After the hunt, several of us attended the “Race for Room” fundraiser for eight year old Jacob Moser, who is a quadriplegic because of a neurological disorder he suffered as an infant.

Mary Jo Nemec, an LPN an RN and SDSU nursing student (and Nic’s wife) is one of Jacob’s caregivers.

The Highmore Women’s Civic Club and the community held a soup and sandwich fundraiser to help Jacob’s family build a handicap accessible bedroom and make their bathroom more acccessbile.

Highmore and Hyde County residents filled the city auditorium for the feed and auctions.  And Senator Tim Johnson, Barbara Johnson, and their grandson Pen Johnson also came to lend their support to Jacob and his family.

I believe Kevin Woster will have a more extensive report on Mt. Blogmore.  Here are some photos I took of the heartwarming event.

I've never seen anything like it. 

Before the polls opened at my precinct's polling place in Harrisburg, SD at the United Methodist Church, the large parking lot was full, there were cars parked on the street, and there was a long line stretching out the door.

I'm not sure what it means other than the potential for a very large turnout.  Harrisburg is overwhelming Republican.  Are these motivated Republican voters or have they tired from eight years of Bush and will vote Democrat?  Did the well oiled Republican machine get folks out?  Was it the best GOTV effort that state Democrats have ever run for local candidates?

I don't have a clue.  I think it bodes well for Democrats and Barack Obama, but that's why they play the game.

Regardless, it's a good day for our democracy.

Now, do your part and go vote!

I just had my point and shoot with me this evening at the Sioux Falls Labor Temple for the State Democratic Party Pre-Election Rally. 

It featured Senators Tim Johnson and George McGovern, Representatives Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and Max Sandlin, State Senator Scott Heidepriem, and PUC Commission candidate Matt McLarty.

It was a packed house!

Poor Joel Dykstra.  Little Timmy Johnson took his football home and won’t come out and play.

The Hill’s Congressional Blog has a posting by Republican Senate candidate Joel Dykstra about “going solo” when the incumbent won’t come out to play.

An excerpt:

If Tim Johnson thought the voters of our state were uninterested, hecould not have been more wrong. The phone lines lit up for the entirehour of the program as I answered question after question from viewersabout issues ranging from energy policy to the financial meltdown toVeteran’s benefits. They wanted to know about the main differencesbetween my views and those of Tim Johnson’s. They wanted to know what Ithought about Tim Johnson relying upon his seniority as the primarybasis for electing him to serve for the next six years. On and on. Lotsof great questions. Only one candidate answering them.

This was tiresome in August.  It’s really tiresome in October.  Recent polls show Johnson with a healthy lead.  Tim don’t need no stinking debates.

I didn’t watch Joel on SDPTV, but let’s hope he really did answer viewer questions and took a pause from crying about Johnson not debating him.

While the House capitulated and passed the Wall Street Capitalist Socialism Act today, South Dakota’s sweetheart, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Blue Dog Democrat, voted against the package.

She voted twice this week to not bailout the greedy bastards who got us into this mess.

That makes Stephanie my other Budget Hero along with Sen. Tim Johnson.

As I noted yesterday, I was a little concerned about our (South Dakota's) good U.S. Senator, Tim Johnson, on the Wall Street Giveaway.

Afterall, he had received quite a bit of campaign money over the years because of his position on the Senate Banking Committee and he helped screw consumers to the benefit of credit card companies in 2004 and 2005 with his support of bankruptcy "reform."

But Tim came through like a champ in crunch time and voted against the revised bailout measure which passed the Senate.

I had no such hopes for Sen. John Thune as he's basically Bush's toady.  But I do note for the record that Kansas' two very Republican Senators, Pat Roberts and Sam "Every Sperm Is Sacred" Brownback also voted with Johnson against the Greedy Capitalists Socialism Act.  Nice to see that the Senators in my other home state have some ya-yas.

Thanks Tim (and Pat and Sam).  Now, Stephanie (Herseth Sandlin (D-SD), please hold the line like a good little Blue Doggie and vote against this version again in the House tomorrow.

I contacted our two U.S. Senators' offices today, Tim Johnson and John Thune.

