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. . . and counting. . . down.
Dateline: Pierre, SD [h/t Political Wire]—Hello. . . .
South Dakota Democrats have failed to find a candidate to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. John Thune.
Democratic Party officials had acknowledged earlier they might not find anyone to run against Thune, a popular politician who is seeking a second term in the Senate. The lack of a Democratic candidate became official Thursday when election officials posted the final list of candidates who submitted nominating petitions to run for statewide offices and the Legislature in the June primary.
State Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepriem of Sioux Falls, the Democratic candidate for governor, said the party decided not to field a candidate in a futile race against Thune.
“We just concluded that John Thune is an extremely popular senator who is going to win another term in the Senate,” Heidepriem said.
Hello?
Yes, John Thune is a popular Senator—so popular, in fact, that he is widely believed to be considering a run at the Republican nomination for President in 2012. So, getting a pass on having to fend off attacks and spend money in 2010 is no doubt music to Thune’s ears—not to mention the RNC and Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.
In the end, it is the decision of the South Dakota Democratic Party and its leaders to take their ball and go home, but you really have to wonder what the hell has happened at the national level. Tim Kaine, Bob Menendez, I’m looking at you.
Tim Kaine is head of the Democratic National Committee, and New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez is in charge of the DSCC, and both, if they had so chosen, could have played a significant role in making a contest out of the SD senate race. It is not like Dems winning state-wide office in South Dakota is unheard of—its other Senate slot and at-large House seat belong, at least nominally, to Democrats.
And it is not like the unexpected never happens.
Think back to 2005, 2006, when a brash, youngish Senator from Virginia was not only considered a lock for another term, but was thought a serious contender for president. Yes, ladies and gentleman, I give you Senator President private citizen George Allen.
George “macaca” Allen.
In other words, things happen—just as they did that same year in NY-23 and FL-16—and, like they say with the lottery, you gotta be in it to win it.
This was the belief and, indeed, the strategy of the Democratic Party under its previous chair, Howard Dean. Dean’s very public 50-state strategy was designed for both short- and long-term success. In the short-term, contesting every race meant that Republicans had to allocate something everywhere, even if only token amounts. It meant that popular “locks” still had to spend some time close to home, and so couldn’t do as much campaigning and fundraising for other GOP candidates. And it meant that should a candidate let his racist side show, or get caught sleeping with underage pages or beating his wife, there was an actual, living, breathing Democrat to take advantage of the change in fortunes.
In the long-term, intelligent, properly run campaigns, even if long shots, build the party. They make connections among the faithful, build infrastructure, bring new, energetic volunteers into the system, and lay the groundwork for the next race, and the one after that, when because of demographic or political shifts, the contest might not be so one-sided. Doing it that way surely beats the hell out of getting caught flat-footed, or trying to rapidly dump money and imported staff into a fast-evolving situation.
Of course, the 50-state strategy had its detractors—most notably, Rahm Emanuel, who spared no spittle when sparring with Chairman Dean back in ’06. It seems building the democratic wing of the Democratic Party can be unsettling. Spreading the resources around means less for rewarding the loyal “majority makers,” and new, state-focused blood might not be as predictable or as obedient. Democracy can be a bitch sometimes.
So, now that Rahm is in the White House, and the president’s guy, Kaine, has replaced Dean, you don’t hear as much about the whole fifty of our states—and that leaves a hole in South Dakota’s ballot.
Yes [sigh], the filing deadline for Democrats has passed in Pierre, but the filing deadline for independent candidates isn’t until early June. Surely, in such an independent-minded state as South Dakota, there must be an independent man or woman with some political savvy and ties to community organizations or local businesses that thinks John Thune doesn’t deserve a free pass—an activist, a teacher, a community leader, or a biker. . . or at least a disgruntled Democrat that can still count to 50.
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Thune is just ‘not-stupid enough’ to be real… considering. Plus, the ‘tall drink-o-dirty slush’ thing.
If and when you see Tom Daschle, tell him to ‘hold the lettuce’.
Thanks, Gregg.
