The Lonely Goatherd Blog And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats - Matthew 25:32
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All original content on MoreThings.com copyright 2008 Albert Barger or the respective authors
September 09, 2002
A challenge to South Dakota voters Why Al is not a professional speechwriter In November, Republican South Dakota congressman John Thune is challenging incumbent Democrat Tim Johnson.
By rights, it should be a walk for Thune. Voters here went for Dubya in 2000 by a big margin. These are among the most conservative folks in the country. Rural white folk, predominantly Republican, they have a good percentage of farmers. Should be easy pickins.
Greed, however, gives Johnson a good chance at re-election. Their other US senator is Tom Daschle, the Democrat majority leader who runs the institution. Crafty enough to get elected in the first place, the good conservative folk of South Dakota would hate this obstructionist liberal if he weren't theirs. As it is, their little state has never had anyone this high in national leadership, and they are loathe to lose this influence. They may even re-elect this hateful little weasel Johnson rather than risk the Democrats losing control of the senate, and thus losing their state's leverage.
This argument holds such sway that people [well, reporters actually] have been asking Mr. Thune if he would promise to vote for Daschle as majority leader, rather than the Republican in order to preserve the influence of South Dakota. The desirability of keeping Daschle's influence rates so strong that Thune has apparently left open this possibility.
Mr. Thune is an idiot if he thinks this will get him over the hump. If keeping Daschle's ability to bring home the bacon ranks as their deciding issue, they ain't voting Republican.
As an alternate strategery, let me offer the following proposed script for a Thune campaign ad:
Voters of South Dakota, you have a decision to make. It boils down to this: will you select the senator whom you believe will be best for the whole nation, or selfishly back the hack who will keep the pork rolling into our state?
Which do you value more, the good of the nation or a few extra bucks we get from having Tom Daschle running the senate? Sure, we get some extra grease with Daschle at the wheel- a water project here, some highway funds there. That's nice.
But you know also what this costs the nation, and the money's the least of it. As long as Tom Daschle runs the senate, the president will have hell defending the country. This is because Daschle is an extraordinarily partisan hack who obviously rates his political position as more important than anything else. This does not come from any loyal philosophical opposition to the president's foreign policy [that might actually be worthwhile], but from the fact that he is more interested in knocking down any possible Republican presidential initiative than he is in serving the broader national interest.
Consider how much damage Daschle does to the whole country, not just on defense issues. For example, he'll happily have the entire federal courts system grind to a halt rather than even allow a vote on Bush judicial nominees. How far will you support this destruction for the sake of some piddling local pork? Daschle is the most destructive partisan hack on the American political scene today. You know it, I know and the American people know it.
So, come November, vote for John Thune as the next senator for South Dakota. Do it for the children. Or do it for the veterans, or whomever. But do it, because you know better than this nonsense you're sponsoring now.
