The blogstorm of commentary on Tim Johnson's "smear campaign" against possible GOP Senate challenger bears more than a whiff of tempest in a teapot. "Smear"? What did the Dems do, I wondered, accuse Kirby of adultery? Embezzlement? Not mowing his lawn?
Nothing so grave. Johnson's campaign manager, Steve Jarding, sent out an e-mail to campaign donors saying Kirby is a multimillionaire. (Boy, why didn't I think of that zinger when I was on the playground at Washington Elementary?) Jarding then went on to issue some standard anti-GOP rhetoric:
“Steve Kirby cares little that home foreclosures are growing, while incomes are not; that health care costs are skyrocketing while 47 million Americans lack health insurance; that jobs are being outsourced even though American workers are more productive than ever; that we are mired in a war without end that is mortgaging our children's future,” the email stated. [staff reports, "Johnson Campaign Attacks Steve Kirby," that Sioux Falls paper, 2008.02.29]
Jarding's language is rather silly: Kirby hasn't even declared his candidacy, let alone issued any policy statements defending the plutocracy. The Johnson camp appears to have gotten out the elephant gun for a mosquito: why make even the effort of those few words against a guy you lead 70-19 in the latest poll?
The Dems aren't helping themselves. Dr. Schaff correctly calls out-of-state blogger Lowell Feld, maintainer of the SD Dems' paid blog, Badlands Blue, on sheer denial of reality. Feld, who hasn't spent any time I know of in South Dakota, claims that Johnson is just being "aggressive" to avoid suffering the fate of Tom Daschle:
One of the main reasons Tom Daschle lost in 2004 was because he wasn't aggressive enough against John Thune.
Next, the Badlands Blue question of the day is this: Should Democrats repeat the same mistake in 2008?
I'll catch heck from my Dem friends on this one, but a quick look at Jon Lauck's analysis of the 2004 contest will remind us that Daschle was waging a TV ad campaign months before Thune declared or put a single ad on the airwaves. The Daschle campaign had spent $8 million on TV, radio, newspapers, and mailings by May 2004, compared to Thune's $500,000 at that point, and saw Daschle's lead shrink.
Still, the GOP/blogspheric hue and cry over this "smear" sounds very much like an effort to find something, anything, to give their least hopeless maybe-candidate some tiny toehold in the election. And it's always funny when Republicans play the victim card. Ho-hum.
Johnson got the Dems behind a website criticizing Kirby to take it down. He called Jarding's e-mail what it was: rhetoric to stir up donors (would my Republican friends oblige and post copies of all the juicy text they get from the GOP candidates seeking their money? I'm sure we can have some fun with that literary analysis). He also called Kirby what he is: a millionaire. I won't begrduge my GOP friends for not wanting the story to end there; they do desperately need a story. I'll just wait until the campaign gets going and Johnson and... whoever... get to talking about the issues.
Kirby wasn't a candidate yet. That's the thing. And Johnson felt so threatened that he started attacking him now? And for what, having money?? Wow, I wonder what they think about Kennedy, Obama, Edwards, Gore, et al, et al and their pidding bank accounts, all the while decrying global warming and spouting concern for the poor from the steps of their mansions, private planes, and gas guzzling cars.
ReplyDeleteKirby playing the victim??? Give me a break. There hasn't been any more victimhood shown in this state than that by the Johnson campaign staffers all during the last 1+ year. I agree that Johnson is probably a nice guy (I don't personally know him), he suffered a horrible medical condition, and he has made tremendous recovery thru hard work and willpower. That being said...
I can see it coming now. Any attack on Johnson's stances on the issues or anything will be met with the "victim" ploy. The Dems need to get over it. If Johnson is a candidate and can do the job, meaning carry on the campaign himself via speeches, appearances, etc (not his staffers), then fine. But don't expect to win simply by his being the incumbent and by going negative against any opponent or potential opponent. The people of SD deserve better. We have put up with Johnson's staffers running interference for him since his illness started, but that won't cut it in a campaign.
The people of SD deserve a full-time candidate and a full-time senator. This is a given regardless of political affiliation, it is an IS.
I still say he won't run, but won't drop out until the last possible minute and will then let someone else just step in (do I hear the echo of Stephanie's voice here?). Or another scenario I just heard, will run, win, then step down, and let someone be appointed. And if a Dem wins the governorship, of course that would be Stephanie.