This is the result of Tim Kaine’s being in charge over there at the DNC. Howard Dean would have never allowed this to happen.
Time for a Green challenger maybe? Or a progressive independent?
Conversely, Rahm Emanuel would have never let Howard Dean happen.
Which would have been totally awesome in 2006.
Would a snark tag be redundant?
Thank you Margaret. I was just going to say the same thing, but you beat me to it.
Just another thing about which to be thankful to Rahm.
Thune is a scumbag. There was widespread suppression of Native American votes during 2004. Tom Daschle was the one defeated. However, from what we know now about Daschle . . .
I know this part of the world – WELL. I was last up there in 2008.
The land and opportunities look the same, probably a little more bleak. Sundance is just across the border and my peeps are all cryin’ SOCIALIST! I know, they’re outta their minds.
And to abandon the progressives there, is just that; to abandon them.
F*** Kaine. This is not a strategy. It’s capitulation.
Its like the lottery you have to play it to win it picking up George Allen’s seat was a total surprise. Every election there is a surprise but we can’t profit if we are not playing.
I smell Rahm he always hated the 50 state plan he wanted more money spent on Dem consultants.
I remember hearing Howard talk in 2006 about how it was a matter of showing respect for voters to put candidates up in all races. That the Party shouldn’t insult voters by abandoning races, thereby suggesting that voters didn’t deserve a choice [or, by inference, were too stupid to make one].
Bob Shrum is on the pavers, so somebody wreck the party so he can have a lifestyle again.
LMAO! Yes.
Or Tammy Duckworth.
That’s right. He talked until he was blue in the face about respectfully asking every voter in the country for their vote.
Edit: which I am told by reliable, familial sources is how you get voters in the South to listen to you.
Kaine came into the job spouting Rahm’s defensive, recruit Republican acting “Democrats” strategy. This was never going to be pretty.
How many more states don’t have challengers?
I lay this and more Democratic looses to come directly at the feet of the Obama organization. They have from the campaign in 2008 done nothing to shore up State and country parties. They want only to promote an Obama personality cult. They are fearful of a strong Congress.
They are succeeding in many ways. At these tid Obama speeches where are the party people?. The visual almost invariably.is of him alone. The triangulation against the Congress and in particular Speaker Pelosi and Reid. is obscene.
With a brief pause for Pelosi to save his ass on insurance legislations he has done nothing to defend the the Congress. And the Congress is the national institution most likely to respond to the people they represent. I am no fan of Harry Reid but I find it shameless that Obama is not defending him and yes working in South Dakota.
Obama bowls alone. I am not even certain he understands the mechanics of governing in a democracy.
Rahm did the same thing in the special election to fill Cunningham’s seat when his fat, corrupt ass went to prison. All he had to do was focus on that one race and it could have gone to the Democrats but not one cent of DCCC money went there. Not one.
I bet Rahm already has excuses why the Dems will lose in November US! We refused to get enthused by candidates selling the Rahm message.
That is very good.
Lemme just tell you – Dean was a LOVE! That 50 state thing REALLY worked for dems in “flyover” states.
I just have to say, that the “abandon” strategy is EXACTLY WHY you don’t get North Dakota or Wyoming blue. There are more poor people, deserving people here of Progressive policies relative to urban density.
It’s a political sin.
Yep. We can be sure that Liberals and Progressives will be at fault if the Democrats lose big. Which will “justify” an even further rightward tilt by the Orahma administration, (as if you could get right of Limbaugh)
Aside from the implications for this Senate seat, this is also troubling for South Dakota Democrats down ticket. Having someone fight for that seat would help others candidates as well.
This is why the alliance between state party officials and the netroots that led to Dean being made chairman and the adoption of the 50 State Strategy happened in the first place. It will take a similar alliance to make it happen again.
Those same state officials might also consider whether having candidates like Specter, Deeds, Lincoln and the rest really helps the rest of the party, or if proud Democrats that actually stand for something might energize their supporters and bring in voters.
If we play our cards right, we will take that away from him by suggesting that the “Lefty forces, who had zero impact on HC, could not possibly take down the party, yadda, yadda…”
Yeah but we already know that logic has no impact on what these people say.
