, John Thune, accused the campaign of underhanded tactics. Dick Wadhams said the Daschle campaign sent letters requiring people to opt out and work to get their name off the list.

"There may be quite a few folks quite surprised their names are on there," Wadhams said.

Most folks won't know who is on the list, however. The Daschle campaign is not releasing copies of the list or posting it on the campaign Web site.

Hmmm. It seems Wadhams might be on to something here.

Weekly Standard on Huggate II

The Weekly Standard has a piece headlined "Daschled Dreams" discussing Senator Daschle having it both ways with President Bush on the Iraq war.

Republicans for Daschle

The AP has a report headlined "Daschle says 3,700 South Dakota Republicans on his side." Excerpt:

[Thune campaign manager Dick] Wadhams accused Daschle's campaign of using "backhanded" means to find Republicans willing to back the Democrat.

According to Wadhams, a letter went out to a large group of Republicans noting that if it wasn't returned to the Daschle campaign, the letter holder would be listed as a Republican for Daschle.

"That's kind of an underhanded way to solicit people's support," he said.

The controversial passage in Daschle's letter reads:

As part of the "Republicans for Daschle" group, my campaign will be publicly releasing your name, along with thousands of other South Dakota Republicans who support me. If you do not wish to have your name on the public list, or do not recall being contacted about this group, please contact Kara Cody, my campaign's Political Director, and she will remove your name from the public list.

Below is a copy of the letter in question, or you can access a PDF copy of it by clicking HERE:

Daschle's ads with Bush's image

To observe how Tom Daschle is trying to have it both ways regarding President Bush, note that while he is currently running a television ad of him embracing President, he has also run blog ads in the not so distant past telling readers "it's up to you to stop" President Bush.

Jeff Gannon reports

Jeff Gannon, resident DC expert on South Dakota politics, has an excellent report headlined "Poll: Thune Edges Past Daschle in South Dakota."

Rocket Man also notes this development with a post headlined "Thune Charges Into Lead."

SD GOP executive director comments on the protesters

Jason Glodt, executive director of the South Dakota GOP, was recently quoted in the New York Times regarding the protesters at the Republican National Convention, in a story headlined "Upstaging Before the Show in True New York Fashion." Relevent grafs:

But Jason Glodt, executive director of the South Dakota Republican Party, said he thought the protesters did "reflect the base of the Democratic Party," and added: "I hope that all Americans are taking a close look at those protesters and what they represent. I don't think they represent American values.

"It's not their freedom of speech that we disagree with," Mr. Glodt said, "it's the content of what they're saying. It really only motivates us even more to go home and work harder at the grass-roots level and make sure people are going out and voting."

DVT gets 20,000 unique hits

Congratulations to DVT, who received a spectacular 20,000 unique hits yesterday. Consider the Argus Leader's 53,310 daily readers, and that gives you some idea of the impact that blogs are having on the political scene in South Dakota. Twenty thousand people read about the latest shenanigans of Randell Beck, the Argus Leader's executive editor. It staggers the imagination.

Quote of the Day

"[Tom Daschle has] taken the party so far to the left that I can't even recognize it." - Senator Zell Miller, as quoted in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune.

The Daschle duality on gay marriage

Last week, the Salt Lake Tribune had a story headlined "Donors on record pace" that contained the following passage regarding one of Senator Daschle's donors from Utah:

[Bruce] Bastian co-founded WordPerfect and rode the software firm to a vast fortune. He is the second-largest political donor in the state thus far in the 2004 election cycle, Federal Election Commission records show.

"I look for people who respect me as a human being," said Bastian, who is gay. "I hate the word gay rights, because it's much more than that. It's just equality, and if they are with me on those issues, I will give, and if not, I will do everything I can to beat them."

He has contributed $86,000 to Democratic causes and candidates, including Kerry, Rep. Jim Matheson, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle and his favorite cause, the Human Rights Campaign, which has led efforts to block a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

On Monday, the state director of Concerned Women for America had a letter published in the Argus Leader that reads in part:

Sen. Tom Daschle believes "marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman." However, his actions are curious.

Indeed. It's interesting to observe Daschle's response to a constituent who supports gay marriage:

Thank you for contacting me to express your thoughts on marriage laws. I appreciate hearing from you.

