Thune helping to rebuild the GOP Brand Brick by Brick
The Washington Examiner has an article today on the work John Thune is doing in Washington to help rebuild the GOP’s image, brick by brick:
“For right now, we’ve got to put it all on the message,” Thune said, his long frame folded into a wingback chair in his Senate office. “If we can’t make the case that the Republican Party has better answers on economic and fiscal issues, then it really doesn’t matter that much who’s in charge.” For Thune, son of a teacher and a librarian from Murdo, S.D., the answer for the GOP isn’t about finding its own Obama, but rebuilding a brand that was a victim of its own success. “We have to go about in a very workmanlike way and build this party back up, brick by brick,” Thune said. “We have to show voters that we are worthy of their trust.”
That process started with resisting the Obama stimulus, and continues with fighting cap and trade and a government-run health plan. Democrats misunderstood their mandate and tried White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s smash-and-grab legislative approach. Now Thune and his fellow Republicans are trying to use that overreach against the Obama agenda. “They’re a government party. We’re a freedom party,” Thune said. “We’re not going to win back the support of the American people by saying that we can run big government better than the Democrats can. And the scope of what the majority party is doing right now gives us a chance to highlight the real difference between the two approaches.”
and..
So while other rising Republicans are talking to Iowa consultants and pumping up their political action committees, Thune is trying to build a wall against the Democratic onslaught one brick at a time.
“It’s a matter of how you spend your time, talent and treasure,” Thune said. “You can tell what you need to know about a person by where they put their energy.”
Read it all here. Speaking of Senator Thune, he gave the GOP’s weekly address last week as well:
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Comments
After last week’s Lucas Lentsch fiasco the party could use some of that kind of help back in South Dakota.
Consider, Lentsch picked on Scott Heidepriem for being a poor man’s Dave Knudson (himself a poor man’s Steve Kirby).
Not exactly making the case that the Republican Party has better answers on economic and fiscal issues is it?
Thune is taking advantage of the power vaccuum in the GOP, and he’s definately a rising star. For Dems, this is a welcome development. It’s not that I’m underestimating Thune, it’s just high time the GOP had an elected official as the de facto head of their party rather than Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, or Joe the Plumber.
“You can tell what you need to know about a person by where they put their energy.”
So, Johnny Boy cares more about the national Republican Party than he does South Dakota? Is that what he’s saying?
Thune’s stock is still on the rise. We might look back at this time years from now and think that Ensign’s scandal was a good thing for the GOP in giving Thune the kick start he needed to move up and become THE leader of the GOP. Time will tell if he becomes just “a” leader or “the” leader. Two things to watch: (1)if he can articulate a positive GOP agenda while being a chief spokesman in opposition to Obama policies and (2)if he starts making stops in Iowa/New Hampshire.
9:11 am,
That’s not what Thune’s saying at all.
Nothing says a good legislator can’t represent his party and his state. South Dakota knew Thune’s philospohy when we elected him. Nothing wrong with him promoting that philosophy.
Plus, the more power Thune has within the party, the more he can do for South Dakota.
9:19 said, “Plus, the more power Thune has within the party, the more he can do for South Dakota.”
That’s funny. That’s exactly what we were saying about Senator Daschle when he was the Senate Minority Leader (and, for a time, Majority Leader). We said that he could do a lot for South Dakota in his position.
It’s funny how times change, isn’t it?
The comparisons that the liberals would like to make regarding Daschle’s Democratic leadership position and Thune’s new status as a Republican leader miss an important distinction. Yes, both positions give the senator an opportunity to “do more for South Dakota” and bring home the bacon, etc. However, Thune’s leadership of the Republican party is much more in line with the politics/values/priorities of his home state. Daschle got in trouble when the Democratic Party put him out too far to the left for his home state (we’ll see if this happens to Harry Reid as well).
More similar comparisons would be the leadership positions of Sen. Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Schumer (D-NY), and Sen. Leahy (D-VT). These guys are leaders in their party and from states that support their party.
John,
Clout is good. But, it’s not the end-all and be-all.
Daschle’s values were so out of touch with the majority of South Dakotan’s values that we were willing to sacrifice his clout to have a voice more in line with our own.
“For Thune, son of a teacher and a librarian from Murdo, S.D., the answer for the GOP isn’t about finding its own Obama, but REBUILDING A BRAND THAT WAS A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS.”
HA!
“…his long frame folded into a wingback chair”, oh please, where was mention of his hair, his eyes, his voice and his smile.
Doc and Ghost Repeater,
So you think our elected officials should base all their decisions on poll numbers? If a Democrat is elected in a red state, they should vote like a Republican? What about Republicans in a blue state? What about traditionally red states that have had demographic shifts and now look more purple and blue than red? I’d bet you’d prefer Republicans in those states to vote conservative. You can’t have it both ways.
