Daschle’s Personal Touch Falls Short

A knot of men huddled around the counter of the Eastwold Smoke Shop here Wednesday, puffing cigars and chewing over the big news of Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle’s reelection defeat.

“I’m really not surprised,” said store manager Jerry Bowman, 54, who was once the lawmaker’s neighbor. “This state has a long history of voting out Democrats after three terms. They did it to [George S.] McGovern too. The Republicans were saying Tom was out of touch with South Dakota values.”

Earlier on Wednesday, an emotional Daschle -- the first Senate leader to be voted out of office in 52 years -- had conceded the race to former Republican Rep. John Thune. “I have profound respect for the people of our state and I respect their decision,” he told several hundred supporters gathered at a downtown hotel.

The deposed Senate minority leader, who didn’t detail his future plans, lost to Thune 51% to 49%.

“I’m crying inside,” said 49-year-old Jean McGee, who had wandered into the smoke shop. “I always thought Tom Daschle put South Dakota on the map, but then I heard a lot of people say it was time for a change.”

Like many in this small state, she has a personal connection with Daschle.

“He used our farm as a backdrop to announce his Senate candidacy,” she said. “He wanted a rural look, I guess.”

Thune, 43, celebrated his victory Wednesday, saying that he knew his conservative message -- which stressed his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage -- had resonated with voters.

“Our message was stronger in the last days of the campaign,” he said. “I told people this was a race that would be decided on who caught the wind at the end. And this year, we had the wind at our back.”

Daschle’s loss ends a remarkable run for a Democrat who since 1978 had been able to win office in a state dominated by Republicans. He did it by staying in touch with constituents -- including driving to all 66 counties in this sprawling state each year. He also took full advantage of South Dakota’s populist voters, who routinely sent Democrats to Washington and kept the GOP in the state House.

But Thune was able to effectively argue that the 56-year-old Daschle was losing touch with average South Dakotans, talking a good conservative game at home while voting with liberals in Washington and obstructing President Bush’s agenda.

Television commercials pictured him beside liberal Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, or showed the minority leader’s home in Washington. Republicans criticized Daschle after he changed his address from South Dakota to the nation’s capital.

“I think we made a compelling and effective case that it was time for a change,” said Dick Wadhams, Thune’s campaign manager. “It’s a sea change in South Dakota, but also has tremendous implications for Senate Democrats -- namely that blind obstructionism carries a big price, and you are starting to see that price paid now.”

And yet Daschle’s end was bittersweet here. In a state with just 764,000 residents, it seems that most everyone had either seen or met the senator. He was known for sticking up for constituents, writing letters to them or sometimes dropping by their houses. In the last days of the campaign, Daschle was calling people himself, trying to talk them into voting with him.

Linda Barker felt the loss keenly.

The former Democratic state legislator walked into a downtown restaurant Wednesday with tears in her eyes.

“I call it a perfect political storm,” she said. “All of these issues came together at once. Tom ran a good campaign, but I think the religious right was as energized here as anywhere in the nation. I think it’s the mood of the country, and we are part of what is sweeping the nation.”

Barker said the loss of Daschle could spell the end of South Dakota’s clout in Washington.

“Daschle has built new runways, got us a new technology park in Sioux Falls. You asked Daschle for something and he would deliver,” she said.

And Thune?

“He will be at the back of the line when he gets into office,” she said. “Bush will say: ‘Who is that?’ ”

Democrats on Wednesday were warning that Thune would be a radical conservative in the Senate, beholden to those who helped him beat Daschle.

“If people look at my service in the House, they will see I am a right-of-center conservative but very much in the mainstream -- where most of the country is,” Thune said.

“I don’t think this vote was a referendum on liberalism as much as a referendum on partisanship and the tactics employed in Washington. People want to see their governmental institutions work and see people getting things done.”

Nevertheless Alex Cool, a 41-year-old deli clerk, found the entire election unsettling. “I think Thune will be a rock star. Bush will give him anything he wants. I’m moving to Canada.”