Although I believe that "marriage" should be defined as a union between a man and a woman, I respect your deeply held views, and am not opposed to an open public discussion on the issue. In fact, in light of recent developments at the state - and now, federal - level, it is clear that discussion has already begun.

As you know, the Senate recently considered a proposal to amend the Constitution to ban same-sex marriages (S.J.Res. 40, the Federal Marriage Amendment). I opposed it. In my view, states should continue to play the lead role in regulating marriage. On July 14, a motion to limit debate on the proposed constitutional amendment failed by a bipartisan vote of 48-50, and Majority Leader Frist withdrew the
legislation from further consideration by the Senate.

You may also know that I have long supported the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (S. 1705 in the 108th Congress), which is intended to ensure that employers evaluate employees based on their ability to do the job. Despite what some have suggested, it does not create "special rights," or violate religious freedom. It would simply extend existing workplace anti-discrimination laws that currently prohibit discrimination based on race, gender, national origin, and religion to also cover sexual orientation. The provisions of S. 1705 are also contained in S. 16, the Equal Rights and Equal Dignity for American Act of 2003, one of the leadership bills I introduced in January 2003.

Finally, I am a strong supporter of S. 966, the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act. This legislation would give the federal government more effective tools to investigate and prosecute hate crimes.
Specifically, S. 966 would expand existing law to enable the Department of Justice to prosecute violent crimes committed as a result of race, color, religion or national origin. In addition, it would authorize the
Department of Justice to prosecute individuals who commit violent crimes against others because of the victim's sexual orientation, gender, or disability. S. 966 also would provide funding to help local law
enforcement officers investigate hate crimes at the local level. As you may already know, this legislation, with my support, was added as an amendment to the defense reauthorization legislation recently passed by
the Senate, which is now awaiting action by a House-Senate conference committee.

Once again, I appreciate hearing from you. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any additional concerns regarding these or any other issue.

With best wishes, I am

Sincerely,

Tom Daschle
United States Senate

TAD/bsh

TNR contrasts convention behavior of SD Senate candidates

The New Republic has a post on its "convention blog" by Michael Crowley headlined "Team Mentality" that notes the stark contrast between Senate candidates at the Democratic Convention and Senate candidates at the Republican convention. Excerpt:

During last month's Democratic convention, it was hard to find any of the party's Senate candidates in Boston. Many of them avoided the convention altogether, fearing the effect of the Kerry-Democrat image back in their conservative states. Republicans don't seem burdened by the same concern. Today the National Republican Senatorial Committee held a press briefing here in New York, attended by six of its candidates: Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Pete Coors of Colorado, John Thune of South Dakota, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Bill Jones of California, and George Nethercutt of Washington. NRSC Chairman George Allen was bullish about his party's chances this November, particularly in light of a new poll (by the right-leaning Public Opinion Strategies) that shows Thune with a 50-48 lead over Tom Daschle among likely South Dakota voters. (The Daschle campaign, meanwhile, has released a new poll--by the left-leaning Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research--which shows Daschle with a 53-46 lead.)...

Parties always spin their own candidates' chances, of course, so one has to take Allen's boosterism with a grain of salt. But surely if you're a Senate candidate, it's a lot easier if you can attend your party's convention and embrace your nominee than if you need to hide out at home, like so many Democrats did last month.

Senator Daschle, of course, left the Democratic Convention so fast that he skipped a party he was scheduled to host. Thune, on the other hand, is staying at the Republican Convention all week, and will be on hand to watch President Bush accept the nomination.

Redstate's analysis of the SD Senate race

"jannelson," a blogger at Red State, has an excellent pulling-it-all-together post on Senator Daschle's controversial ad showing him hugging President Bush headlined "Daschle: The politics of hugs." Excerpt:

Hugging Bush? Hugging Bush? How silly is that?

The Bush campaign has called for Daschle to pull the spot, in a smartly worded piece.

Look, Tom, no one buys it. Media, including the blogs, have evolved enough that you can no longer make laughable claims about supporting the president in South Dakota, while throttling his priorities in Washington. Accountability has arrived.

Accountability? Well, the RSCC has called upon Daschle to pull his ads, because they pretend to represent a Bush endorsement for the Senate minority leader. The release is mild, well-crafted.

