We need more principled conservatives like John Thune

After months of speculation, he may leave office due to family considerations and concerns about the line of the national Republican Party, said US Senator John Thune of South Dakota, Whip of the Republican Party, who Powerful Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle 18 years ago, officially announced his candidacy for a fourth term in 2022.

Normally, this wouldn’t be important news. Thune is a popular incumbent from a state that has become increasingly Republican after being more populist in the past. He was overwhelmingly favored when he won a fourth term.

But Thune suffered the wrath of defeated former President Donald Trump by publicly challenging Trump’s baseless conspiracies about a stolen election saying “that dog doesn’t hunt.” Predictably, Trump attacked Thune as “RINO” (Republican Name Only) and mocked him as “Mitch’s boy” because Thune was second on the Party leadership. Republican in the Senate after Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

Trump also announced he would help remove Thune from office and he encouraged Republican Governor Kristi Noem to challenge Thune in a Republican primary. During Trump’s visit to Mount Rushmore on July 4, 2020, Noem took it upon himself by presenting Trump with a replica of Mount Rushmore that included Trump’s face next to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. But Noem, who will also be re-elected in 2022, was quick to state that she was not interested in running against Thune for the Senate.

Ironically, as part of the Republican leadership of the Senate under McConnell, Thune’s leadership was crucial to the passage of Trump’s landmark tax cut and he helped transition Trump’s 226 federal judicial nominations passed the Senate, including three new justices on the US Supreme Court. Thune supports Trump’s deregulation agenda along with his immigration and southern border policies. He opposes both Democrats’ efforts to impeach and remove Trump.

Regardless of this strong support for Trump’s agenda, he is a RINO because he refuses to participate in hysterical conspiracy theories about a stolen election.

Trump loyalists often say “established” Republicans like Thune “don’t know how to fight” like Trump. Really?

After being elected South Dakota’s sole congressman in 1996, Thune challenged Democratic US Senator Tim Johnson in 2002. The formidable political team of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle ran Johnson’s campaign and they ran very fast on the Thune campaign. Despite being favored to win, Thune lost 524 votes. Rumors swirled that election fraud occurred in nine Indian reservations in South Dakota, and Thune was encouraged by some Republican leaders to challenge the outcome of the election.

But Thune gave in to the race to Johnson, and he strongly rejected such calls and said he would not put his dear status over such a heated argument. What a contrast to what we are seeing today from people who cannot accept the judgment of their voters and who instead hide behind stolen election conspiracy theories.

Rather than withdraw from electoral politics, Thune decided to challenge the much more formidable Daschle, who led the most powerful Democratic Party in America in 2004. Bill Clinton is no longer in office and Barack Obama is the candidate for the nomination. Senate in Illinois.

Daschle has been very effective in blocking legislation and federal appointments backed by Republican President George W. Bush through his clever use of a filter that essentially requires a supermajority. 60 votes to pass something in the Senate. Thune made Daschle’s obstruction a key part of her campaign to label Daschle as the “Head of Obstruction” who used his power to harm the people of South Dakotans.

Notably, at no point did Thune, like any other Republican senator, call for sanctions relief despite their frustration with Daschle’s obstructionism, unlike the party members. Senate Democracy Today.

The 2004 Daschle-Thune race was second only to the presidential race between Bush and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry in terms of national importance and vision. Unlike in 2002 when Thune was considered the favorite in the loss to Johnson, he was definitely the underdog in 2004 to Daschle.

The entire 2004 South Dakota congressional delegation was Democrats. Undefeated for more than 26 years, Daschle was first elected to Congress in 1978 before becoming a Republican senator in 1986. Daschle is several million dollars more than Thune. Over the years as the Leader of the Senate Democrats, Daschle has assembled a nationally respected campaign team – some might say ruthless – in anticipation of the nomination. presidential election in 2004.

But in the end, Thune’s victory was the first time in 52 years that an incumbent Senate leader had been defeated for re-election. Most of Daschle’s campaign team continued to work for the newly elected senator from Illinois, Barack Obama. They helped him get elected president and work in the White House. They are certainly not the base group of campaigns. I guess RINO Thune already knows how to fight.

Both Democrats and Republicans can learn something from the principled conservatives from South Dakota. Republicans who bribe stolen election conspiracy theories should reflect on how Thune turned a bittersweet defeat into one of the biggest upset victories in Senate election history. Democrats should note that Republicans have not attempted to reverse more than a hundred years of Senate tradition as they face near-daily attacks from party members. Democracy.

Both sides need to cool down when it comes to undermining the political process and our constitutional form of government. That’s why the fact that Senator John Thune is seeking re-election is good news for the nation.

Dick Wadhams is a Colorado Republican political consultant who served as campaign manager for Senator John Thune in 2004 when he defeated Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle.

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