The nice young lady at Sen. Thune's Sioux Falls office thought Sen. Thune, a Republican, was going to vote yes on the bailout before the Senate today.  She said based on yesterday's KELOLAND story, she thought Sen. Thune would vote yes.  Fair enough.  I told her I hoped the Senator voted no.

I also contacted Sen. Johnson's Sioux Falls office.  The nice young lady in Sen. Johnson's office said she didn't know how Tim would vote.  I reminded her that in 2004, he was in large part responsible for tightening working people's ability to file bankruptcy and discharge debts and that if such tough love was necessary for consumers it was also necessary for greedy investment bankers.

So, we'll see.  I have no hope that Thune will vote against the measure.  He's too much of a toady for the Bush Administration.  But if Johnson votes for it, I will be greatly disappointed. 

We'll know later today.

Now Pat Powers and I are tyrants. And I can’t laugh at myself.

So says my good friend Steve Sibson.

Steve obviously doesn’t read this blog very carefully. I’m constantly laughing at myself and describing the dorky things I do. Pat does that as well on his blog.

And while I don’t catch every typo in my posts, I think I catch most of the big ones.

While Steve sputters, he apparently disabled Mr. Spell Checker.

As a service and as proof of my non-narcissistic humanism, I will help edit him.

Excerpt:

Typical of liberal narcissistic humanists to be able to dish it out, but not able to take it themselves. Unfortunately this behavior causes them to invoke Dr. Suess (Correction: Seuss) and Sobby fantasies instead of dealing with truth. Humor to Todd Epp and Pat Powers is designed to be a distraction from the trutn (Correction: truth), and as a means to personally attack those they disagree with. The humor is also a distraction as it disguises their hatred. And again, the SD MSM go to these two goofs for serious political analysios (Correction: analysis).

Steve, I’m always happy to help you out.

Technorati Tags: Steve Sibson, Pat Powers, Sibby Online, South Dakota War College

Since this appears to be the only thing even remotely approaching polling on the issue, South Dakotans apparently don't care if Sen. Tim Johnson debates or not.

It's over 3 to 1 that respondents say the Senator's decision not to debate Rep. Joel Dykstra will have no impact on their vote this fall.

That's kind of where I thought the results would fall. And by the time October rolls around, it will really be a non-issue.

I still think Tim should debate at least once. But it looks like there's no public backlash by his decision not to. Until someone does something more scientific than SD Watch in terms of polling, I think the results bear out what I've been hearing from people.


Technorati Tags: Tim Johnson, Joel Dykstra, 2008 election, polls, debates, US Senate

*Some virtual tin foil for Steve's new hat.

**At least according to Sibby.

Read: Liberal dominance is harmony?

Technorati Tags: Pat Powers, South Dakota Watch, South Dakota War College, bloggers, tin foil hats

Ok, I’ve thought about it.

Sen. Tim Johnson’s decision not to debate state Rep. Joel Dykstra is brilliant political strategy.

The Senator has difficulty speaking. He has to speak slowly. Neither of these issues contribute to debating success.

Even more brilliant, however, is campaign manager Steve Jarding’s timing in releasing this.

On a Friday, when you take out the trash to the media, and just under three months from the election.

The story will die down this weekend, particularly on TV, where TV news tations run basically skeleton crews. By Monday, the story is four days old. By the end of next week, the story will be gone—the “legs” will have fallen off.

So, my Republican friends, whine while you can. Your window is closing.

And this puts Rep. Dykstra in a terrible box. He too can complain about not having an opponent to debate—for a while. But he can’t keep yipping about this in September and October and November. What’s done is done. Johnson ain’t debating. He’ll have to talk about other, more substantive things, like what he’d do as Senator. And Dykstra doesn’t have the money to do that now and likely won’t anytime soon.

So, from a political strategy point of view, Johnson’s decision not debate and its timing are brilliant.

Brilliant, but bad for our democracy.

