Posted on 05/16/2007 1:05:45 PM PDT by SmithL
South Dakota has seen some fiercely competitive congressional elections in recent years. As the next Senate campaign approaches, however, partisans on both sides are uncharacteristically quiet.
They are deferring — for now — to Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson, who is recovering from a brain hemorrhage he suffered in December. He is not yet able to walk unassisted and is undergoing speech therapy, preparing for an eventual return to the Senate.
It is still unclear whether Johnson will seek his third term next year. He won re-election in 2002 by just 524 votes and was considered a likely target for the GOP before he fell ill.
Republicans, hoping to regain the Senate where Democrats have a very narrow majority, are now stuck playing the waiting game.
"From the Republican standpoint, of course, the longer Senator Johnson delays a final announcement of his decision whether to stand or not to stand handicaps ... the Republicans in fundraising," said Bill Richardson, political science professor at the University of South Dakota.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Someone has to run anyway, right? Why would tha handicap the GOP except from a national standpoint? Did I miss something?
"The staffer, Doug Landry, then worked for Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu and now works for New York Sen. Charles Schumer, who heads the Democratic party's Senate campaign efforts. Both offices say Landry acted on his own and he has since apologized for his quick move.
Herseth Sandlin's office also denied any prior knowledge of the Web site — which is now useless, as Herseth married in March and changed her last name to Herseth Sandlin."
I wish Johnson a full recovery, but it appears such will take years.
If so, then:
If Johnson and his advisers truly want to serve his state’s voters, he will step aside. (Because the state has a GOP governor, such probably would be negotiated: e.g., pick a liberal-ish Republican or a conservative Democrat as the successor. If Johnson approves of the successor, he resigns.) But obviously he is not serving them remotely as well as a healthy Senator could, and such doesn’t appear likely to change soon.
Again, I wish him the best, but the Senate may not be “the best” place for him to be, either for his own sake or for his state’s (or even his party’s).
Article 5.The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.
I wish Senator Johnson a speedy recovery and I think in fairness to his constituents he should make a decision soon.
I think that Herseth-Sandlin is the most logical Democrat to run - if Johnson steps down.
Unfortunately, she would be very hard to beat - even in a pro-GOP state like South Dakota. She’s already won several state-wide elections and like Tom Daschle, goes home and talks conservative to the voters.
Let's not kid ourselves. She'll be tough. On the bright side, the best they can do is hold a Senate seat, while placing a House seat up for grabs. The talk on the Hill is that we have a better shot to re-take the House. Numbers are not on our side with the Senate, at least not this cycle.
Does Johnson have the capacity to decide anything at this point?
Is that not a fair question to ask?
Given the massive fraud of the rats in every election, Tim Johnson was likely defeated by thousands of votes.
Another Johnson (Lyndon Baines) used to delight in telling the story of rebuking a staffer who was collecting “ghost voter” names in a cemetery, who complained that he could not read the eroded name on a tombstone, “you go back and get that name, he has as much right to vote as anyone else in this cemetery” (David Brinkley).
Rats are Rats, they are implacable—they cannot be reasoned with; just as the islamists cannot be reasoned with—they are destroying America, committed to the goal.
“Republicans Waiting As Johnson Recovers”
I knew they were spineless, but didn’t know they were on a Viagria drip.
Who is the real crook?
This article reads like a four-year-old banging away on a piano, pretending like he’s actually playing a tune.
Johnson's continued presence on the Senate's voting rolls leads to the observation that maybe MOST of the Senate is just as effective as Tim Johnson.
Which leads to the next observation:
Why in God's name are we picking up the tab for these useless assclowns?
Is that not a fair question to ask?
IMHO it would seem fair to ask the question of whether he can decide to run for reelection or not. Or at least set a timetable for making that decision . . .And at some point it will become fair to ask if he can debate his Republican challenger. If not, then the situation becomes a reprise of the election of the widow Carnahan in MO back in 2000 . . . a Senator elected on a sympathy vote.
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