Meanwhile, the Thune campaign has released a Public Opinion Strategies poll that shows Thune up on Daschle by 50-48 percent. I've worked with POS before, one of the best polling firms, and they're solid. There's no benefit in misrepresenting the numbers.

In short, Daschle is on the run. He's been outed as a left-wing Senator in Washington, whose wife makes millions as a lobbyist, and the voters have tired of the game.

Daschle to discuss tort reform with SD lawyers

The Pennington County Bar Association (Rapid City) is announcing that Senator Daschle will be meeting with lawyers tomorrow in Rapid City to discuss the ads being run by the US Chamber of Commerce and the American Medical Association. Below is the text of the press release from the Pennington County Bar Association:

Greetings:
Judge Kern will be updating us at the Wednesday Bar meeting regarding the ICWA review process. There will be a discussion regarding Constitutional Amendment A (judicial retention). If you now plan on attending, please let us know today.
Senator Daschle has indicated he would like to meet with lawyers at 4 on Wednesday at the Radisson. A topic of discussion will be the recent "tort reform" ads run by the US Chamber of Commerce and the American Medical Association. Anyone interested in joining the discussion is encouraged to attend.
Todd Brink
PCBA President

(Emphasis added.)

Thune pulls ahead

We're starting to see the effect of John Thune's television ad campaign, which began only a month ago (Daschle has been advertising for over a year). The latest Public Opinion Strategies poll shows John Thune leading 50%-48%.

(Via DVT.)

Denise Ross interviews Thune campaign manager

Denise Ross, political reporter for the Rapid City Journal, has an interesting interview of Dick Wadhams, John Thune's campaign manager. The piece is titled "Thune manager says vision key to winning." Excerpt:

Ross: Will you reveal anything about your strategy for this race?

Wadhams: You're already seeing it. [John Thune] wasn't on TV until July. I know a lot of folks, especially our opposition, were perplexed that he didn't get on TV the moment we had enough money to do it. But I strongly felt, after discussions with a lot of folks who were here two years ago, that the people of South Dakota weren't ready for a long, protracted campaign. It would behoove us to stay low-key for as long as possible. That doesn't mean that John wasn't working. John was going to a lot of Lincoln Day dinners, addressing service clubs, visiting the reservations. Then, we had to raise money, because we started off with zero. Coming into this year, Daschle had like $4 million in the bank. Right now, we're re-introducing John to the voters, reminding them about his roots in Murdo, talking about how he would be an independent voice as a U.S. senator from South Dakota. We'll be getting more specific in terms of issues as we get deeper into the campaign. I also think campaigns are about choices, and the voters, when they go in the ballot booth or are sitting at their kitchen table filling out an absentee ballot, there're going to be two names on that ballot. We have to give voters a reason to vote for John Thune.

The Randell Beck School of Journalism

Irreconcilable Musings has an hilarious post regarding Argus Leader executive editor Randell Beck's penchant for misstating facts and his overall bullying attitude. The post contains a listing of the various classes offered at the Beck School of Journalism. Among my favorites:

Evil Bloggers and Their Minions - 111

Proper Use of the Nazi/Fascist Metaphor - 281

Using Fecal References on Your Opponents - 251

Effective Use of Monopoly Power: Crafting the News to Fit Your Agenda - 341

Maintaining the Dual Persona, or Keeping the Folks Back Home in the Dark (Taught by Visiting Teacher Tom Daschle) - 331

Read the whole thing.

(Via DVT.)

Deafening silence at the Argus Leader

After revealing that Argus Leader executive editor Randell Beck simply made up the fact that the Argus Leader had covered Senator Daschle's fundraising trip to the Hamptons "at least twice," the silence at the Argus Leader is deafening. It seems no response will be forthcoming, and the AL is content to wallow in its hypocrisy and loss of credibility.

Today, Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit published a piece entitled "A Media Meltdown?" that succinctly explains the problem at the Argus Leader. Excerpt:

But the real problem here, to paraphrase a Massachusetts politician who ran for President a few elections back, is not ideology, but competence.

The press's neutrality has been revealed as a fiction. That might not matter if they were still better at what they did than anyone else. After all, what about all the fact-checking, the professionalism, the editors meticulously ensuring fairness and accuracy?