And just how sure are we about South Dakota’s political values? In the last five years we’ve voted against two abortion bans. Plus, we have a history of electing Democrats to Congress. Conservatives like to say South Dakota is a conservative state and use that to bash SD liberals, but based on our actions I think far right conservatives might be out of touch with what South Dakotans want.
Not at all John. We have them all here, it is a well known fact. I do not appreciate outsiders coming in telling me how to take care of my life and property. BTW John, I don’t imply, I put my foot in my mouth or worse.
The comparisons to Leahy/Durbin/Schumer were necessary to show that Thune’s leadership position within his party doesn’t throw him outside the mainstream view of his state’s voters. A majority of South Dakotans are Republicans, so Thune leading the Republicans isn’t going to be much of a problem for him. It is only to point out that comparisons to Daschle are disingenous.
Liberals want to use the positives of Daschle’s leadership post without referencing the obvious negative of being the chief spokesman for the more liberal national party in a conservative state. I’ll admit that the average South Dakota Democrat isn’t as liberal as the average American Democrat, but when Daschle was leading the national party he had to take some further left positions.
Just trying to make sure we are comparing apples to apples on the party leadership position/home state politics issue.
John @ 1:45. Do I think that all politicians should just vote by the polls in their state? Well, of course that begs the question of whether a congressman should be a representative or a trustee. In the political science context of voting theory, a “representative” would vote on each issue as a majority of his constituency would. A “trustee” would vote the way he thinks is best regardless of what his constituency thinks on a given issue. I believe that our congressman should be somewhere in between and probably closer to the trustee end of the spectrum.
Politicians shouldn’t just vote by poll numbers. Daschle didn’t have to vote with the Republicans on a lot of issues, but when he did so at the risk of losing the next election. Watch Rep. Herseth-Sandlin. She votes more conservatively. I can’t read her mind and determine if it is because of her beliefs (trustee) or if she just wants to keep our more conservative voters happy with her (representative). She has avoided the fate of Daschle so far.
Let’s not get delusional, though, and say that South Dakota is not a relatively conservative state. Putting odds on these match-ups may help demonstrate the Party Leader/South Dakota politics dynamics:
Majority/Minority Leader Daschle vs. Rep. John Thune
Majority/Minority Leader Thune vs. Rep. Herseth-Sandlin
I tend to favor the GOP leader in this situation in SD. Leadership/Incumbency/GOP would all factor in Thune’s favor.
I’m curious to see just how deeply Thune is involved in that Washington D.C. “C Street House” imbroglio that included Senator Ensign, Governor Sanford, and former Representative Pickering…
And I’m surprised at how the South Dakota MSM is ignoring that story – I wonder why?
Doc,
I agree that a majority of South Dakotans are Republicans, but does that mean Sen. Thune is safe to always promote the conservative position on every issue? Couldn’t is also be true that if Sen. Daschle went too far to the left for SD, that Thune could go too far to the right? Conservatives seem to be against a public health care option, but polls have shown a large majority in this country support it (including about 50% of Republicans). So is Thune representing the views of a majority of SD citizens when he criticizes the public option? Could he be too conservative for our state? I’m curious if there have been any SD polls on the issue.
I also agree with you that I’d like our people in Congress to be closer to a trustee. That makes me wonder about Rep. Herseth Sandlin. Does she believe that public health care is good, like most Democrats, yet still vote agaisnt it because she’s from a red state and is worried about the next election? And will voting against a public option cause a backlash with the SD Dems and liberals who support her?
Daschle went against a President South Dakota voted for. Thune is going against a President South Dakota voted against. It’s as simple as that.
Here is JT’s hurdle. In a time when americans are struggling financially and looking for a fiscal conservative(especially GOP activists) and with years to go before the 2012 or 2016 presidential elections will he be able to support disaster relief for farmers and ranchers and not support disaster relief for michigan auto makers, wall st bankers, and whatever else falls apart over the next few years. We do have a socialized system in SD’s farm industry and he is not reversing it.
It is all about the money and how he can resist it or portray himself without being labeled a hypocrite by the Glenn Becks of the world.
I’ve heard Thune speak to farmers and ranchers and he wants his share of money for his constituents. It is going to be a fine line to walk.
I worry we are looking for a pure candidate to lead us in 2012 and that will lead to a nut who loses like barry goldwater.
I would support Jindal. I’m not sold on Thune as a fiscal conservative after TARP or the way he handles farm subsidies.
I think Herseth could have defeated him if she wouldn’t have voted for the stimulous. I noticed a lot of Repubs second guessing themselves about her after the TARP vote.
John, don’t you wonder why so many of our elected have sold out for re-election? Why did our state legis not attempt an across the board cut on expenses before the stim package appeared? We elect trusties and they should not get re-elected if they do not perform. When are we going to start holding them accountable? Parties be damned! When are we going to understand if we don’t hang together surely……..
So when John builds “a wall against the Democratic onslaught one brick at a time” he is a brick mason. And when Tom Daschle resisted appointments of right wing ideologues as judges and other elements of the Republican onslaught, he was an obstructionist. My, how perspectives change.