In advertising there is an old joke about a great product launch for dog food. TV, Radio, catchy jingles, product placement on the coolest tv shows, celebrity endorsements 6 months later the stores couldn’t sell a can even with deep discounts.
The Dog food firm asked their PR people why? The PR people replied the Dogs don’t like it. Rahm is trying to sell us crappy dog food and he will blame us for his being a bad cook.
When you put it that way…
There would be no point in contesting anything.
I mean, what’s he going to do? Claim that the weak Liberals in the party, which he dispatched as if he were inserting a push-pin into a map over health care legislation, took down the ObamaMagic™?
But I admit that he would try.
Before I say anything else, I want to know who has been on the ground in CO, WY, SD, ND, NE in the last year. Or since 2008.
Tweety will lead the charge against the Lefty Blogs. The GOPers will claim they now have a Mandate and they will be looking for the next Reagan.
I expect the Corporate Wing of the GOP will begin leaking everything their detectives can find on Sarah.
I like that I really like that response:)
All Obama has to do is make his speeches and give the impression that everything is copacetic and the bots will follow. Perhaps I am too much of a cynic.
Laughing our asses off: “Who, little old us?”
I was in WY once in 1974. It snowed in June. Never went back.
Smooch on you, Senator Mac!
I’ll let a couple comments more go by, before I let fly.
I don’t believe they will gain control of either house. That being said, there couldn’t be a worse time for the Democrats to have a leader as weak as Kaine.
You are probably right.
Depends on how his agenda is shaping up by then. And really, so much of is either deferred or amorphous.
But when was the last time a President, following a ‘major win for the people’, had to go stump for it AFTER the fact?
hah, i was there in 1993 when i was driving from oregon to move to texas. it rained across the whole state. when i heard it was snowing in yellowstone in august, i decided not to make the 600 mile roundtrip detour. it was interesting looking at the wyoming map. there were almost no cities in it, compared to, say, what a map of texas looks like.
i was in colorado once on a sierra club camping trip, maybe 10 years ago.
I’m not suggesting the Democrats don’t contest seats or that the Progressives let people like Emanuel talk us down without rebuttal, I’m just pointing out that reason has never been a factor in what he says or thinks. And the media just lap it up because ration doesn’t impact their narrative either.
Hopefully Rahm will resign after the Dems lose the November election. I’m sure he will try for a safe office in Illinois lets see him run without our help. Outside of Chicago Mayor Daley’s friends have little clout.
I simply hate the DNC and Kaine.
They have no idea what they’re overlooking.
These are EXACTLY the people who need, and indeed WANT high speed internet, need employment, need EVERYTHING!
To abandon them simply disgusts me. They are WINNABLE! But you have to win them, not abandon them.
And to folks who dismiss them as “rubes” well, you have me to contend with.
I haven’t been in any of those states and I haven’t been out of Texas since about 1991. Yeah, I’m lame these days. :
Obama, Rahm, Nancy, Harry all we have are weak leaders.
Texas wouldn’t be as red as it is if it hadn’t been for Rahm conceding every congressional race here for a period and abandoning us to illegal redistricting without challenge. Hell, Texas has a long Democratic and indeed liberal tradition. We used to make fun of the rubes in cowboy hats who are in charge now. It’s not just because of Emanuel but he played a large role in it. Texas isn’t even in the top ten most conservative states.
Excellent post, Gregg.
I wonder if there’s a possibility of a write-in Democrat. Not that the Democrats in South Dakota deserve a nominee, so maybe someone should just run as an independent.
Leaving Thune free to roam the country raising money and collecting chits for his 2012 race is about the stupidest thing I ever heard of. Kaine, Rahm, and Menendez should be ashamed of themselves. Why not get Tom Daschle in for a re-run? He didn’t lose by that much, and he’s had a chance to cash in for the last six years, as we learned when Obama nominated him to be HHS secretary.
True but I was focusing on the party’s election apparatus and what do you mean “we”? I’ve never been a Democrat. They have always been too conservative for me.
