Thune Rant

Do you wonder why John Thune decided to challenge Tom Daschle for his Senate seat? Since Polstate.com doesn't have a section for South Dakota, this is where you can read about it for today.

Now don’t get me wrong, Thune is ambitious, but he apparently has lined up good jobs that pay well, Daschle is probably a tougher opponent than Johnson was, and Thune would be in great position if a Senate seat opens up later. Also, another big loss won’t be as easy to get over as the squeaker against Johnson last year and at 43, Thune could certainly wait for another opening.

I guess there is only one reason for Thune to stick his neck out (all of the New York Times’ yadda yadda coverage of Thune’s speech aside): W. Yes, that’s right, President George W. Bush wants to give Tom Daschle a headache by getting the best possible Republican candidate to run against him and simultaneously make it hard for Daschle to campaign for other Senate candidates. The only real question is how much Bush and his allies will pony up to make the campaign fly, and what will Thune get from them if he loses.