TOPICS
TOPICS
Senator's Star Dims, Glows
Politics is a lot like football, and holding elective office, a lot like coaching. One day you're the goat who blew the big game with that final play call; the next day, you're the hero who led the team to a championship win. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., knows the feeling well after this week.
First Thune was the whipping boy for liberal bloggers overjoyed that South Dakota was set to lose Ellsworth Air Force Base in the latest round of base closings.
They were thrilled by the prospect not because they loathe Ellsworth AFB or South Dakota but because they despise Thune, the man who ousted Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. And they were thrilled because Thune had said during last year's campaign that he would be in a better position than Daschle to save the B-1 bomber's home base because of his ties to President Bush.
The fact that conservative columnist Robert Novak cited the news as evidence of Thune's dimming star made the episode more delicious. The setup was just too perfect. How could the bloggers not gloat?
So gloat they did, starting with the ever-popular Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos, who took joy in seeing Novak, a target of the left all summer long, "cry over Thune's diminished star."
"He's been made a fool by his own president, has proven his impotence to the [South Dakota] voters, and has likely lost 6,000 mostly GOP-leaning jobs in western South Dakota," Moulitsas wrote of Thune. "Not bad for a first-year senator."
Proud Liberal noted how quickly Thune's fate had changed: "The main theme of the Thune campaign ... was that Thune would be a more effective voice for South Dakota since he is in the majority party and he has/had a close relationship with Bush. Now, a mere 8-1/2 months into a SIX-YEAR term, that all seems like ancient history."
Fortunately for Thune, the story line changed just as quickly in his favor, when the commission that picked the bases for closing reversed course on Ellsworth. The joyful jabs from liberals became ancient history, and conservative praise for Thune punctuated the blogosphere.
"The Democrats gloated when it looked like Ellsworth would be closed," Paul Mirengoff wrote at Power Line, "but now Thune gets the last laugh." GOP Bloggers added: "During his campaign against Tom Daschle, Thune said his relationship with Bush would help keep Ellsworth open. Well guess what? John Thune was right."
And in an allusion to Daily Kos' dismal record of endorsing political candidates, Little Green Footballs said mockingly: "Big oops, Kos! So what does that make -- 0-for-17?"
Moulitsas also addressed the issue after Ellsworth's salvation. Rather than give Thune any credit, though, he said someone "took pity" on the senator, and then Moulitsas took a poke at Bush for not protecting other bases dear to the hearts of Republican lawmakers. "That's what happens when you have an incompetent running the joint," Moulitsas wrote.
The takeaway for folks in the political game: The blogosphere is full of armchair quarterbacks, and their specialty is taking the lemonade you make from lemons and dumping that bittersweet concoction right square in your eyes.
COMMENTS
- The Senator should oppose the closure of any base that impacts his consituents! That is our system of government. Likewise, all the other good old boys in Congress should support him because someday they will want him to support them! No one is involved in doing what is good for the country! The base closure process should close bases that offer no or little military value to the country and not that provide economic good to an area. The bases in North and South Dakota and Montana are all obsolete and should be closed because they drain money that should be used of better things. The BRAC commission did not do this and that was the reason for their existence! The problem is that the Congress should have decided the base closures but they could not do it and did not want to be on redord for getting rid of worthless jobs in their area of voters. That would mean they could not get re-elected! Todays politicians do not do what is good for the country, they do what is good for themselves. This is becasue they have to get re-elected and do anything for votes. There should be few professional politicians - most should have to work in the real world most of their lives- for example, I don't think Ted Kenedy has ever worked. This is a great reason for term limits and the term limits should be the number of years people are eligible for any government position at any level. I suggest a person should never be allowed to spend more than ten years in elected positions during their lifetime. Also, I suggest that Senators be elected at large by regions of the country that are representative of population. foir example, the population of ND, SD, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho is less than that of California. Maybe we would have two senators from California and two from the region comprised of ND, SD, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. I may not have the best solution but we have the real problem and it must be solved or the Congress is going to run this country into the ground with its give aways to buy votes! Pork barrel is a nice word - it really is corruption. taxpayer Posted September 15, 2005 7:29 AM
- A little more balance and a bit more accuracy in this story would have been helpful, to wit-- If you're going to badmouth a blogger, get it right. The founder of the DailyKos is Markos Moulitsas Zúniga. The sloppiness here just demonstrates the author couldn't be bothered to look this simple fact up. A significant oversight in this diatribe against bloggers is the fact that during his campaign, Sen. Thune paid 2 bloggers $35,000 to go after Daschle. Their lucrative and secretive relationship with the Thune campaign casts a shadow over the substance of their work, no matter what the quality. Some blogs can be no less a source of biased information than ads, editorials, and newspaper columns--including the "Beltway Blogroll," which is equally 'bush league' for its inept reporting and open bias. GovExec.com reader Posted August 31, 2005 9:49 AM
- POLITICS..........pure and simple. I'd say Markos Moulitsas would be a great poker player. It appears he USED AND MANIPULATED BUSH like a freshman senator. By indicating Bush's lack of support for Thune he forced Bush to get his flunkie Principi (Chair of the BRAC) to counteract the findings and recommendations of the Pentagon and thereby show support for his buddy and fellow Republican Thune. Remember Principi has to rely on Bush to keep a job and it's clear Bush has the final say on which base stays open and which one closes. Principi was first appointed by Bush as Secretary of Veterans Affairs (not impressive) and later to chair the BRAC. GovExec.com reader Posted August 30, 2005 8:44 AM
K. Daniel Glover writes the "Beltway Blogroll" column for Nationaljournal.com, where this first appeared.
