Thune says he will not run for House seat vacated by Janklow

[goobergunch]

(12-16) 10:13 PST SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) --

Republican John Thune will not run for the House seat being vacated by Rep. Bill Janklow, a spokesman said Tuesday.

<snip>

Thune, a former South Dakota congressman, has not ruled out challenging Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle next year, said Ryan Nelson, his spokesman. He will wait until after the first of the year to decide whether to run for the Senate.

more...http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/12/16/national1313EST0550.DTL

That's right...Herseth is now definitely favored in this race.

[kainah]

1. Welcome to the House of Representatives, Rep. Herseth!

And, just some speculation on my part, but I am surprised that Thune would announce this and not announce he would challenge Daschle, if, in fact, that is his plan. My guess is that he is not going to take on Daschle, either. After all, it's getting pretty late to enter the race and raise the kind of money he will need to mount a credible challenge. I think Thune knows he would be an underdog to Daschle and two consecutive defeats would be bad for his future.

Rep. Stephanie Herseth!! Yippee!!! :bounce:

[DakotaDemocrat]

3. Here, here...

I think Thune may still run for Daschle's seat, but only if he thinks he can't win the governorship here - I think it's two years away...

Go Herseth!

[pmbryant]

4. I don't understand why Thune would want to run against Daschle

He couldn't even beat Tim Johnson, a much weaker opponent. I suspect he will sit this one out.

--Peter

[wuushew]

5. Rove is putting incredible pressure on him

the type that is hard to refuse.

[kainah]

7. That's what he wanted to do -- run for governor -- in 2002

until Rove bullied him into challenging Johnson. He may indeed still run again Daschle but I think the long delay in making his announcement shows he isn't going to be totally willing -- just as he wasn't against Johnson.

Go give Rep. Stephanie Herseth some money:

http://www.hersethforcongress.org/

[dusty64]

13. This looks like a winner.

I'm a little foggy right now, what is the present configuration of the House and how many seats are needed to take it back? So far, it looks like a Democratic gain of three and hopefully counting.

[UrbScotty]

2. Praise the Lord!

South Dakota may have a Democratic Representative on her way! If so, both the Dakotas would have two Democratic Senators and a Democratic Representative, but not a single Republican in Congress!

[Rowdyboy]

6. And if , in 2004, Bush carries South Dakota 65-35%

which is altogether possible, then Herspeth and Daschle could go down. We can,t take this thing for granted, people! Sorry, to sound so negative, but Bush runs VERY STRONGLY in the rural mid-west.

[kainah]

8. I agree, rowdyboy

Which is why I posted Herseth's online campaign above (and again here) http://www.hersethforcongress.org/ for contributions.

But don't buy into conventional wisdom that the great plains and the intermountain west are locked-up-red-repug states, either. I still expect * to carry the area by good amounts but there is a lot of dissatisfaction with him in Wyoming & the surrounding areas that I visit. Don't forget that Wyoming, Arizona, Oklahoma, Kansas & New Mexico all elected Dem governors in 2002. Idaho & Montana both saw substantial gains in their state legislatures.

Libertarianism is meeting liberalism and beating up on these civil-liberties-violating bushco repugs.

Nevertheless, give money often and generously!!! And work your butts off!

[Moderator]

9. Kick!

:dem:

[suegeo]

10. Kick

Within the last hour I posted this as LBN, and it turns out that my post was a dupe.

I swear to God, Allah, and the Godess, that I did a search on "John Thune" and nothing came up.

Sorry for the dupe!

As an aside: I had the horror to hear Wild Bill Janklow give a sermon in the South Dakota Catholic Cathedral a couple of years ago. Thune was there too. Janklow gave me the creeps, and so did Thune, sitting there shoulder to shoulder with Jank the Skank. I don't even know if either are catholic, but the election was coming up, hence the opportunism to speak DURING MASS.

South Dakota has such neat land, what given the black hills and even the prairies out east. I hope you all don't succomb completely to the new fascists that are infesting the republican party!

[Eloriel]

11. Question re your political report / map

How up to date is it? I visited today and there's no way to tell. I sure woulda thought that after all the endorsements Dean got over the weekend, and even more yesterday and todau, he'd have more. Perhaps you could put the last update date on it? Otherwise I love it and will be visiting OFTEN.

Eloriel

[goobergunch]

14. I last updated it Monday

I'll do another update this afternoon after school.

[davidinalameda]

12. I do believe that we will pick up this seat

too fabu!