South Dakota Politics

Was Giago suckered?

This past spring, prominent Native American journalist Tim Giago entered the Senate race as an independent. This development set off alarm bells in the Daschle camp, and Daschle frantically urged Giago to get out of the race, at one point calling him and asking him if he wanted to be South Dakota's Ralph Nader. Eventually, a meeting was held between the two, and Giago dropped out of the race, stating that in exchange for dropping out, “Every Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota will be shocked and surprised at some of the issues Senator Daschle will bring forth.” A meeting to discuss these issues was purportedly scheduled to be held in August.

The August meeting never materialized, and the editor of the Lakota Journal began asking why it hadn't materialized, particularly after Daschle had given his "word of honor." Now a meeting between Daschle and tribal leaders is scheduled for September 25th. Daschle has said that the meeting is about "opening a dialogue." I don't know about you, but "opening a dialogue" doesn't seem "shocking" or "surprising" to me. In fact, "opening a dialogue" seems quite lame, if it means anything at all. If "opening a dialogue" is all Tim Giago is getting from Tom Daschle in exchange for dropping out of the race, then it seems Giago got suckered out of the race, with no opportunity to re-enter.

DVT's "word on the street"

DVT relates the latest rumor: that Tom Daschle has requested a meeting with Tim Giago in order to persuade him to get out of the race.

Giago to announce tomorrow

Tim Giago, the Native American journalist opposing Tom Daschle in the Democratic primary, will make his candidacy official at an event tomorrow in Kyle, SD. It will be interesting to see if there will be any mention of the event in the Argus Leader either tomorrow or Thursday.

Giago to explain why he's running

Tim Giago, the Native American journalist who is running against Tom Daschle in the Democratic primary, will be holding an event this Saturday, March 20, at the Little Wound High School Auditorium in Kyle, SD to explain why he's opposing Tom Daschle. So much for the rumor that Giago was dropping out of the race, a rumor that the Daschle v. Thune blog indicates may have been triggered by Daschle operatives, yet another example of Daschle's crushing of dissent. Will David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, report on this event?

In other news from the town of Kyle, SD, John Thune was spotted there last week. A reader reports:

"[John Thune] wound up at Kyle talking to the Elders, going to a senior center for lunch, talking on KILI, then attending a feed at Pine Ridge and talking to the people who came in. He finished up shooting hoops with the "Thorpes" - the boys basketball team in Pine Ridge that is going to State. He's a really decent player."

It's fascinating to watch how vigorously Thune is reaching out to Native American voters. To my mind, playing basketball with the Thorpes is an ingenious method for connecting with the younger generation in the Native American community.

Daschle v. Giago

John Fund of the Wall Street Journal writes on Tom Daschle's primary opponent, Tim Giago:

Daschle Faces Revolt on the Reservation

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle faces a tough race this year with former GOP Rep. John Thune, but first he will have to contend with an unusual primary challenge from an American Indian leader. Tim Giago, a member of the Ogala Lakota tribe and editor of the Lakota Journal newspaper in Rapid City, says he will run because the "Indian vote on the Indian reservations has been taken for granted."

Mr. Giago isn't going to beat an incumbent senator well on his way to collecting a $10 million campaign warchest. But his candidacy signals a distance between the Democrats and Indians since 2002, when Democratic Senator Tim Johnson won re-election against a Thune challenge by some 500 votes amidst rampant voting irregularities on Indian reservations.

Mr. Giago's candidacy is one of several signs the Indian vote may not be monolithically Democratic this year in South Dakota. Russell Means, a leader of the Ogala Sioux tribe who narrowly lost a bid for tribal president in 2002, says Indians need to increase their clout with both major parties and indicates he'll be spending the year supporting Republican candidates like Mr. Thune. Democrats are crying foul and saying Indians are violating a long-standing mutual-support deal, but given the record of broken agreements between white politicians and Native Americans, it's not an argument that washes with tribal leaders.

Tim Giago's Lakota Journal contains an interesting editorial this week, which in part discusses the candidates for federal office in South Dakota. Excerpt:

The national election is a horse of a different color. Not only will we hear from all of the candidates hoping to unseat Bush, we are also about to elect a new Congressional representative to replace "Wild Bill" Janklow and we are also faced with deciding between Tom Daschle and a challenger for his senate seat.

Without going out on the limb, we strongly support Stephanie Herseth for the House of Representatives. We will not get behind a senatorial candidate just yet. There are a few things we hope to get out to our readers prior to endorsing any one candidate for the Senate.

Giago v. Daschle

Rapid City Journal political reporter Denise Ross reports on Native American journalist and publisher Tim Giago challenging Tom Daschle in a Democratic primary: "Tim Giago to challenge Daschle in Senate race."

Daschle gets a primary challenger

Tim Giago, editor and publisher of the Lakota Journal until this past week (he just sold the paper to the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe), will be taking on Tom Daschle in the Democratic primary, according to a story in the Argus Leader today by David Kranz, the dean of South Dakota political reporters, headlined "Giago to join race for Senate." Excerpt:

"My basic reason for running is that for the past 50 years, the Indian vote on the Indian reservations has been taken for granted in this state," said Giago, 69.

UPDATE: KOTA has a story headlined "Giago Challenges Daschle." Excerpt:

Giago says political leaders like Daschle have failed to deliver on promises made to the native people and have taken the Indian vote for granted, “I am running against Tom Daschle because I see so many things that he has not done for the Indian reservations and the native people in this state, and he needs a wakeup call too…”