Thune showed his hand the first time he ran for the Senate against Johnson and let the Indians on the reservation stuff the ballot box on him. He let Johnson get away with that but came back 6 years later to take the seat. He displayed weakness then and is showing his RATy Rino self now.
That was almost worth it though since he came back to beat the loathsome Daschle.
Still, Thune is a disappointment, big time. To his credit he voted against the Gang of Eight bill in 2013 (though one wonders how he’d have voted had his vote been decisive), but to go ahead and preemptively surrender to Obama on his executive amnesty is hugely disappointing.