Posted on 10/15/2004 9:47:51 AM PDT by ClintonBeGone
As polls show he is at a real risk to lose the election, South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle has issued an urgent call for American Indians in the state to vote for him, stressing the fact that early voting laws mean anyone can file a ballot between now and election day.
"Voters in Indian Country will once again have the chance to help determine who controls the White House and the United States Senate," Daschle said. "The new early voting offices make participating in this important election easier than ever before."
New early voting offices are now open in Pine Ridge at the Sacred Heart Church Hall and in Kyle at Our Lady of Sorrows Church. The Pine Ridge office is open every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday while the Kyle office is open every Thursday and Friday.
Daschle is embroiled in tight race with Republican John Thune, a former representative, who has made inroads by relentlessly portraying Daschle as a big spending liberal who is out of touch with South Dakota voters.
"You cannot effectively represent your state, the state of South Dakota, at the same time you are having to take your cues and answers to a liberal Democratic caucus that consists of Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. And that's who he has to answer to,” Thune said.
Newspaper reports from South Dakota indicate that the Indian vote, for years something that Daschle could rely on, may be abandoning him.
“A lot of us are taken for granted,” Jesse Taken Alive, a resident of the Standing Rock reservation along the North Dakota border who is reconsidering his support for Daschle, told The Hill. “Now we’re asking these questions: What kind of commitments can you make to us?”
During this summer’s Democratic National Convention in Boston, Lise Balk King, a reporter with the South Dakota-based Native Voice newspaper, said that while reports of Daschle’s waning support are exaggerated, he has alienated some. King believes the dissatisfaction is mainly due to Daschle’s authorship of the Mitigation Act, legislation transferring thousands of acres of Sioux land to the government. Some saw it as betrayal.
“So because of the Mitigation Act there are some tribal people who are very anti- Tom Daschle, but they are the minority as far as we can tell,” King said.
Tim Giago, a Sioux columnist who also is featured in the Native American Times, considered running against Daschle in the Democratic primary.
"Pine Ridge, Shannon County, was proclaimed in 1980 and 1990 by the U.S. Census Bureau, as the single poorest county in the United States of America. Our two state senators, Tom Daschle and Tim Johnson, have done little or nothing to bring economic development or jobs to these very depressed areas," Giago told Talon News. "One has to wonder why this is so when we supposedly have two senators working so hard to improve our lives."
The race between Daschle and Thune is being watched at the national level because a Daschle loss could put the Senate into GOP hands.
"This election will have a tremendous impact on everyone in Indian Country," Daschle said. "As a leader in the Senate, I've worked to ensure issues important to Native Americans are on the national agenda, and in the next six years, I'll continue to do everything I can to improve the quality of life for all Native people."
The Dead Indian Vote will account for about 10% of Daschle's votes. Too bad he's still gonna lose.
Sounds like they're looking for a few "good Indians"...
Remember what the old timers used to say (wrongly, of course)? The only "good Indian" is a _________
That's the kind I think they'll be looking for.
How?
Thune has started to court Indian votes, which I think is very wise.
I think if he goes around shaking a lot of hands, and says something like,
"Tom Dashle has been representing you for 36 years. Has your life gotten any better because of it?"
He can make some real progress. Will he win the Indian vote? Of course not, but every vote he gains is -1 for Dashle, and in an election that is going to be decided a few thousand, or quite possibly a few hundred votes, it could make a real impact.
How? Read this. Its very interesting that an indian that died in a car crash on Sept 3rd, was able to cast an absentee ballot on Sept 21.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/786711/posts
Might not work. Russel Means has endorsed Thune. And because of 2002, the Reservations are going to get a lot more attention from Republican poll watchers.
They are getting attention because of the revenue they bring in and donate to their party...although Means is again casinos, and rightly so, Natives are more for pro-life...and Bush has done a great job of keeping promises in soverignty and improving school....Hopefully Thune will win, looking good
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1239947/posts
I must have been outside or something but I thought that the senate was already in the GOP's hands.
although the dim's do run the senate as though they are a majority. but its interesting that the dims still think they run the whole kitencaboodle and maybe they do.
the Republicans do not stand up to the thuggish tactics of the dims so the dims take that as good were still in control. makes me ill but Im not sure what to do about it anymore.
>>The Dead Indian Vote will account for about 10% of Daschle's votes.
Mark my words, the counties with the most dead indians (like Shannon County) will HOLD BACK their vote-count results until NEARLY ALL OTHER precincts have reported!
You can take that prediction to the bank!
Really?
I could have sworn that's where it is already?
If I had to score it, this race is probably the difference between Republicans picking up two seats or three.
I'm not so sure the GOP is going to have that good a year with the Senate races.
I'm pretty hopeful actually. We are certainly going to lose Illinois, and Alaska isn't looking good, but North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Oaklahoma are all moving in our direction. South Dakota and Colorado are straight up toss ups, and who knows with Lousiana?
We'll gain a couple of seats most likely, and basically the dems would have to win every possible open seat to retake the Senate.
There are nine close races in the senate this year (close or expected to switch). Six of them are currently held by Democrats and virtually every one is in a state Bush will carry handily.
Republicans will relatively easily win in SC and GA, they're well ahead in LA (may not even need a runoff - if we do it's a tossup), Burr has come on surprisingly strong here in NC - to the point I actually expect him to win, and the Florida race has been looking better and better over the last couple weeks (both for Bush and Martinez). And Daschle is in a lot of trouble.
Republicans have three seats in jeopardy - Coburn in OK, Murkowski in AK, and we'll obviously lose the seat in IL.
So it depends a great deal on the National race. Since many of these close races (OK,AK,SD) are in states Bush will likely win by 20%+, the Republicans have a decent shot at every one of them. Taking the obvious switches out (IL,NC,GA), we're left with three close races. Just splitting them 3-3 gives Republicans a two seat pickup.
But these things tend to all lean in the same direction election night. If Bush is up 4-5 points in the polls election day, we could see 7-8 of those races tilt in our direction and gain five seats. But even if things go badly for Bush and Kerry is the obvious winner? We can't lose more than one seat (net) - there just aren't enough in play. One would throw the Senate back in to a tie (with Jeffords), but that's the worst case.
Ah, music to my ears. And one of my 2004 predictions is that Daschle would lose.
Ah, music to my ears. And one of my 2004 predictions is that Daschle would lose.
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