By Denise Ross

Dick Cheney has called his vice presidency “consequential.” True dat, especially if one considers collective national heartburn a consequence.

In throwing the Hoghouse contribution on the pile of year-end news lists, I offer my take on the political stories from 2008 that I predict will be equally or more consequential in 2009.

Here goes.  (I’d do this like a countdown, but the WordPress numbering system won’t cooperate.)

1. The school funding lawsuit. All the testimony and arguments were given in 2008, with Gov. Rounds notoriously declining to take the stand but not showing the same aversion to the microphone. The ruling will come in 2009, probably after the Legislature has adjourned. Should the court rule that SoDak schools are under-funded, saddle up for a special session and gird yourself for a whole lotta grand-standing from both sides.

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By Denise Ross

Most - perhaps none - of the nation’s governors have served under any president other than George W. Bush. When Nathan Daschle told me that, my brow furrowed. To quote my pal Terry Woster, Could that be true?

Upon further reflection I realized that of course it must be true, given the nation’s penchant for 8-year term limits for elected executives.

Daschle’s larger point was that his pool of Democratic govs is very much looking forward to working under a Democratic president. Not only do they hope the arrangement will make life easier in Democrat-controlled statehouses, they hope to influence national policy.

And the influencer-in-chief very likely will be South Dakota’s neighbor to the northwest, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer who is the new chairman of the Dem Gov’s Association.

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By Denise Ross

While it appears Brendan Johnson (son of Sen. Tim) is gearing up for a career in elected politics, another political son has looked that life in the face and says he’ll turn it down.

In my most recent newspaper column, Nathan Daschle (son of Sen./Secretary Tom) says the price of climbing the political mountain is too high.

It’s too much of a sacrifice. I’m not willing to make it. The price of success is immense sacrifice.

Nathan was matter-of-fact in his assessment, and I’ve no doubt that at least some of his observations have come in his past years helming the Democratic Governors’ Association. (You’ll note that the Dems have taken the majority on that front, and Daschle has big plans for 2010, when more than a third of gubernatorial seats are up for grabs.)

I don’t know Nathan nearly as well as I know his dad, but after one conversation it was clear that he has inherited the senator’s ability to play politics much more like chess than checkers.

Republicans needn’t gear up an encore anti-Daschle machine, however. Daschle the younger plans a limited political career. He might be more interested in business.

To read the full column, click “CLICK HERE” below.

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By Denise Ross

Welcome back from Christmas festivities - those of you who are, in fact, back and not riding the happy train all the way to New Year’s. (Clearly I took a break. Wish the spammers had, too.)

Alas, there are a few columns to catch up on. First, we have a heart-warming tale about how two humble public servants moved from as bitter a public battle as might be imagined to friendship.

I write of South Dakota’s two U.S. senators, of course. And if you find yourself snarling instead of smiling at this prospect, then you are almost certainly a partisan first and a South Dakotan second. I’d like to say - not that there’s anything wrong with that - but, well, um, I wouldn’t mean it.  

In any case, we all remember 2002. (Think back. You do. It was the one before the Thune-Daschle race of 2004.) It seemed the gregarious John Thune would best the low-key Tim Johnson, but, gosh, most of us hated to have to choose.

And then things got meaner and meaner, and GWB came to Mount Rushmore in mid-August right after a bunch of ranchers had to sell off their cattle herds because of the big drought. Bush said, “Yes!” to a lovely photo op with the four granite faces. But to drought aid he said, “No, no, no.”

And then GWB came to Aberdeen, and the Thune team had to hand out the free tickets. By now it was watch-your-breath-freeze cold out and the Secret Service locked a bunch of ticket-holders out, literally in the cold. If you thought the shafted ranchers were unhappy back in August, well, at least they got to see the president. What the mercury lacked in achievement that day, the jilted ticket-holders made up for in rhetoric.

And everyone was accusing everyone else of voter / voter registration fraud while the Kabuki band played on and on and on.

When the dust finally settled, the low-key guy was ahead by a sliver, and it seemed the once limitless career of the gregarious guy had washed up on the rocky banks of the Muddy Missouri.

And then they lived happily ever after.

If you’re a grinch, you probably stopped reading long ago. For the rest, click “CLICK HERE” below to read a bit of how they got from a sliver and the rocky banks to happily ever after.

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By Denise Ross

Little Zachary Lars doesn’t know it yet, but he’s been born into a political dynasty. So says the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza in his The Fix blog.

Cillizza looks forward to 2010 when all sorts of dynamism will be going on around the country, including in SoDak where US Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin might opt to run for governor.

Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin is regarded as Democrats’ strongest candidate for the open governor’s seat in 2010. Her grandfather spent a term as the state’s governor, her grandmother was South Dakota’s secretary of state and her father, Lars, spent twenty years in the state legislature and ran unsuccessfully for governor in the 1980s.

SHS is in a round-up that includes the Kennedys and Cuomos of New York, the Murkowskis of Alaska, the Bidens of Delaware, the Carnahans of Missouri, the Bushes of - well - everywhere? and the Salazars of Colorado.

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By Denise Ross

South Dakota’s own Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin has taken 1 of 3 leadership roles with the House’s Blue Dog Democrats, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is publicly trying to diminish the influence of that group and other sub-caucuses amongst House Dems.

Politico reports this:

Pelosi has “set parameters” for what she wants from Barack Obama and his White House staff - no surprises, and no backdoor efforts to go around her and other Democratic leaders by cutting deals with moderate New Democrats or conservative Blue Dogs.