Next to perhaps maybe SDPTV’s Stephanie Rissler, I’ve probably produced more political debates for TV han anyone else in South Dakota. During my time at SDPTV (and before that at KTWU-TV in Topeka, KS), I took the view that political debates were one of the most important things broadcasters—particularly public broadcasting stations—do. While sometimes contrived and stuffy and limiting, debates allow citizens to see the candidates discuss a broad range of issues, face one another, and give citizens the chance to compare and contrast in a “one stop shopping” setting.

Political debates are good for our democracy.

Further, I am not aware of any candidate for major office in SD since 1986 refusing to participate in at least one debate. Rep. Tom Daschle debated Sen. Jim Abnor in 1986. Sen. Larry Pressler debated Ted Muenster and a couple of other third party candidatess in 1990. Rep. Tim Johnson debated Sen. Pressler in 1996. Rep. John Thune debated Sen. Johnson in 2002. Thune debated Sen. Tom Daschle in 2004. I also think every single gubernatorial candidate during that time debated.

South Dakotans expect their candidates—even popular incumbents—to debate. It is very much a part of our political history and fabric.

Unless there’s a miracle—and they do happen once in a while in politics—Sen. Johnson will be re-elected to a third term to the US Senate in November.

The political operative in me completely understands why Sen. Johnson doesn’t want to debate. But the citizen and idealist in me thinks its bad for our South Dakota democracy to not see the candidates for U.S. Senate on a stage at least once, so we, the people of South Dakota, can measure the mettle of the men who wish to represent us.

Technorati Tags: debates, South Dakota, US Senate, Joel Dykstra, Tim Johnson

My good friend Pat Powers must have awoken today as a seven year old would on Christmas morning upon the news of Sen. Tim Johnson not debating.

Here are his posts on the issue so far today:

• As dems try to spin it, let’s remind them what another Senator says
• The spin cycle has started. Badland Blue has a prepared list of excuses.
• First SDSU’s pundit weighed in.
  
• Now, USD’s has an even harsher view.
• Even Democratic leaning commentators think this could backfire on Tim Johnson
• One good thing to come out of Johnson conceding debates..
• Dem Blog silent, except for Johnson statement. Not even the Dems can spin that one.
• SDWC KELOland post: Johnson refuses all debates in an unprecedented move 
• Republican Tide on Johnson’s inability to interview for the Job of US Senator Johnson statement on why he can’t debate, but is up to the job. Really. 
• BREAKING NEWS! Johnson to decline ALL debates!

I can’t imagine what Pat would do if Dykstra actually won. (Leading scientists predict the odds of that happening about the same as finding life on Pluto.)

Pat. Breathe. Again. Breathe.

We’ll have to see if all these toys you’ve opened are still working on Election Day or have broken and been tossed in the trash.

Pat, I’ve provided a paper bag up top for you to breathe into so you don’t pass out from hyperventilating.

Technorati Tags: Tim Johnson, South Dakota War College, Joel Dykstra, breathe, hyperventilating, 2008 election, US Senate

Sen. Tim Johnson announced today that he won't debate challenger Joel Dykstra in the US Senate race.

I'm not sure what I think yet.

Here's something unprecedented for a blogger. I'm going to think about it for a day or so before rendering an opinion.

I can see both the positives and negatives of this approach.

So just stay tuned while I cogitate on this a bit. In the meantime, feel free to offer your own thoughts in the comments.

Technorati Tags: Tim Johnson, Joel Dykstra, debates, South Dakota, US Senate, 2008 election

I think the new Tim Johnson for U.S. Senate ad is cute, human, positive, memorable, and effective.  Ranks up their with Sen. John Thune’s ads with his daughters for warmth and humor.  Well done.

Watch and judge for yourself.


Technorati Tags: Tim Johnson, TV ads, campaign ads, 2008 election, U.S. Senate

Here’s the answer. LegiStorm has posted the latest congressional staff salary data from the U.S. Senate and U.S. House.

You’ll be shocked by some by how much they make. You’ll be shocked by others by how little they make.

I was just happy to see my buddies Jon Lauck and Mark Haugen land on their feet with Sen. Thune’s office. Hate to see my friends have to get on Food Stamps, particularly as small government Republicans.

Have fun!

Technorati Tags: Congressional salaries, Congressional staff salaries, your tax dollars at work, federal budget, Tim Johnson, John Thune, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin