[gridlock]

So, let me get this straight. The Democrats want to run a man who is incapacitated for the US Senate, and the Republicans are being condemned for daring to run anybody against him...

This is straight out of the Twighlight Zone!

If the Donks run Johnson, the Republicans will have to approach the issue with tact, but I think that the argument that a Senator should be able to perform his functions should resonate with the voters.

[neodad]

So I guess he’s deeply saddened?

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Seriously, both sides of the aisle put “red-meat” into fund raising letters. So F’in what? Tiny Tom can say what we wants when shaking the money tree. 9 out of 10 of these letters go straight into the circular file anyway, maybe more.

[bert]

If you are a lion, you chase the slowest wildebeast.

[KarlInOhio]

“Tim’s focus should be on his recovery to serve the people of South Dakota, not fending off classless political attacks from national Republicans,”

If Senator Johnson is so ill that he won't even be able to make a run next year, maybe the best service he could make is to retire to focus on his recovery and allow another person to take his place in the Senate.

Oh, wait, the governor would replace him with a Republican, and we know that wouldn't be of service to Reid and the rest of the donks.

[KC_Conspirator]

Yes, every Republican’s health and age are to be questioned, yet the same not done against a democrat, who is in obvious dire straight in regards to his health.

[econjack]

So, let me get this straight. The Democrats want to run a man who is incapacitated for the US Senate...

Why not? All of the rest of them are. If you took all of the politicians, Republican and Democrat, and laid them end-to-end, they would still never reach a conclusion.

[Nomorjer Kinov]

So, let me get this straight. The Democrats want to run a man who is incapacitated for the US Senate, and the Republicans are being condemned for daring to run anybody against him...

Why not, they do it ever six years.

[P-40]

“Tim’s focus should be on his recovery to serve the people of South Dakota

If the guy can't do the job the taxpayers are paying him to do, he needs to step aside. I hope he gets better...but in the meantime there is work to do.

[Bahbah]

So running someone from the other party for the Senate seat is mean because it won’t allow Johnson to focus on his recovery. LOLOL

Perhaps relinquishing his Senate duties would be a more direct way to permit him to focus on that recovery.

[Brilliant]

If the dead can vote, the incapacitated can run the government.

What it illustrates is that you don’t actually have to do anything to be a Senator. Just sit around and collect your paycheck while everyone worships you.

[Vigilanteman]

This is what happened to the last South Dakota Senator to suffer a stroke while in office:

On 23 November 1969 he suffered a severe stroke and was subsequently unable to attend sessions of Congress, although he received extensive speech and physical therapy. His wife, Mary, led his staff in Mundt's place and refused calls for the crippled Senator to resign. Mundt was stripped of his committee assignments by the Senate Republican Conference in 1972, but he remained in office through the end of his term on January 3, 1973. He did not seek reelection in 1972.

Mundt was a good guy too. Despite the fact that his wife did a credible job of managing his office and making sure constituent services got done, they did not even think about running him for re-election.

[The Great RJ]

Johnson has been totally absent from the South Dakota scene since his surgery and as a result many of us wonder if he has some diminished mental capacity. Johnson's medical condition however is as closely guarded as Castro's and we have only Hugo Chavez and Tom Daschle's assurances that all is well.

If Johnson, as Daschle assures us, is totally fit to go back to the Senate in September, why doesn't he give at least a radio interview to the South Dakota media?

[Badeye]

So, let me get this straight. The Democrats want to run a man who is incapacitated for the US Senate, and the Republicans are being condemned for daring to run anybody against him...
This is straight out of the Twighlight Zone!

Yes, a place tiny tommy daschle inhabits to this day...(chuckle)

[jmaroneps37]

Six years ago Johnson cheated John Thune out of his victory. Thune had a 900 vote win until 1500 votes were “found” on an Indian reservation. The Indian woman who “found” these votes eventually went to prison for voter fraud and Johnson went to Washington. tiny tommie is a hack that should not be listened to. The more he objects, the more people will hear about Johnson’s real condition.

[DGHoodini]

Whaaaaaa!
Doen’t bother us with governance and performance!
Can’t you see we’re way too busy being victims and accusers?

[Non-Sequitur]

Calling national Republicans “sad” and “desperate,” former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) decried their pledge to begin pursuing an aggressive campaign against his ill former South Dakota Senate colleague, Sen. Tim Johnson (D).

I am sorry but Senator Johnson's health is no reason why the GOP shouldn't aggressively campaign against him. And his health is just as legitimate an issue as his voting record is.

[G Larry]

Why should Johnson be any different?
There are at least 50 other dem’s in the Senate who are incapacitated, to one degree or another.
- Inability to reason,
- Inability to see,
- Inability to articulate,
- Inability to hear,...

[Arrowhead1952]

My two cents.

[Let's Roll]

Geez, Tom, I don’t think “Tim’s focus” is on much of anything.

[philled]

Based on the dubious nature of Johnson's 500+ vote victory in his last campaign, the seat was going to be highly targeted to begin with.

I like Johnson and hope that he recovers as fully as possible. I do not, however, believe that he should become part of a protected class whose ailment or condition insulates him from the reality that this seat is up in 2008.

The GOP has tried to handle it tactfully and largely been quiet about his absence. However, they need to plan for next year. The dems have been planning for it- they have held fundraisers on his behalf and acknowledged that these funds will be transferred to another candidate (Pricess Herseth-whatever)in the event that he does not run.