Johnson is responsible for the actions of his campaign staff. If this truly was not of his doing, then he needs to fire said staffer. If not, he is implicitly agreeing with these actions.
This is going to be a nasty campaign I think, simply because anyone running against Johnson is going to be running not only against Johnson himself but also against his illness, and that is a sad thing. The people of SD deserve better; I deserve better.
This will not be a nasty campaign.
ReplyDeleteLatest poll numbers in SD:
"Who would you favor in the November election?" Johnson 70% Kirby 16%
Johnson's approval rating 72% (That's the 3rd highest in the Senate) By the way Thune is at 59%.
Short of Johnson joining the Nazi Party, or Rounds running against him, this is not a campaign, it's a coronation.
This time next year you'll be trying to remember the name of the guy who ran against Johnson.
Rounds against Johnson? The Republicans wouldn't even give the Governor his $3 million for more school laptops; I'm not sure they'd be as fired up any more about putting him up for Senate. Thoughts, anyone?
ReplyDeleteMe thinks Anonymous of 3/04/2008 8:32 AM, doth protesth too much.
ReplyDeleteTwo websites were reserved for Kirby for Senate, or some such nonsense, on or about 24-25 February. Kirby should quit playing "a little bit pregnant" and the media should not tolerate his coyness.
It's pre-emptive campaigning. The republicans ought to identify with that from Iraq.
ReplyDeleteWho? cares about the dems in the first place! The GOP is the superior party in South Dakota! Why is this even a topic? I thank the spirits everyday for Gov. Rounds and Sen. Thune. The Congress Woman does not matter and she cannot even marry a South Dakota man. She went for the money in Texas.
ReplyDeleteI'm confused why this blogger and commander Epp both ripped a play from the Hillary Clinton disfunctional campaign playbook to attack Jarding. Jarding won a near impossible campaign against a far better funded macahcah name caller. So are Madville and the Eppster creating their own red phone add for Kirby to exploit? Senseless amicide attacks like Clinton's and these prompt one to wonder whether demos can govern.
ReplyDeleteComparing me to Hillary Clinton is a sure way to get my goat, Anon 8:33. But it's also, in this case, simply inaccurate. Clinton is trying to defeat a rival who stands in the way of her life's ambition. I'm just pointing out that a big effort by the Johnson camp to attack Kirby at this point seems like overkill, as does the Republican exaggeration of the rather thin gruel dished out so far as a "smear" campaign.
ReplyDelete"Senseless amicide attacks like Clinton's and these prompt one to wonder whether demos can govern." Good vocab, Anon. But to suggest that the comments of Mr. Epp and me on the Johnson-Kirby snowball fight constitute an indictment of the qualifications of an entire political party to govern is like saying Bruce Whalen proves the Republican Party should disband.
Corey, though Daschle did run adds a long time before Thune, Daschle never went after Thune directly in ads until the very last weeks of the campaign. Maybe in this case it is too much, too early, but I doubt it. I think there is a good point to be made that attacking your opponent head-on, when done correctly, is something campaigns should not hesitate to do, and Kirby might as well be branded by the Dems before he has a chance to brand himself. And this 'Kirby isn't a candidate' stuff is pure nonsense, since he obviously wants to be perceived as a real threat to Senator Johnson.
ReplyDeleteAnd doesn't an aggressive stance toward Kirby now, including creating a website devoted to negatively branding him, only reinforce the perception that he's a real candidate?
ReplyDeletePerhaps I'm out of touch with the electorate, but what support does Kirby have? Is Dykstra somehow not a satisfactory candidate for the GOP? Why would the Johnson camp be any more afraid of Kirby than anyone else? Are the Dems purely afraid of Kirby's money?
The Dems have to have a different attack strategy in this campaign because Johnson can't hold the seat on his own. The troops will circle their wagons around Johnson, and woe to any challenger who dares to attack Johnson in any way on any issue.
ReplyDeleteThis should be a campaign fought by the "campaignee" front and center same as any other political race. If Johnson can't carry on his campaign in the open manner voters deserve, it's time he retires. Actually I don't get why he doesn't anyway. He can step aside and perky Stephanie can step right in and probably win his seat anyway. No, I'm not voting for her, but perky, cute, admittedly smart, and the name Herseth got her elected last time and probably will again.
Nonnie