… or at least the GOP nomination.

By Denise Ross

The John Thune in 2012 movement has officially begun. In case there was any doubt before, New York Times columnist David Brooks (a personal fave here at the Hoghouse) essentially sanctioned Thune as the GOP’s Obama in a Friday column.

(D)eep in the bowels of the G.O.P., there are serious people having quiet conversations. The people holding these conversations created and admired Bob McDonnell’s perfectly executed Virginia gubernatorial campaign. And now as they look to the future of their party, and who might lead it in 2012, the name John Thune keeps popping up. …

If you wanted a Republican with the same general body type and athletic grace as Barack Obama, you’d pick Thune. … (P)eople say that he is unfailingly genial, modest and nice … and possesses idyllic small-town manners, like the perfect boy in a Thornton Wilder play. He appears to be untouched by cynicism. In speeches and interviews, he is straightforward, intelligent and earnest. He sometimes seems to have emerged straight into the 21st century from a more wholesome time.

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By Denise Ross

One of the ususal suspects as the potential secret $750,000 donor to the 2006 Vote Yes for Life campaign has been the Catholic Church, a notion I dismissed almost out of hand. For some reason, I thought the church wouldn’t funnel its money into political campaigns, even on an abortion measure.

Not being Catholic, I shouldn’t have assumed such things. What do I know about the culture of the church, beyond the sadly salacious headlines about pedophile priests and the lawsuits they generate? (The massive payouts that have brought some parts of the church to its financial knees accounted for part of my belief that it wouldn’t spend money on campaigns.)

As it turns out, not only did the church contribute to the campaign that turned back a law legalizing gay marriage in Maine, but it was former Sioux Falls Bishop Robert Carlson taking part. (Read it all here.)

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From my e-mail box:

Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., takes a break from being pummeled about the head and shoulders for her no vote on health care to file this Veteran’s Day op-ed, which provides an overview of some of the veteran-related legislation Congress is working on:  

Honoring Our Veterans

-Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin

     As we observe Veterans Day this year, I would like to recognize all of those who have bravely served our country in uniform and offer my gratitude on behalf of a grateful nation. South Dakotans have bravely answered the call to serve for generations. Men and women from our state have served in every conflict this nation has seen in the 20th century — including our current missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. I salute their memory and honor their bravery. 
     This patriotic sense of duty to country is one of the many reasons why I am proud to represent South Dakota in Congress and serve on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and chair its Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. As a member of this committee, I have been committed to ensuring our veterans receive the benefits they deserve such as

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By Denise Ross

From the files of stuff you couldn’t dream up, South Dakota’s own Larry Pressler has a post in the Obama administration. If that’s not awesome enough, it’s on a commision that I - at least - would not have imagined possible. It’s the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.

It’s the “abroad” part that gets me. Seems like that maybe ought to be a private non-profit or something. Must be the South Dakotan in me.

 In any case, here’s what came out in a White House press release:

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By Denise Ross

The growing rift in the Republican Party, highlighted by yesterday’s House election in New York’s District 23, reminds CBS’s Bob Schieffer of the Democrats in 1972 and the presidential defeat of South Dakota’s own George McGovern.

Here’s video from Tuesday’s CBS Evening News, with Schieffer’s comments specific to McGovern transcribed below. (Shieffer begins his analysis at about 3:09, and the McGovern bit starts at about 3:55.)

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ANCHOR HARRY SMITH:  Does this race tell us trends in terms of how Republicans expect to be running in the future?

BOB SCHIEFFER: In this case, I think it will, Harry, because what have is this third party conservative who literally pushed a moderate Republican out of the race, and she went on to endorse Obama. The Republican Party is really split, and it is the conservatives who seem to have the juice right now. It’s very much like what Democrats went through in 1972. The party activists on the left were so upset with mainstream candidates that in an effort to purify the party, they pushed it so far to the left that they nominated the very liberal George McGovern for president.

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By Denise Ross

One has to look for the good news when it comes to the news business these days.

For the Associated Press, it might be that the Tribune Co. is dropping it only for a week (for now).

The Tribune papers (including the Chicago Tribune and the LA Times) will use reports from its papers around the country, as well as content from Reuters, the Washington Post, New York Times, Agence France Presse, Cable News Network, Global Post, Bloomberg and McClatchy newspapers.

Just last week I was speaking to a college class in Sioux Falls (taught by KELO’s Beth Jensen), and I predicted that newspapers would start dropping AP, as they do charge subscription fees that hit a budget hard. I also know discussions of such a move have gone on in SD media circles, predating by years the trend of newspapers routinely closing up shop - in other words, before the media world’s budget woes got truly woeful.

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