In his ongoing abdication of leadership, Senator John Thune told students at the New Technology High School in Sioux Falls that he will support whomever his party nominates for President:
“There were some other candidates when the field was a little bigger that I thought were really strong candidates, but the process narrows that, and that’s part of our democracy,” Thune says. “So what I said is we’ll wait until the convention, see what that process yields in terms of a nominee, but my intention is to support our nominee, yes” [Kealey Bultena, “Thune Pledges Support for Republican Presidential Nominee,” SDPB Radio, 2016.03.30].
The third most powerful Republican in the Senate maintains that he is just “watching the process play out” to “see what the voters in South Dakota decide.” That’s Thune in a nutshell, not stepping out to take a hard position, not fulfilling his duty as a statesman to lead civic conversation and discourage voters from supporting a candidate who is bad for our culture and our country.
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I don’t believe there’s a problem with our current nominating process.
—John Thune, in Kristina Peterson, “Effort in South Dakota Aims to Drop Parties,” Wall Street Journal, 2016.03.28.
Thune: a lifetime political appointee to U.S. Congress by South Dakota Republican Party, doing his part to keep the top on top.
“There go the people. I must follow them, for I am their leader.” (Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin) The quotation, albeit in the case of Senator Thune spot on, is as attributed, probably apocryphal.
Whoa Cory, Thune has a right to support whoever he wants. I won’t support Hillary either. I know dems in MN that are voting for Trump just b/c they can’t stand Hillary. She’s really a republican, there is no difference these days.
Sanders was our true Democrat.
Sanders is an Independent.
Pretty typical S.Dakotan. Don’t pay any attention to policy, background, history, … Just look for that “R”! That is certainly how we wound up with Thune, Rounds and Noem!
Just like there is no way in hell that GOP senators are going to put Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court (at least not before they lose the election), there is no way in hell that the GOP party will nominate Donald Trump for president no many how many more votes and delegates he gets than any other candidate.
Thune knows that the GOP party nominee he’s pledging to support won’t be Trump. He just doesn’t know yet who it will be. Won’t be Kasich whose campaign has floundered. Won’t be someone like Paul Ryan who hasn’t run, or there would be riots and a party split. Probably won’t be Rubio, who is still ahead of Kasich in delegates and wins but has been thrashed by both Trump and Cruz. Thune knows what Cruz knows. Cruz is in position to get the nomination on the second ballot as the party’s carefully chosen delegates abandon Trump after the obligatory first ballot vote. Cruz may be an a%%%%le, but he’s the GOP party’s a%%%%le. That’s all that matters to Thune.
So you agree that it’s rigged then, Rohr?
Yes it’s rigged, Jenny. The Democratic Party rigs it with secret voting in caucuses, superdelegates and a party apparatus doing Clinton’s bidding. The GOP party rigs it by selecting delegates to do the party’s bidding rather than delegates who are loyal supporters of each candidate.
If Trump fails to get to the magic 50% +1 delegate, Cruz will get the nomination. His running mate will be a female governor – probably Susana Martinez from the swing state of New Mexico.
And I think Jeff Barth is right that Trump is on some level doing everything he can to lose. Trump won’t go away easily though when the insiders reject him at the convention, so between now and then the GOP party will do everything it can to make Trump a pariah.
Senator Thune knows better politically then to alienate the Trump crowd. Often, I comment about the Senator with much criticism. I do not personally have a problem with him. I think he is fundamentally a good person, but I also think he is primarily a product or captive of his own “Cult of Personality.” That said, it becomes especially imperative politically for Thune to vascilate over the Trump candidacy so as to not alienate Trump’s crowd nor tarnish his own image as a Senator and a candidate. Especially, since I would surmise that the Trump crowd to a large degree will be up for grabs for all of the other canididates running for office this fall (as Senator Thune is) regardless of party affiliation.
The popularity of Trump, Cruz, and Bernie has a common denominator to be found within all of these presidential candidacies. The odds that at least one of them will be a presidential nominee this year makes it imperative for all candidates like Thune, and Williams too, to be the first to lock in or try to lock in that community or common denominator, which I would describe as the “Mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore” constituency.
A smart candidate can lock in this community without a commitment to a wall, or showing a distain for Muslims, or punishing women for exercising their reproductive constitutional rights. Time will only tell, however, which candidates will heed this challenge or opportunity and politically profit from it in the fall.
Is this the only conservative republican left? He just might be. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/31/opinion/suppress-votes-id-rather-lose-my-job.html?_r=1 Thune and his crooked little sidekick might well allow the vote as everyone can see what is behind the curtain, they fool no one.
Expect Cruz soon to publicly offer to make Trump his vice president, knowing that Trump will publicly reject the idea. Cruz can then say at the convention that he offered it to Trump first. Once rejected by Trump, Cruz is free to pick someone else.
This offer from Cruz will come after Cruz wins Wisconsin.
Thune is the guy in the empty suit.Thune is the photo op champ of the senate.Thune also the puppet for the senate majority leader,Every puppet neeeds a master and Thune does that well being a yes man.
Trump is an idiot–Thune is McConnell’s shadow. Time for South Dakota to wise up.
It would be such fun to see Thune run for his own senate seat while, at the same time, declaring his support of Trump! Great photo op there, John, standing behind The Donald, on stage, for all to see! Talk about principled! (?)
Is Thune afraid of being bullied by Trump? No.
Thune is afraid Trump will quit donating to the Thune campaign
Sensenbrenner’s Wisconsin is one of the most egregious VRA violators out there.
BTW-nice photo of Marlboro Barbie doing that crazy “hand jive.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxU995zbfno
Anybody remember 2004? Thune must have said “up or down vote!” a thousand times. Look at him now. Nice work, South Dakota.
“dems in MN that are voting for Trump just b/c they can’t stand Hillary”. jenny u r sounding like lynn.
rohr, “the Democratic Party rigs it with secret voting in caucuses, superdelegates and a party apparatus doing Clinton’s bidding”, r u too?
http://juanitajean.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/crmlu160330.gif
True conspiracy.
Yes Leslie. I believe Bernie won the Iowa Democratic caucus, which would have been apparent if they just counted voters instead of coming up with elaborate rules to disguise how many people voted and for whom. I also believe that Debbie Wasserman Schultz uses party rules – and schedules debates – to favor Hillary Clinton. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard resigned from the DNC for this very reason. And superdelegates are simply people the party endows with the ability to overrule primary/caucus voter preference.
http://juanitajean.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wpcbe160330.jpg
rohr, u may be right. or maybe just repeating what some say. I am studying it. I worry that not nominating Hillary elects cruz. Super-delegates? do I want to become an expert on republican and democratic nominating process? hmmm? hours in the day?
http://snewsi.com/id/16129823220