Posted on 05/20/2013 9:56:16 PM PDT by Second Amendment First
The South Dakota Senate race is turning into a tense feud between two longtime Democratic power brokers: Harry Reid and Tom Daschle.
The rift between the current and former Senate Democratic leaders threatens their party’s effort to keep control of the Senate seat held by the retiring Sen. Tim Johnson since 1997.
Reid and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee wanted to recruit former Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.) as their candidate to replace Johnson in 2014. As he spent weeks attempting to clear the field for Herseth Sandlin, Reid met privately with Johnson and his wife to ask them to persuade their son Brendan not to run for the seat, sources say.
(PHOTOS: Retiring senators)
But against Reid’s will, Daschle — Reid’s predecessor as Democratic leader and a South Dakota native — was privately encouraging a longtime former aide and personal friend, Rick Weiland, to mount a bid of his own.
Daschle’s endorsement of Weiland helped persuade Herseth Sandlin to pass on the Senate race, according to Democratic sources close to the issue. Reid and top Senate Democrats were stunned and outraged by Daschle’s move, a sentiment Reid communicated directly to the former senator, according to several people familiar with the incident.
In a brief interview last week, Reid didn’t hide his frustration with the way the South Dakota race is shaping up.
“We’re going to have a candidate there; we don’t have it yet,” Reid told POLITICO.
When asked whether he would ever back Weiland, Reid was emphatic in his opposition.
“He’s not my choice,” Reid said.
One top Democrat involved in the race, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “This is [Daschle’s] race. If he wants to encourage someone to get in, if he wants to endorse someone to get in, he should be prepared to raise all the money necessary to support them.”
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, who chairs the DSCC, would say only this when asked if he would back Weiland in South Dakota: “We are looking at all our races.”
Daschle acknowledged that he was aware Reid and the DSCC backed Herseth Sandlin’s potential candidacy, although he said he didn’t realize she would be “their only candidate.”
“Harry and I have not had a conversation about this in several weeks,” Daschle said. “And so it came as a little bit of a surprise to me that they had made that decision [to back Herseth Sandlin]. I had heard from a number of people that Stephanie wasn’t even sure she wanted to run, so it’s curious to me that they weren’t clear about her intentions before they made her the definitive candidate.”
The spat between Reid and Daschle — who refer to each other as “brothers” and have been close professionally for years — shows what’s at stake in the 2014 elections as Senate Democrats are forced to defend their majority in red states like South Dakota, Arkansas, Alaska, Louisiana, North Carolina and West Virginia. Republicans are hoping to cut into the Democrats’ 55-45 seat majority — if not take control of the Senate outright — threatening President Barack Obama’s second-term agenda in the process.
Daschle, who lost his 2004 reelection battle to now GOP Sen. John Thune — paving the way for Reid to rise to Democratic leader — downplayed the dispute with Reid, who served as the South Dakotan’s whip.
Daschle said he understands Reid’s frustration and dealt with similar situations as Democratic leader. And Daschle noted he still has a fundraiser planned for the DSCC, despite Reid’s anger over what has happened in South Dakota.
“They have to make their decisions, and I have to make mine,” Daschle said. “I don’t take it personally, and they shouldn’t, either.”
Shortly after Tim Johnson announced his retirement, Reid met with him and his wife, Martha, to lobby them to persuade their son not to run for the seat. A private Democratic poll had showed Herseth Sandlin as the only Democrat who could win in South Dakota, which Mitt Romney won by 18 percentage points in 2012.
Reid thought Daschle was going to be part of that meeting, according to several sources. Reid was angered when that wasn’t the case.
Daschle, though, insisted he never agreed to join Reid in that effort.
“[Reid] talked to me about it, but I was never planning to be part of that,” Daschle said of the meeting with the Johnsons. “When I found out he [Reid] was going to use Tim [Johnson] to try to talk Brendan out of it, that’s when I said it didn’t feel appropriate to be part of that kind of a meeting.”
Democratic sources said Daschle’s endorsement of Weiland had a “big impact” on Herseth Sandlin’s decision not to run. When asked about that assessment, Herseth Sandlin would only say: “The factors that had the biggest impact on my recent decision were my family’s well-being and my commitment to Raven Industries, the company I joined last summer.”
The decision by Weiland — who has twice unsuccessfully run for the House, including losing the 2002 primary to Herseth Sandlin — to run came together in the past month, and he credits Daschle for helping him make that choice. Weiland, 54, served as Daschle’s state director from 1989 to 1995, and he also ran several Daschle campaigns.
