During 2007 and 2008, I ran a community blog for the South Dakota Democratic Party called "Badlands Blue." Among other things, we helped to reelect Sen. Tim Johnson and Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin to Congress. Anyway, I still follow South Dakota politics, so I was bummed to see this:A new DailyKos/Research 2000 poll in South Dakota finds Sen. John Thune (R-SD) in a very strong position for re-election bid next year.That's extremely unfortunate, as John Thune is an ultra-conservative wingnut if there ever was one. Even that wouldn't be so bad, but this guy has national aspirations. In fact, for a while there, I thought that John McCain was going to pick Thune as his running mate. For both of those reasons, I was hoping that Stephanie Herseth Sandlin would challenge Thune next year and kick his butt. Unfortunately, this poll doesn't provide much encouragement on that front, but we'll see what happens.
In hypothetical matchups, Thune beats former Sen. Tom Daschle (D), 53% to 40%, and tops Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (D), 51% to 39%.
Meanwhile, back in the state where I grew up (Connecticut), Chris Dodd looks like he's toast, with a new poll showing him with an almost-unheard-of-for-an-incumbent 33% approval rating. After 30 years, it looks like it's time for Chris Dodd to hang it up.