Yep – it’s the perfect “Hey let’s make them into TX!” strategy.
Not picking on you – you just laid it out. Fer crying out loud!
And, BTW, NOBODY so far has been on the ground in those states I mentioned except me.
Speak up if you have.
Oh, I know. Texas liberals have more reason than most to detest Rahm Emanuel and now Tim Kaine. Molly would have something much more clever to say about it…
•••newt falls off chair•••
I don’t exactly recall if Daschle was a decent Senator, but I do recall that he set the bar pretty high for Democratic Majority Leaders in the “Lilly-Livered” category. Harry had to dig deep to out-wimpify Daschle in that chair.
Anyway, it’s time for me to leave this conversation to others. I’m going to pass out and I should really read a chapter or two before sleeping. Oyasumi Nasai koinu!
Yet he managed it with flying colors…
Night Peg!
Hey, for some FDL fun, google Margaret’s “Oyasumi Nasai koinu”
Look at the first hit.
nite margaret
Arrgh, Teddy, have you BEEN to South Dakota? Recently?
I drove through those states a few years ago lots of Meth Kills and Meth Free Community signs outside of towns on barns etc. I saw a beautiful painting of a girl with the dates she was born and died on off to the side.
I have never seen anything like this in Seattle, Oregon or Illinois.
Only a few companies in the world have the ability to make a key ingredient in Meth. If we cut off production of Meth I think we can win the West and Alaska and show that government can work.
All the Government has to do is just buy the companies that make the ingredient then tell them make something else. The CIA buys companies and creates shell companies all the time so it can be done.
Then we tell the world’s drug makers if they try making it again we will bomb their factory and corporate head quarters just like they were Columbian Drug Dealers.
We need an issue to win the West to rally people and we need action. We already have the power and we will lose that power if we don’t act.
That explains all the Texas Bloggers at the Lake!
You make no sense. At all. I simply cannot understand a single thing you say.
Sorry :) I always call myself a Lefty, Liberal is just too conservative for me.
Two things:
First, I can read him just fine.
Second, skip by it.
No, but I’m not sure what that has to do with my analysis.
Fine. Good for you, and how you divine those comments, I just don’t get.
I’ll put on “ignore” and won’t gripe further.
Being there, seeing, would change your analysis.
For instance, right now, Romanoff is ahead in CO, where Bennet has some more advertisement power. The conventional wisdom analysis is all BENNET! but it’s not true.
You were smart enough to figure out I was talking to you so just when did you stop understanding what I was writing?
You asked if anyone had been to those states? Yes I have and from signs I saw from the Highway I would say Meth is the West’s biggest problem.
For a Westerner I assumed you would know this but I was wrong apparently.
Stopping Meth Production would win us the votes of every friend and family member of a person on Meth or who has lost a person to Meth.
I assumed you asked if anyone had been to those states because you wanted intel from the ground that we could use to win those states.
Stopping Meth is doable another issue the West cares about is water but I can’t think of a way to make it rain.
Go on Kelly what are your bright ideas on how to win the west?
Here comes Air Force One, landing at a Senatorial campaign event near you.
“Thanks for folding, Michel. It sure helped.”
That, indeed, is exactly what happened prior to the caucus, and BENNET is LOSING!
Temperatures, folks.
I am thrilled, then, that Obama has no coattails.
the worse it is this fall, the better for obama to pull out the biting of the lip quaver in the voice …
oops! that was another Great Failed Hope!
the 2012 campaign starts on Wed. 3 November – Remember the Maine … I mean … those mean republicans !!
sorry for being random, I’m 50, sometimes all the lies just blur together!
rmm.
That is what’s happening. There are no coattails with no coat.
To abandon Dean’s strategy leaves so many folks abandoned. Tim Kaine is just not suitable. At All.
Oh, he has a coat, but you can see his hip pockets when he’s wearing it.
Ingredients in some OTC cold remedies, like Sudafed, can be used to make meth.
