re: DataRepublican is going after John Thune & his handlers this morning

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Gotta love Republicans cannibalizing their leadership.

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You should try it sometime on the democrats you shill for instead of sucking their dicks

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Gotta love Republicans cannibalizing their leadership.

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Thune isn't a leader, he's an obstructionist gatekeeper. If he were a leader, the SAVE Act would be pushed through and recess appointments would be full steam ahead.

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Gotta love Republicans cannibalizing their leadership.

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That’s a difference between the left and the right.

The left marches lock step with what their leaders hand down to them. Narrative says Palestine is good so you protest for Palestine. Narrative says actions in Iran are bad so you protest against them. Narrative says unchecked immigration is good so you attack federal law enforcement.

The right voices their differences, and sometimes acts to replace bad actors. Crenshaw most recently.

You guys don't remember who Thune deposed when he was elected as senator do you? And you probably don't remember why....

I'll share the Gemini summary, but I remember this really well:

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**TL;DR:** John Thune defeated Tom Daschle in 2004 by successfully framing the powerful Senate Minority Leader as a "chief obstructionist" to President George W. Bush’s agenda and a Washington insider who had lost touch with South Dakota’s conservative values. Thune won by a narrow margin of about 4,500 votes in an exceptionally expensive race that broke long-standing Senate traditions.

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## The Historical Context

The 2004 South Dakota Senate race was a "perfect storm" of high-stakes national politics and local sentiment. Tom Daschle was seeking a fourth term while serving as the Democratic leader in the Senate. No South Dakota senator at the time had ever been elected to a fourth term (a trend that also saw the defeats of George McGovern and Larry Pressler).

John Thune, a former Congressman who had lost a Senate bid by only 524 votes in 2002, was personally recruited by the White House to challenge Daschle.

### The "How": Campaign Mechanics and Strategy

* **Nationalized Resources:** Because unseating the opposition leader was a top GOP priority, the race saw unprecedented spending. Both campaigns combined spent nearly **$30 million**—an astronomical sum for a state with only about 750,000 residents.
* **Breaking "Senate Etiquette":** In a rare move, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist traveled to South Dakota to campaign against his counterpart. This broke a long-standing "gentleman’s agreement" where party leaders refrained from campaigning for the defeat of the opposing leader in their home state.
* **Intense Ground Game:** Republicans focused on high turnout in rural, conservative strongholds to offset Daschle's traditional support in Native American communities and urban centers like Sioux Falls.
* **Telegenic Contrast:** Thune was framed as a younger, energetic, and "clean-living" alternative who shared the lifestyle and temperament of South Dakotans, contrasting with Daschle’s long tenure in D.C.

### The "Why": The Narratives That Stuck

Thune’s victory was built on three primary arguments that eroded Daschle’s popularity:

#### 1. The "Chief Obstructionist" Label

The most effective line of attack was that Daschle used his power in Washington to block popular initiatives. Thune, backed by the Bush administration, accused Daschle of being the primary reason for gridlock on:

* **Judicial Nominees:** Republicans hammered Daschle for using the filibuster to block conservative judges.
* **Tax Cuts:** He was portrayed as a "tax-and-spend" liberal opposing President Bush’s economic plans.
* **The Iraq War:** While Daschle had initially supported the war, his subsequent criticisms were used by Thune to claim he was "emboldening the enemy."

#### 2. The "Two Tom Daschles" (Out of Touch)

Thune’s campaign successfully argued that Daschle lived a "double life." They highlighted his **$2 million home in Virginia** and his luxury Jaguar to suggest he had become a Washington elite.

* **The Hug Ad:** Daschle ran ads showing him hugging President Bush after 9/11 to appeal to South Dakota’s pro-Bush sentiment. Thune countered by pointing to Daschle’s actual voting record, calling the ads a "split personality" attempt to hide his liberal D.C. identity.

#### 3. Social and Moral Values

In a year when "moral values" were a central theme of the national election, Thune leveraged Daschle’s record on:

* **Abortion and Gay Marriage:** Thune campaigned heavily on his "pro-life" and "pro-family" credentials, arguing that Daschle’s more liberal D.C. stances were out of sync with South Dakota's religious and conservative base.

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## The Outcome

Thune won with **50.6%** to Daschle's **49.4%**. It was the first time a Senate party leader had been ousted since 1952. The loss effectively ended Daschle’s political career and cemented Thune’s status as a rising star in the Republican Party.

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That includes most of the republicans with winred on top of all the democrats with actblue. It’s my dream Trump has them all arrested for money laundering

I love her.

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Gotta love Republicans cannibalizing their leadership

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100% support the ousting of these frauds.

The progs will support no matter what, that is how you get communist in NYC and Portland and whatever that fraud running for senate in TX is???

John Thune is Dems. Trojan Horse.