Yeah. What about 'em? It's tempting to point to Jayson Blair, or any of the other media scandals of the past couple of years. (Or, for that matter, to Walter Duranty). But the problem goes even deeper than that. Beyond these major scandals, a combination of laziness, bias, and complacency haunts reporting on all sorts of subjects.

Randell Beck's willingness to make up facts calls into question the entire reportage of the Argus Leader under his watch. (Recall the doctoring of an LA Times story in order to place Senator Daschle in a less negative light.) That's a worrisome thought, and as the election nears, one can observe the journalistic shortcomings of the Argus Leader that have been documented by this blog as well as others over the last 18 months.

DVT on Beck's trouble with the facts

DVT has a post headlined "Argus Editor's Trouble With The 'Facts'" on the latest revelation that Argus Leader executive editor Randell Beck made a misleading statement about the AL's coverage of Senator Daschle's fundraising trip to the Hamptons. Excerpt from DVT:

Bloggers wondered why people in NY had more information about where Daschle raised his money than South Dakotans did and some people emailed the Argus Leader and the editor, Randell Beck, said this on the Argus "blog": "Daschle's fundraising visit to the Hamptons has been reported at least twice in this newspaper." I can't find these "reports." Tonight I even went to the library and looked through every Argus since the NY Times story was published. It looks like Beck was completely wrong. If he made a simple made a mistake, fair enough, but this is the editor of 'Hitler would have had a blog fame'--as well as the editor who said blog criticism of the Argus was "crap" driven by a "violent" internet "cabal" of "yahoos" and "jokers," who are full of "hatred" and "vitriol" and lacked "guts" because they hid "behind their computer screens" and wouldn't face him "man to man."

[...]

As it turns out, Beck had no idea what he was talking about. HIS facts were wrong, at least that's what my review of the Argus Leader since the publication of the NY Times story reveals. I kindly asked the Argus editors what days these alleged Hamptons stories were published and was basically told to get bent.

It's interesting how Beck demands that his critics be specific in their criticism, but when his critics ask him for specificity, he basically tells them to get bent. Nice.

Thune tells Al-Jazeera to buzz off

Ryne McClaren notes a post on USA Today's "ElectionLine" (scroll about halfway down) written by Mike Madden (the Argus Leader's Washington-based reporter), reporting that John Thune was approached by a camera crew from the pro-terrorist network Al-Jazeera. Thune walked away and his campaign manager told the crew in no uncertain terms to get lost. As Ryne states, Thune is and always will be a credit to the people of South Dakota.

Argus Leader executive editor on Daschle's visit to the Hamptons

Randell Beck, the Argus Leader's executive editor, wrote the following statement on the Argus Leader's "blog" last Friday regarding Senator Daschle's recent fundraising swing through the Hamptons:

Dave from Brookins writes: "What you don't address is the question of why Argus leader (sic) doesn't in fact cover news stories which would appear to be damaging to (Tom) Daschle?'" Dave's "evidence"? "Surely his trip to the hamptons warranted a story, or the fact that he's refused debates repeatedly?" Well, yes, Dave. And if you'd read, you'd realize Daschle's fundraising visit to the Hamptons has been reported at least twice in this newspaper.

(Emphasis added.) The assertion made by Beck in the last sentence in the blockquote above is flatly false. It's a fiction. After doing thorough research of every single hard copy edition of the Argus Leader since August 8, when Daschle's fundraiser in the Hamptons was reported in the New York Times, no such report can be found. Not one. Certainly not two. None.

It's interesting to note that in the same post Beck asserts the fiction that the AL has reported on Daschle's trip to the Hamptons "at least twice," he decries people who "fail to let the facts get in their way." It's a fact that the Argus Leader has never reported on Daschle's fundraiser in the Hamptons, but it seems when the facts aren't on Randell Beck's side, he conveniently makes them up.

The headline to Beck's post reads "I probably shouldn't but...". No, Mr. Beck, as executive editor of the state's largest newspaper, with a heavy responsibility to report all of the relevant political news to the voters, you probably shouldn't make up the facts.