So those are now behind the pharmacist’s counter at Walmart. I was there when some guy came and wanted some, the pharmacist checked some paperwork and said he couldn’t have any. I guess he’d had his weekly (monthly?) allotment. The man went away shouting. And he was a cop!
Don’t worry Authoritarians get uptight with the random they need rules. We don’t care so much. The NeoCons while once Liberals in the 60′s when Dems were Powerful fled to their natural Home the GOP after we lost power to Reagan.
I’ve been wondering how long it would take for some Dems to jump ship if Obama loses power.
Gooper: “Where are your damned bullet-points?”
DFH: “Let-er rip, dude.”
Policemen should know better they see the danger still if you can’t breath its easy to be angry I wonder what they used to use?
hellooooo, Margot
Edit: In Cali, you can buy Actifed off the shelf. Either they removed the good (or bad) stuff, or we are blessed (cursed) here.
Watch this
It’s not just about 49 states. It’s about the World.
I don’t remember using that kind of med unless it was prescribed, years ago. Maybe that’s what they have to do now, if they really need it.
hi Newton! Looks like they reformulated it, took out the bad stuff.
“They said it couldn’t be done, so we didn’t try.” DSCC motto per Kaine.
Obama in that debate with the House GOPers who had all the time in the world to have their congressional staffs prepare questions showed that real facts can beat GOP bullet points/ lies.
Facts are not facts because we all say we want them to be true despite what the MSM and Texas textbooks say.
ah
A few years ago it was over the counter my smoker friends were swearing by that stuff after staying up till 4 am partying.
True enough. But when the President then turns away from the Gooper event and lies straight-faced to his own peeps…
What was I thinking – I am not at all clear who his peeps are.
I think you might have picked the motto history will describe the Obama Presidency.
He made our case during that debate with the House GOPers as well or better than anyone on the Left could have but then he lies straight faced to us.
To know the good is to do the good Obama is proving that statement wrong. After all how could he not know the truth he was saying? He argued it better than any Dem Talking Head has on the Media in years.
Overlooking WY, ND, SD, NE and betting on CO is a big mistake.
Investing would be better, Mr. Kaine.
Many of the people who you think wouldn’t vote Dem are stewards of the land, and really care about it. Yes, they may and probably do own guns, but so what?
More to the point, they’re mostly poor. And prospects aren’t good for them. They know exactly what Big Ag is doing to them. Why help Big Ag?
Kaine is maddening to rural folks, and there’s no reason to support Kaine from their point of view.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
I really hope people are catching on to this whole charade. I need to believe that they are and it won’t continue to be rewarded as it has in the past.
At this point, I say screw the national Dems.
Since taking power in 2006, they’ve shown me ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
I’d rather see Howard Dean and Bernie Sanders hijack the Progressive Congressional Dems and start a separate party…one that looks more like…well, like the Democrats of olde.
The stuff you can buy without limit doesn’t have meth ingredients in it. Back when my kids were little and getting sick every other week, I saw decongestant on a great sale at the drug store. I picked up three of them. Two for me since they were on sale and one for my neighbor who also had constantly snotty kids and would appreciate my thinking of her. They wouldn’t let me buy them all at once. After that, there was a period where they were behind the counter and now there are some out and some not because they have come up with formulations you can’t turn into meth.
Meth scares the hell out of me, so I wish they’d do something about the availability of the ingredients, too.
I’m surprised at how many people here in CA hate Big Ag. More all the time. They are keeping track of who is helping Monsanto very closely. Blanche Baby has gotta go. We don’t need to become the party of Big Ag.
My dad a few months ago: “Who would’ve ever thought the Democrats would be the party of the big banks?!” He’s a Republican but even he could see being the party of the big banks was something to hide, not chase after.
…or Alabama or Georgia or Louisiana or Mississippi or Tennessee…
Once again, the two parties are shown to really be a two-headed monster with one head slightly more sane than the other…time to (metaphorically) slay this beast…www.gp.org
Pussies. The entire Democratic Party, up and down the line are pussies. If no one else was available in South Dakota Tom Daschle should have been drafted to run. At least make them spend some money.
How do I get out of this chicken-shit outfit?