…

… the speaker is laying down the law …

Pelosi outlined her expectations directly to White House chief of staff in waiting Rahm Emanuel, but a detailed account also was leaked to the press (via “Democratic sources”) where everybody would get the message. No doubt Herseth Sandlin is a bit preoccupied with this week’s birth of her first child, Zachary Lars. (Congratulations!)

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By Denise Ross

The Brendan Johnson for US Attny story, which broke in the SD blogosphere weeks ago (I believe the SD War College, right Pat?), has now played in most mainstream media, including my newspaper column last week. (Read the full column on the jump.)

And today, Kranz takes a look at it in the Argus.

It’s hard not to root for the bright, charming and ambitious 33-year-old son of third-term US Senator Tim Johnson, who insiders told me years ago is a political talent who will loom large over the SD landscape in the future. No doubt there are others of lesser pedigree who wouldn’t mind serving our state as US Attorney, so this story is not over.

Meanwhile, the younger Johnson is making the pragmatic moves that would be necessary to thread the ethical needle of having a dad who’s also the state’s senior senator - who would normally nominate the state’s next US Attorney.

Democratic operatives no doubt salivate over possibilities for the young attorney … Those operatives are probably going to have to wait. … Officially, he hasn’t decided whether he will apply. Unofficially, he’s already solved the tricky ethical problem of keeping his senator father out of the loop and declines to discuss any potential future runs for political office, calling such talk “inappropriate” for someone seeking a U.S. Attorney post.

Brendan told me that Sen. Johnson won’t play a role, should he pull the trigger on a US Attny bid. Instead, either the White House will make the sole determination or a bipartisan committee of SoDak lawyers and (perhaps) judges will screen applicants. The line that has emerged is that Johnson would “stand on his record, not his last name.”  Much easier said than done. (And Dusty, please take note.)

Even Brendan’s detractors acknowledge that he’s qualified for the job, but some - including a few back-channel e-mails received here at the Hoghouse - just think it looks bad. They might be right, but the younger Johnson is in an unenviable position. If he applies for and gets the job, some will always dismiss him as having ridden in on his father’s coattails. If he holds back, he’s paying an unfair price for having been born into a successful political family. Hardly a tragedy, but both equations lack a fundamental fairness.

Brendan Johnson is hardly someone who needs sympathy, and perhaps what will keep that at bay is the knowledge that no matter what happens regarding this current opportunity, South Dakota has hardly seen the last of Brendan Johnson. The boy will do just fine.

To read more about what Brendan has to say about the political thicket and his legal record, click “CLICK HERE” below.

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By Denise Ross

South Dakota’s lone member of Congress bucked her party and voted against the auto bail-out Wednesday night.

Here’s the press release:

HERSETH SANDLIN STATEMENT ON AUTO BAILOUT LEGISLATION

Washington, DC, December 10, 2008 - U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin released the following statement regarding her vote in opposition to the $15 billion auto bailout plan, which passed the House this evening:

“Although I have concerns about the financial viability of our country’s automobile industry and the serious effects that could result from one or more of the automakers declaring bankruptcy, ultimately, this package is not the right way forward. I could not support providing automakers access to federal funding without more stringent taxpayer protections, and without requiring them to take serious and bold steps to help our country meet the twin challenges of energy independence and climate change. This bill provides billions in taxpayer dollars without requiring the automakers to do much more than submit a restructuring plan by next March. If we’re going to use this much taxpayer money, we simply need to see more accountability more quickly.

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By Denise Ross

Count South Dakota’s own John Thune among those in Congress who won’t go along with an auto industry bail-out. “Let them eat Chapter 11,” seems to be the refrain, and Thune’s in the chorus.

This from The Hill newspaper today:

… other top Republicans in the leadership with McConnell - such as John Cornyn of Texas, the incoming chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and John Thune (S.D.), the incoming vice chairman of the GOP conference - advocate letting the companies go into bankruptcy.

Thune told SD media as much last week, and apparently the specifics of the bill hashed out over the weekend haven’t persuaded him otherwise.

He is joined, according to The Hill, by Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and Republican senators Cornyn, Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions and perhaps by Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. (She says, “Let them eat hybrids.”)

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By Denise Ross

US Sen. John Thune’s most recent promotion to the No. 5 spot amongst Senate Republicans is a chance for another of South Dakota’s politicians to shine, right? Perhaps. But nationally known political commentator Larry Sabato wasn’t so sure when I interviewed him about that for a recent newspaper column. (Read the full column on the jump.)

“The truth is, Republicans are almost irrelevant, even in the Senate,” said Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.

I believe he might have meant “especially in the Senate,” because when I posed the possibility that a position amongst congressional party leaders might allow a talented politician to rise like a phoenix, Sabato quickly slapped that notion down.

“The Republican Party is not going to re-emerge from Congress. Its leaders will be governors, state leaders and candidates for 2012,” Sabato said. “Congress is the last place the party should go if it wants to project a winning image.”

Ouch. I happen not to agree with Sabato, but he’s watching all things political from the Beltway and I’m out here in the shadow of Mount Rushmore watching mostly our brood of SoDak kids. But I have been watching John Thune for almost 10 years now, and my money is on our boy from Murdo taking full advantage of his new opportunity - officially titled vice chairman of the Senate’s Republican conference.

Because his new job requires him to deliver the GOP’s message to the nation at large, he has a huge stage from which to project his increasingly serious - while still maintaining his long-standing aw-shucks charm - persona. With a GOP in turmoil, the opportunity for a new party standard bearer hasn’t been so ripe for a long time. Witness Sarah Palin’s attempts to claim it.

Thune is far more practiced at the game than is Alaska’s governor. From where I sit, it’s almost entirely up to him as to how large he plays it.

To read the full column, click “CLICK HERE” below.

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