Thune speaks at convention

John Thune began speaking at 12:53 at the Republican National Convention. During his brief speech, he began by mentioning the July 22 Wall Street Journal editorial entitled "Daschle's Dead Zone." Then Thune said he wanted to end Daschle's obstruction in the Senate because "judicial nominations are dying in the Daschle Dead Zone, permanent tax cuts are dying in the Daschle dead zone, medical liability reform is dying in the Daschle Dead Zone, and the energy bill is dying in the Daschle Dead Zone." Midway through Thune's speech, C-Span shifted its camera to the South Dakota delegation, and Larry Diedrich could be seen standing and cheering.

More on Daschle's Bush Hug

DVT has a post headlined "Will the real Tom Daschle please stand up?" analyzing the Drudge Report's piece on Senator Daschle embracing President Bush. In the post, DVT notes a recent Time magazine report on Daschle's behavior toward President Bush behind closed doors.

It's ironic that while Daschle tries to use President Bush to benefit politically, he continuously makes the following statement about Bush's 2000 campaign pledge to "change the tone in Washington":

Daschle, a potential contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, said Bush "came to Washington promising to change the tone, and he did: It's worse. He promised compassionate conservatism and the only thing we've seen is compassion for conservatives."

The blockquote above was taken from an October 18, 2002 AP report headlined "Top Democrat Bashes Bush." It's interesting that the only time Daschle bashes Bush is when Daschle is in Washington. When he's in South Dakota, you'd think Tom Daschle should be delivering a keynote address at the Republican National Convention.

Drudge notes Daschle's hug of President Bush in ad

Drudge has a huge screenshot of the portion of Senator Daschle's latest ad showing him hugging President Bush. The Drudge headline reads "DEM DASCHLE SEEKS BUSH BOOST; AD FEATURES 'HUG.'" Note that Daschle likes to boast of his embrace of Bush at home, even going so far as to declare that he supports President Bush 75% of the time. Here in South Dakota, Daschle tries to pretend he's a Zell Miller kind of Democrat.

UPDATE: Drudge writes:

How bad has it gotten for Democrats at summer's end: A paid TV advertisement from Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, President Bush's top congressional foe, features the South Dakotan hugging and embracing President Bush!

While Democrat party officials of all stripes decend on New York City to blast the president, Daschle has quietly purchased air time in his home state for the minute-long campaign commerical -- a commerical insiders have dubbed: "Bush Hug."

Daschle faces a tough campaign against South Dakota Republican challanger John Thune.

"This is delightful!" laughed one republican official in New York on Monday morning. "Senator Daschle now concedes supporting the president can score him votes in the fall!"

DRUDGE presents a transcript of the controverisal ad:

Announcer:

Sen. Tom Daschle: Tonight, the President has called us again to greatness, and tonight we answer that call.

Male Voice: In our country's hour of need, Tom Daschle made us proud.

Sen. Richard Durbin: Tom Daschle called us together and said, 'we have to keep this nation safe and secure.' I thought that was one of his finest moments. He really said in those moments what all of us felt, that before we are Democrats, before we are Republicans, we're Americans.

Sen. Carl Levin: Tom Daschle has a great inner strength and toughness, which is why Tom is such a great leader.

Male Voice: Senator Daschle helped forge a consensus to rebuild our military.

Headline: Daschle: Time to Unite Behind Troops, Bush

On Screen: Daschle and President Bush hug on House floor.

Male Voice: Tom won significant increases in homeland security and helped provide law enforcement new tools to track down terrorists.

Headline: Daschle, mayors pitch homeland security

Headline: Daschle Calls For More Body Armor For S.D. Soldiers in Iraq

Male Voice: And no one has done more to get our troops the equipment they need or ensure our veterans are taken care of when they return home.

Headline: Sen. Daschle receives 'Unsung Hero' award from American Legion

Daschle: I'm Tom Daschle and I approve this ad, because a strong military and a strong America is the best way to fight terrorism.

Diedrich speaks at convention

Larry Diedrich spoke at 10:47 CST and focussed on agricultural issues during his brief remarks. Larry primarily discussed ethanol and urged the passage of an energy bill. Recall that the responsibility for the failure of the energy bill last November falls squarely on Senator Daschle's shoulders.

UPDATE: The AP is reporting on the Diedrich speech: "GOP House candidate speaks to Republican Convention."