Geez, Louise.
Democrats are simply another wing of the Republican party, personified by Barack ‘Reagan’ Obama.
…actually, I’ll correct that
Barack Hoover-Reagan Obama
That’s better.
It is such a pleasure to come here, and read the intelligent comments made – which also have the advantage of being accurate. Having, just today, been told by the apparently DLC-friendly Democratic Underground that criticism of Dems, and ‘specially Saint Obama, is not welcome there, I see why the party is headed down the suckhole. It ain’t just the leadership that is an Obamanation, it is so many of the cult that believes that the formerly liberal party is “just ducky.” Sigh. Well, I am glad to have a home here, where intelligence, not really baaaad ideology, reigns.
I think it’s sort of OT, but the meth ingredient everyone is talking about is pseudoephedrine (ephedrine also works and used to be allowed in herbal diet pills–but no longer). My husband takes it for his asthma and the new stuff you can buy off the shelf doesn’t work for him-there’s no other good replacement.
So the point is, Democrats banning it is not going to win them any voters, it would just piss off a lot of people with asthma, COPD, allergies and colds/flu.
I guess you could make it prescription-only, though I think if you wanted to do that you should wait until everyone has insurance and can afford to go to the doctor. People would still grumble because they couldn’t treat their own cold symptoms.
I guess in my last post I should have mentioned that the pissed-off people would also be struggling to breathe;).
The lack of a challenger to Thune is a worrisome travesty at the moment and there’s hope a Dem will challenge the AG, who has shown his partisan colors brightly since his apptment by Rounds, but to think SD is a political wasteland is hardly the case. There are some great pockets of activism/resistors, including from the First Nations, as evidenced in the defeat of the 2 abortion ballot referendums in as many cycles. There are groups like WR!SD who work to help progressive prochoice women win state and local offices. http://www.actblue.com/page/womenrunsd . Building the farm teams, whether in SD/ND/NE/WY etc means we have more representation in making all important state laws and more experienced candidates to stand up for state wide offices. The discontent in SD is palpable, they just need a hand and some recognition for how difficult the challenges. Someone will take on Thune but we’re just as concerned about the statehouse.
Kelly,
I was on the ground and a contributor for Udall (and Barrack) in 2008 in a very Republican County. They said we needed 41% of the vote in our county to win statewide. We didn’t get that but Colorado went big time Blue.
Work for Bennett this year? Nah, I don’t think so.
I believe it’s taking care of himself and his coterie. Democrats are a secondary issue. As long as the issue doesn’t get in the clique’s flywheel.
No coattails for the President. Remember, he campaigned for Corzine (who lost to a rather corrupt candidate), and the infamous Coakley (the most embarrassing loss for Democrats in a long time).
And now they concede South Dakota, probably at the behest of Rahm (who seems to have the president’s ear again, especially with the “drill baby drill” policy meant to entice Republicans to work with him on a climate bill, but they, as usual, told him to go to hell).
You might want to go take a refresher course in chemistry. FYI, there are several ways to make meth without using ephedrine, the precursor you refer to. The pre-ephedrine method was to combine phenylacetone and methylamine using a catalyst like Raney Nickel or platinum dioxide. The phenylacetone is made in several different ways using different precursors and the methylamine is a simple compound made using ammonium chloride and formaldehyde. The big Mexican meth producers are currently using the old “tube furnace” method of making phenylacetone which requires a chemical called acetic anhydride, which can be obtained worldwide.
So, no, meth will not be eliminated by tightly controlling ephedrine supplies. The stereospecific version of meth, called “ice”, is a more powerful version that requires a stereospecific reduction process and will likely become less available with the restriction of ephedrine supplies. So you may be correct on that narrow ground.
There is no way to eliminate meth as a drug – it is far too simple a compound to prevent people from making it. A version can even be made out of common appetite suppressants.
But on the main topic of the diary, I agree Rahmbo is behind it all. He is, without doubt, one of the more destructive influences to gain power in the Democratic party in many, many moons. He wants to support people like Blanche Lincoln and Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman, not real Democrats.