In the biggest Sioux Falls Democratic Forum of 2016 so far, Forum director Tom Cool tells me that his hardy band of southeastern South Dakota Dems will host the announcement of the Democratic candidate who intends to challenge John Thune for his Senate seat.
Sioux Falls Democratic Forum trusts me with their money by sponsoring Dakota Free Press, but they won’t tell me who the candidate is. If you want to know for sure, you’ll need to come to the Sioux Falls VFW on South Minnesota, just north of the I-229 intersection, at noon on Friday for the announcement.
The Senate candidate has clearly followed my advice on waiting until the actual election year to announce. Now let’s see how well this candidate can follow my advice about pointing out John Thune’s absolute lack of legislative achievement. Ask Thune what he’s been doing for the last twelve years, ice that charge with questions about whether he supports Majority Leader McConnell’s push to hamstring the Judiciary Branch for the rest of the year by refusing to confirm any Presidential nominee to the seat vacated by the deceased Antonin Scalia, and you’ve got a race.
When will Thune announce who he is supporting for the GOP nominee for president?
Roger, I suspect when we get to May 1 and everyone has dropped out except for Trump and the last real Republican standing, and the party leadership needs Thune to convince South Dakotans to go with the party’s choice and not Trump.
This is good news.
Can the Republicans (Senate) sit on a Supreme Court Justice nomination (from Pres. Obama) till next January following the election process/inauguration of a new presidency??? the vacancy can remain vacant for a year ?? (or longer??) I’m asking . . .
Cory,
Do you think that the pressure being exerted over a Supreme nomination could for Thune to throw his support to Cruz or Rubio earlier than May 1?
John Thune has already said that the next Supreme Court nomination should wait for the next President.
I wonder if the Republicans might change their mind later in the year, if it looks like the next President might be Bernie Sanders.
I’ll be there barring a call from Vermillion or Elk Point-Jefferson School Districts.
http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/02/supreme-court-vacancies-in-presidential-election-years/
Lets throw the Koch Brothers “shoe shine boy” John Thune out……………. lets work to get South Dakota back for the people!!
The historical record does not reveal any instances since at least 1900 of the president failing to nominate and/or the Senate failing to confirm a nominee in a presidential election year because of the impending election. In that period, there were several nominations and confirmations of Justices during presidential election years.
From the above scotusblog article. Pick another Notorious RBG,Obama.
There is only one difference now though MFI, I don’t think that since the issue of slavery abolishment, things have ever been as contentious as they are now.
You are right and it is all Obama’s fault for being a Black man than whitey wingnuts hate. If Obie was only white,they’d only hate him half as much.
Did I actually say abolishment? Shouldn’t it have been abolition?
M.K., I don’t think there’s any rule limiting how long a Supreme Court seat may remain vacant or how long the Senate may take to confirm. The limit may be set purely by voter pressure and elections.
Roger, this battle won’t push Thune to choose between Cruz and Rubio, since they are both taking the obstructionist position that Thune likely supports. And unless Thune defies expectations and endorses Kasich, his Democratic challenger should have a heyday hammering Thune for all the rotten things his chosen candidate will have said (because really, every one of the six Republicans left standing except for Kasich is a liability for Thune and a boon for Dems).
What has he done??? Well, he has tanned well during his years in office.
Thune defeated Daschle parroting time and time again, the obstructionist label to a sitting president. This is exactly what he has become, along with our two other SD reps. This from CNN.com just after the thune victory in 2004.
“Thune had come within 524 votes of unseating the state’s other Democratic senator, Tim Johnson. When Thune entered the 2004 race, he immediately began questioning Daschle’s leadership abilities, accusing him of blocking too many of Bush’s judicial nominations, undermining the morale of U.S. troops and not doing enough for South Dakota.
“I am echoing what I hear people say in South Dakota about their senator and as they travel around the country having to deal with the chief obstructionist label. And I believe that is embarrassing to South Dakota,” Thune told NBC’s “Meet the Press” in September, while seated next to Daschle.
Thune then blasted his rival for criticizing the war on Iraq, saying, “His words embolden the enemy.”
An outraged Daschle responded by saying Thune’s attacks “where I come from would earn a trip to the woodshed.”
“I take this personally. It’s not only an attack on me, it’s an attack on where I’m from,” said Daschle, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.
Wingnuts swiftboated Veteran John Kerry,Veteran Tammy Duckworth,Veteran Max Cleland besides Daschle. And it worked.
We know how important it is to conservatives that the President comply with his express Constitutional duties, so if the Constitution mandates the President to act, I would think both our Senators would demand action.
Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, provides in relevant part – the President “SHALL nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, SHALL appoint . . . judges of the Supreme Court . . . .”
Merrian Webster online defines “shall” as “used in laws, regulations, or directives to express what is mandatory.” Since the use of the term “shall” makes nomination and appointment an explicit duty of the President it would seem odd to argue that he should ignore this duty and decline to nominate a Supreme Court judge until after any upcoming election. (And why do we call those folks appointed to the Supreme Court “justices” when the Constitution labels them “judges?”)
If you want Thune to show up get a camera and a basketball .He loves photo ops.
WOW!
Steve Hickey is all over Facebook this evening posting tinfoil hat theories on who killed Scalia.
If it wasn’t Steve it would be me, Roger. If they can kill JFK, frame Leonard Peltier and drop three buildings in Manhattan into their footprints they can hasten the death of some fat Supreme Court justice.
bcb-and we thought the last 7 years were withering! anything could happen these next 11 months. frightenly optimistic.
p.s. I haven’t bothered, but does coyote have any idea about what he is talking abut?
so I guess nothing more is expected of thune. he carried water. now its gravy.
We’ll never drag Thune into those conspiracy theories. He’ll just keep smiling for the camera and saying and doing nothing.
It seems that the Sioux Falls Drinking Liberally Chapter has already spilled the beans. Jay Williams, who is that? Paula Hawks might have more name identification than he does. I guess when you have nobody, anybody will do.
http://livingliberally.org/chapter/blog/5734
SFDL has indeed published Jay Williams’s name, as has the GOP spin blog. Neither has produced any documentable evidence or statement from Williams himself confirming or denying that rumor. I’m trying to keep your loyal readership by focusing on facts and evidence instead of rumor, Don.