Imaginary Conversations and Random Thoughts

Of course you've heard by now that Daschle has been defeated by Thune in their South Dakota senate race. What you may not have heard is that some good portion of Thune's victory is owed to the members of the Dakota Blog Alliance. I thought it might be nice to honor them again by rerunning this post from 8/24/04.

Actual Update: Just checking the behind the scenes stuff, and this post was most frequently searched for me recently. I guess it really did deserve a second showing. Still showing in second place is the issue of African American deaths in Iraq and the fact that they aren't disproportionate. You can find some samples here and here. Still holding on to third in the request line was this piece on Baseball caps with ponytails out the back.

I just looked at my blogroll and noticed I still don’t have Daschle v. Thune up there. It is part of a group of blogs called Dakota Blog Alliance. I hear of them and sometimes follow links to them from Daschle v. Thune, but usually, because of time constraints, Daschle v. Thune is the only one that is my regular read. Jon Lauck is very generous with links to his fellow members of the Dakota Blog Alliance. I hope the others do the same, and as an alliance of bloggers, I would imagine they do. Let me give you the other members first. All of them deal with politics in South Dakota, and the primary focus seems to be the Daschle/Thune race and the disservice the Argus Leader is doing as the major paper not for a city, but for the whole state. I’m just giving you the taglines of the blogs, with a longer bit on Daschle v. Thune because it’s the one I read.

Inside South Dakota: We are an active group of life-long South Dakotans that are a not-for-profit organization established to promote and defend principled candidates who support the Reagan vision of limited government, free markets, lower taxes, family values, economic growth and a strong national defense.

You can find them here. You go look now!


Sibby Online: In search of the truth.

You can find Steve Sibson here. You go look now!


The Bird: Watching the Issues, Politics & People of the Great State of South Dakota

You can find John Michel here. You go look now!


Quentin Riggins Blog: No tagline.

You can find Quentin Riggins here. You go look now!


Ryne McClaren: A Weblog: I Have A Tendency To Wear My Mind On My Sleeve
You can find Ryne McClaren here. You go look now!


South Dakota Politics: Because all politics is local.

You can find Jason Van Beek here. You go look now!


Daschle v. Thune: Analyzing the Biggest Senate Race in the USA.

Jon Lauck is not kidding with that tagline, and neither is Jason Van Beek. I wrote to Lauck several weeks ago to compliment him on his work. They’re both right, and Lauck’s correctness is founded in Van Beek’s tagline. The Daschle/Thune race is a microcosm for what’s happening in national politics and big media (thus “all politics is local”); because it’s such a good example, and because of Daschle’s power in the Senate, it really is “the Biggest Senate Race in the USA.”

Let’s start with the Argus Leader and it’s boss, Dave Kranz. The Argus Leader is to South Dakota media what the NYT is to national media. Lots of smaller papers only have the resources to use articles from bigger papers. The Argus Leader under Dave Kranz (and if you read these blogs, you’ll see his cozy relationship with Daschle) is a stunning example of one sided candidate pushing. And because Kranz will not present open and honest criticisms of Daschle, the smaller South Dakota papers don’t have access to these types of stories. Well, except for the Dakota Blog Alliance. You see the same sort of thing in the local paper you read, and the SBVT issue is a prime example of news burying on a national scale.

Quite frankly, I don’t know why the smaller independent papers don’t run with the stories on these blogs. Mr. Lauck loads his posts with links. If he had written that last paragraph, you probably would have seen at least seven links. Clearly I am not as diligent as he is. My point with this is that I believe Mr. Lauck has proven credibility. If smaller SD papers are leery of blogs, my answer would be that Mr. Lauck has done all the footwork and it would take minimal effort and resources for an “official” journalist to confirm and write these stories. The Dakota Blog Alliance is doing the most, and best, political reporting in the whole state. Daschle also seems to be very good at refusing to address issues and whining about criticism (not negative attacks, but criticism) from opponents. Does the name John Kerry ring a bell?

You can find Jon Lauck here. You go look now!

One bright spot in official journalism in South Dakota is the Rapid City Journal, which has put out an invitation for weekly Lincoln-Douglas style debates from now to the election. Not just talking points and scripting, but more like position papers, plans and thoughts about the issues facing South Dakota and the nation. Serious, extended discussions, not quick questions and answers. You can find their proposal here. You go look now!

By the way, as of this writing, Thune has accepted the debate proposal; Daschle has not.

We are at a very critical time in the history of our nation and civilization. The people at the Dakota Blog Alliance are doing excellent work for all of us. You owe it to yourself and our nation to check them out.