South Dakota U.S. Senate Race Races of the Week: Thune vs. Daschle by John Gizzi Posted Jun 7, 2004 The last time a Senate leader of either party went down to defeat in his home state was in 1952, when Majority Leader Ernest McFarland (D-Ariz.) lost re-election in a spectacular race against a young merchant named Barry Goldwater. McFarland was perceived as too much a part of "the mess in Washington," by Arizona voters, who were willing to jettison his political clout in favor of a fresh candidate with very different ideas. Now, in what is shaping up as the...