Thune: Herseth Sandlin’s House seat among those crucial for GOP

Posted: Thursday, July 29th Filed in: News

Kevin Woster Journal staff | Posted: Thursday, July 29, 2010 6:45 am

Sen. John Thune said Wednesday that it is crucial for Republicans to win seats in Congress this fall to restore the balance of power and provide options for more fiscal restraint in Washington, D.C.

One of those seats belongs to Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.

Thune, R-S.D., didn't target Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., by name Wednesday while talking about the need to reshape the balance of power in Congress toward the Republicans through the mid-term elections this fall. But in answering a question during a conference call with reporters, he said putting a Republican in Herseth Sandlin's seat could be vital to a shift in political power.

"It could be key to who controls the House of Representatives after the election," Thune said, adding that Republicans must win "in places like South Dakota, North Dakota and traditionally right-of-center congressional districts across the country."

The first-term senator has plenty of campaign money but no opponent for his re-election run this year. That means he can help other Republicans, including state Rep. Kristi Noem in her bid to unseat Herseth Sandlin. Thune said the House race in South Dakota is very competitive.

"Kristi Noem is a very competitive candidate," Thune said.

Responding later in the day to Thune's comments about the importance of wining back South Dakota's lone U.S. House seat for Republicans, Herseth Sandlin said the seat is not a political pawn.

"This House seat doesn't belong to the national Republican Party or the national Democratic Party, it belongs to the people of South Dakota," she said in a comment provided by her staff. "I am going to run my campaign by talking to South Dakotans about what's best for our state, not what's best for some national agenda."

Herseth Sandlin said that advancing renewable energy, fighting for veterans, supporting Ellsworth Air Force Base and creating jobs are the kinds of issues voters will hear about and care about in this House campaign from her.

Without his own race to worry about, Thune can focus on the mid-term election and Republican gains. He can also ponder his potential as a candidate for president in 2012, although he denies giving much thought to the presidential race.

In response to a question about such plans, Thune said he was more concerned about restoring political balance in Congress and finding ways to control spending and reduce the federal debt.

"Right now what I'm focused on is working to rein in, as I said, this out-of-control spending, paying down the national debt and helping candidates get elected around the country. That's my focus," Thune said. "And I think anyone looking beyond the mid-term election, the 2010 election, is missing the point."

In keeping with the election theme, Thune blasted Democrats in Congress - indirectly including Herseth Sandlin - who tout the pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) spending rules passed into law last winter as meaningful fiscal restraint. He said those Democrats are looking for "political cover," though he stopped short of naming Herseth Sandlin.

"I'm not going to pontificate about that, and I don't know what she said about this," Thune said when asked if he was speaking of Herseth Sandlin. "I think you have to look at people's actions rather than rhetoric."

Thune said Democrats in the Senate have already voted for more than $200 billion in new spending by going around PAYGO provisions. The law provides some exemptions and spending deemed to be emergency can override the rules, which otherwise require increased spending in some areas to be offset by additional revenue or by spending reductions in others.

Options allowing PAYGO to be bypassed render it all but meaningless in controlling spending and reducing the deficit, Thune said.

"PAYGO for all intents and purposes is a joke," he said.

Herseth Sandlin argues that PAYGO is far from a joke but is likely to be essential in controlling federal spending. She and her staff pointed out that similar rules worked to balance the budget during the years of President Bill Clinton.

"I support pay-as-you-go rules because the federal government should look at its budget the same way South Dakota families do: You don't spend what you don't have," she said. "These common sense rules helped balance the budget in the 1990s, and they can be part of the solution today as well."

Herseth Sandlin went further in her response, pointing out her votes against different rounds of what was known as the bank bailout legislation, one under President George W. Bush and another under President Barack Obama. In doing so, she made an unstated comparison to Thune's votes on the same legislation.

"We also need to cut wasteful spending, and that's why I opposed the Wall Street bailout under both a Democratic and Republican administration," she said.

Thune voted to establish and fund the Troubled Asset Relief Program bill under Bush in October of 2008, saying at the time that it was needed to guard against a collapse of the nation's financial system. He opposed a second round of TARP under Obama a few months later, saying the program hadn't been handled as he expected. He has since sought to end the program and return unspent federal money to the treasury.

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com