Posted on 01/18/2007 8:57:18 AM PST by shrinkermd
WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota is still recovering from a December brain hemorrhage, but his office appears to be beefing up his staff for a 2008 re-election campaign.
Drey Samuelson, Johnson's chief of staff, said Wednesday that the office has hired Steve Jarding as deputy chief of staff. Jarding, who will work for the senator's congressional office in Rapid City, S.D., is a veteran political consultant who served as a top strategist for James Webb, the Virginia Democrat who upset Republican Sen. George Allen last November.
Jarding is a native of South Dakota and worked for Johnson in 1997 and 1998. He helped elect Democrat Mark Warner as governor of Virginia in 2001 and has worked for former Democratic senators Bob Kerrey of Nebraska and Tom Daschle of South Dakota.
Johnson personally offered Jarding the position before his Dec. 13 brain surgery, according to a statement from his office.
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
Think of how absurd this is...he's hospitalized...we really don't know his condition. He probably will miss this year and they are preparing for his reelection. What exactly do elected officials do anyway? You can miss a couple of years of work and expect to be reelected?
He' sick and needs to be retired.
You think this is all show?
Steve Jarding is top Democratic talent, despite the fact that his performance on Bob Graham's presidential campaign was insanely, incomprehensibly incompetent.
Yep.
Johnson will likely run again, and any Republican will be in a hole. Because unless Johnson makes a huge comeback, it will be hard to criticize him and not seem mean. Meanwhile this new guy will have trackers following the republican looking for a "macaca" moment.
This is a charade. Johnson did not do the hiring. This is only intended to give the perception of normalcy.
These people are fricking vultures. The man's laid up in the hospital and all they can think about is his re-election. Personally, Governor Rounds should just run for the seat in 2008, but then again the Dims will just say it's "mean-spirited" for Rounds to run against the poor Senator Johnson.
"This is a charade. Johnson did not do the hiring. This is only intended to give the perception of normalcy."
Agreed. The man is hardly functional. I believe this is a big Democratic lie.
Any untoward news is vague and late. It wasn't known he had a tracheostomy until it let slip in discusing his being "off" the ventilator. He is "sedated" as an explanation of his unconsciousness. Is he talking? We don't know.
If we don't here anything about Johnson, it has to be because he is essentially moribund.
Weekend at Tim's (tm), campaign edition.
He may be getting better, but I'm not sure it's proof of anything. Think of the sympathy vote they could get if they run him for reelection from a hospital bed. Think of the stinging attacks on anyone who questions it.
Much like the Widow Carnahan. She was good for six years.
absolutely. There would definitely be pictures if he were anywhere near recovering.
"You can miss a couple of years of work and expect to be reelected?"
Two phrases-
Democrat....
Julia Carson....
The local media wouldn't even ACKNOWLEDGE that she was mentally incompetent until AFTER the election, when they had to apologize for her incoherent acceptance speech!!
It sounds to me, as though the Dems are preparing a campaign to run a campaign around a handicapped candidate, who people should feel sorry for. They will probably claim that his wife or one of his kids will fill in the blanks for him.
weeken at Bernie's?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.