Thune to speak at convention between 12:30 and 1:30CST

You can watch John Thune speak to the Republican National Convention on C-Span today between 12:30 and 1:30 CST. I'll be live-blogging the event.

Roll Call: Thune a "star" at the convention

Roll Call, a Capitol Hill publication, has a piece today headlined "Thune to Get Star Billing This Week." Excerpt:

Wherever he goes in New York this week, former Rep. John Thune (R-S.D.) will receive a hero’s welcome.

The city’s most famous statesman — former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) — will appear as the guest of honor at a sold-out brunch fundraiser for Thune’s Senate campaign Tuesday at Chelsea Piers. The event, according to informed sources, is aimed at so-called “Rangers” and “Pioneers” — those who have helped bundle hundreds of thousands of dollars to President Bush.

The Giuliani fundraiser is just one of several appearances Thune will be making this week. But his status as a hot commodity appears to have as much to do with the man he is trying to defeat — Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D) — as with Thune himself.

“In his own right John is an admirable guy, but beyond that, the fact that he is taking on Daschle has a tremendous amount of symbolism to it,” said Dirk Van Dongen, president of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors.

Thune has a full complement of events on his plate, beginning today, when he speaks from the convention podium during the opening session along with half a dozen other Republican Senate contenders.

After the Chelsea Piers fundraiser Tuesday, Thune will appear at a Jewish GOP fundraiser and then at a National Republican Senatorial Committee press event at 2 p.m.

On Wednesday afternoon, Thune will attend a “retirement party” fundraiser for Daschle, sponsored by the NRSC.

“We want to spread a message about why it’s important to replace Tom Daschle in the Senate if we want to get anything done,” Thune said in an interview late last week. “We are going to see a lot of people who might be inclined to contribute to the campaign.”

To Republicans, Daschle has emerged as the symbol of Democratic roadblocks to GOP initiatives in the Senate and, as a result, has been the target of a prolonged media campaign designed to undermine his own chances of re-election.

Currently, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Medical Association and a group called You’re Fired are running advertisements against Daschle. The NRSC has reserved more than $2 million worth of air time for an independent expenditure ad campaign set to begin Sept. 7.

Thune at the convention

The Hill, a Capitol Hill publication, has an article today headlined "Senate candidates’ whirlwind convention." Excerpt:

Thune, a GOP cause célèbre to defeat Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), will be the beneficiary of a $2,000-a-plate fundraiser headlined by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani tomorrow. Seeking to draw a distinction with his opponent, Thune will highlight his closeness to the Bush White House.

“Mr. Daschle is ashamed of his party’s nominee, but we’re not ashamed our ours,” said Dick Wadhams, Thune’s campaign manager.

Jake Maas, a Daschle spokes-man, responded, “Of course John Thune stands by the same president that twice convinced him to run for Senate so that he could be a rubber stamp for his agenda.”

Wadhams is referring to the fact that Daschle hastily left the Democratic National Convention before John Kerry gave his speech accepting the nomination. Daschle left so fast he even skipped a party he was scheduled to host.

Thune and Diedrich to speak Monday at convention

The AP is reporting that John Thune and Larry Diedrich will be speaking the Republican National Convention on Monday.

Aberdeen newspaper reports on possible ethics violation

Scott Waltman at the Aberdeen American News reported a story Friday headlined "Staff campaigning not violation; Rules allow Daschle employee to work in Senate office, on re-election bid." Excerpt:

Steve Erpenbach is the state director for Daschle, a Democratic senator seeking reelection this fall. He's also doing campaign work for his boss.

Daschle's camp said Erpenbach is taking advantage of a Senate ethics rules clause that allows two members of a senator's official staff to do campaign work if certain stipulations are met.

Under the rule, up to two members of a senator's official staff can do campaign work if they:

• Have done 40 hours of official Senate-related (not campaign) work in a week;

• Do the campaign work on their own time; and

• Aren't on government property.

Waltman's story has no information about whether Erpenbach did in fact do 40 hours of Senate-related work, or whether Erpenbach did in fact do the campaign work on his own time. Waltman seems to have just taken the Daschle camp's word for it. It's mainstream investigative journalism at its finest.

For a refresher on this story, click HERE.