Thune Message: Put Down Tea, Rally 'Round Me?

SDSU philosophy alumna and DC-NGO mover and shaker Anne Junod takes a whack at reading between John Thune's lines in his much ballyhooed Weekly Standard story:

...[G]iven the bevy of other names being tossed around as potential Republican presidential candidates in 2012, one must ask the questions: Who was this article really written to, why was it written at this time and what objective was it written to accomplish?

To answer these questions, one must read between the lines. In doing so, we discover that “Dakota Dreaming” functions as an appeal to deep-pocketed Bush Cheney funders of the conservative establishment who are irked by the loutish Tea Party in an effort to get them on board the Thune train [Anne Junod, "Between the Lines: Understanding the Subtext of Thune's Presidential Bid," The Independent Local, 2010.09].

Junod also discusses the meaning behind comparisons to former Virginia Senator and Governor George Allen and current Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. Not discussed: whether Thune's appeal to the grown-ups in the Republican Party will also captivate those noisy kids throwing the tea parties... or whether those kids even be a factor in 2012.