Credit where Credit is Due

Our Democratic colleagues in the regional blogsophere are being rather more generous in sharing the credit for today's good news than they were when Ellsworth was put on the BRAC list, which is probably what we at SDPolitics would have done if, say, Daschle had been reelected and this thing had played out the same way.

Trent Dlugosh at Proud Liberal  has a very honest and insightful comments on this.  He must be right, because he supports what I and my colleague Jon Schaff have written.

[W]e on the left were set to blame Thune if Ellsworth had closed, even though there obviously would have been additional factors at work had that come to pass.  Now that Ellsworth has been saved, the perception is going to be that Thune saved it, which is the chance we took by laying all the blame at his feet.  Of course Sen. Johnson and Rep Herseth played large roles in this process as well, and to his credit Thune has said as much, but the perception is going to be both locally and nationally that Thune saved the base, and as we all know, perception is reality.

That strikes me as right on every count.  Thune probably gets more credit than he deserves because his critics overplayed their hand.  I can't help but wonder if this was some kind Rovean strategy.  What a story that would make. 

At the other end of the scale is Don't Worry About the Government.

Ellsworth should have never made it on the list May 13th. It did, despite John’s campaign promises. Yes, Ellsworth was saved today -- not because of John Thune’s influence, but because the arguments for saving Ellsworth were strongly in our favor. The ‘eggs in one basket’ argument in particular was a solid one -- one made not just by Thune, but by our entire delegation. Remember that.  That said, I would be a complete ass if I didn't at least say, "You did good today, John.  Real good."

That's Jer Bear being somewhat less than a complete ass.  Still, that counts for graciousness in some quarters.

Probably more representative of South Dakota's Democrats are these comments by CCK:

Johnson, Thune, Herseth, Rounds, and the Ellsworth Task Force deserve equal credit in making this happen. They built a very strong case over the last 15 weeks or so and the Commission listened.

and this by Thunewatch:

This is great news for South Dakota and we would like to thank Senator Tim Johnson, Senator John Thune, Representative Stephanie Herseth, Governor Mike Rounds, the Ellsworth Task Force and all those involved in the process. Everyone worked together well to get the best possible outcome for South Dakota and it worked. Ellsworth, against all odds, was given a stay of execution. 

That's as fair as one could ask for. Right now we can sit back and enjoy an era of good feeling that should last, well, at least until I read Chad Schuldt's next blog.  Well done all.