[ErnBatavia]

I hope he's learned this time around to have enough blood on his teeth to try and actually win....he sure didn't last time. He wimped out when victory was a mere legal battle away, given the apparent voter fraud up there.

[wylenetheconservative]

I think Thune will put up a good fight, but I can't see him winning. I wish he would run for the House. Johnson is nowhere near as popular as Daschle, and Thune couldn't beat him. The dynamics in 2004 will likely not be as good as they were in 2002, when the GOP won with a national mini-wave. Plus, Daschle will be better funded than Johnson was. I just don't see how Thune wins this one. He'll get around 47 or 48%, but that won't do it. Don't forget that Daschle can always rely upon massive fraud on the Indian reservations if he needs it. I think Thune and the GOP would be better served by running for the House. Herseth will win that seat, IMHO, if Thune doesn't run. She nearly beat Janklow, a SD institution at that time, in 2002.