As Democratic leaders in Washington were urging the politically moderate Herseth Sandlin to get into the race, Weiland was part of a group of Democrats pushing the more progressive Brendan Johnson to run for the seat being vacated by his father.
But after Brendan Johnson privately informed Weiland and Herseth Sandlin he would rather stay at his job as U.S. attorney in South Dakota, Weiland tested the waters for his own campaign.
“I think one of the conversations that was really key to ultimately making the decision was calling Tom Daschle,” Weiland recalled. “Tom and I have had a personal and professional relationship that almost spans four decades.”
“I have to emphasize how important Rick has been to me and my family for years and years,” Daschle said of Weiland. “He was my state director, he was my finance director when I ran for the Senate. I know his family like my own. His kids and his wife. They’re like a second family.”
Daschle added: “I can’t imagine I’d have any other choice.”
If Weiland secures his party’s nomination, he could face former GOP Gov. Mike Rounds, though Rounds himself may have a messy primary if Rep. Kristi Noem jumps into the race.
The relationship between Weiland and Daschle stems back to the late 1970s. Weiland and his father — then a local Democratic county boss — met in their small hometown of Madison, S.D. Weiland volunteered in the 1978 Daschle House race, later becoming a paid campaign staffer and running Daschle’s 1980 and 1982 House campaigns.
Weiland said he’s “confident” Reid and Bennet will “warm up” to his candidacy.
Weiland argues there’s an incorrect belief that only conservative Democrats can win in South Dakota.
“I don’t know if they’re really in touch with what’s going on out there,” Weiland said of Washington Democrats. “Tom and I talked a lot about that, and we both felt like, you don’t have to run so hard to the right of center to win this race. … You run a Republican against a Republican, you’re going to elect a Republican.”
Weiland believes the DSCC will ultimately spend money on the race, saying, “I really don’t think they’re going to wash their hands of it. It would really be foolish to do that.”
But to get to that point, Reid and Daschle may first have to make amends.
“He’s like a brother to me,” Daschle said of Reid. “He was an extraordinarily close friend all the way through the Senate and still is.”
Still, a source familiar with Reid’s thinking said the majority leader has a long memory.
“He’s not a guy you want to cross,” the source said of the Senate majority leader. “He usually gets his revenge one way or another.”
It's hysterically funny that Tiny Tom has made The Hairy Reed "Deeply Disturbed".
Dear SD’ers, hang on to your gunz.
Mike Rounds is probably laughing his head off.
Well..confirms another thing. Harry Reid is a mean manipulating man.
WhoreHouse Hairy?
Anything of alternative to either would be better.
I think Harry and Tom should have a duel-may the best man win.
There would be no “best man” That’s the irony.
That’s also the fall-back situation of what we see now. Unlike administrations before, there isn’t anyone with a clue to pick up the reins if anything happened. That’s like another security net.
Have you ever seen Democrats attack each other? Let’s just say it’s not pretty. I grew up in Texas watching the Democrat Party self-destruct. It was an awesome display of fireworks and mud-slinging. When Democrats fight, they make it personal. Democrats in Texas still haven’t recovered from the mammoth feuds about a decade or two ago. But you ain’t seen nothing yet until Team Obama vs. Team Hillary pull out their long knives.
Reid should stay out of it. Daschle knows South Dakota more than Reid. Although in the big picture, this is great. Keep fighting!!!!
Hey, I can dream, can't I?
I have no problem with Dashle being involved in selecting a nominee. He’s from South Dakota. But Reid should stay the hell out of it. The senate should not be picking and choosing its own members. And senators should not be picking and choosing who they’d like to serve with. The NRSC and the DNSC should stay out of primary or convention selction, and then support whomever the people nominate.
But conniving and scheming politicians can’t help themselves. They have to try and affect outcomes.
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, who may have had a good shot at getting Tim Johnson’s Senate seat, has just announced she is not running. Rick Weiland will have lots of outside money, but I doubt will have much appeal in this conservative state. Former Governor Mike Rounds is not my first choice as a Senate candidate, but I would not like to see a primary challenge with Rep. Kristi Noem. Historically when there is a GOP primary fight the Democrats win the election. Since his stroke, Sen. Tim Johnson veered to the left and supported cap and trade, Obamacare and other Harry Reid lead bills so any GOP candidate would be an improvement.
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