John Thune Worries DNC Executive The Most Among 2012 Prospects

Offering an earnest assessment of the 2012 landscape, DNC Executive Director Jennifer O'Malley Dillon acknowledged on Friday that among a field of generally flawed (in one way or another) Republican presidential candidates, there is one who genuinely scares her.

"This is personal but John Thune is somebody that I have nightmares about," she said. "I've worked for Tim Johnson and Tom Daschle and he is just a guy you can't ever count out. He has his head down and is doing some policy stuff. [You] just got to start looking at him."

O'Malley Dillon didn't elaborate much further. But her take on Thune, while broadly shared both in Republican and Democratic circles, was a bit more rare and candid than DNC officials generally make. And it would be curious to see what the chatter of Thune as the dark horse of the Republican field does for both his standing within the party and his own internal deliberations about his political future.

Speaking on a panel at Netroots Nation about the current electoral landscape, O'Malley Dillon addressed issues more pressing to the 2010 elections than the next presidential cycle. But in addition to her comments on Thune, she did acknowledge that former Florida Governor Jeb Bush stands out from the rest of the GOP field for his nuanced position on immigration reform -- a policy platform that could win him kudos from Hispanic voters.

UPDATE: An earlier version of this piece quoted O'Malley Dillon slightly inaccurately (owing to the poor audio quality of the segment). Her quote has since been updated. Meanwhile, DNC Press Secretary Hari Sevugan offers the following clarification about how the party is approaching the next presidential cycle.

"Certainly there are a number of formidable politicians whose names are floating around out there and who are jockeying to position themselves as the most right-wing. We don't underestimate any of them and are keeping our eye on all of them."

Comments

[lisalulu]

12:02 PM on 07/29/2010

TO: John Thune; Stephanie Herseth (BlueDog)

RE: Argus Leader Front Page Story on Children in S.D. living in poverty 7 28 2010

Why are more children today living in poverty in SD? What have you done to make things better for the working poor in SD - we know you both voted NO on health care and Mr. Thune - NO to CHIPS. Shameful.

[maxtwain]

12:49 AM on 07/30/2010

perhaps you should ask the parents of those children first. it's their responsibility. why did they fall into poverty? what mistakes, if any, did they make? were they even in good financial shape to afford children in the first place? have you ever bothered to ask any of them? or is just sen. thune's job to care for all of the children of irresponsible parents?

i doubt you ever bothered to ask sen. daschle either. typical.

[lisalulu]

10:41 AM on 07/30/2010

Its ok to bail out fraudulent and irresponsible Wall Street?

don't even start with me.

[lisalulu]

06:28 PM on 07/30/2010

This is my third attempt to respond - why I being scrubbed who knows so I will make it short:

If you examine the voting record of Thune, he sure takes good care of corporations and banks. Further, your comment is very judgmental: I did not know that there was a financial litmus test to having children though I believe every child should be a wanted and loved child. Chit happens.

Why are the neocons only concerned with the unborn or clump of cells in my uterus - why the "your own your own when born." "Sins of the Parents." Get over yourself and offer practical meaningful solutions not just judgment or as the pugs to NO NO NO.

[PC Contrarian]

05:43 PM on 07/27/2010

Given this comprehensive analysis, I'd say the Dems should start worrying, no matter who gets the GOP nomination:
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_15581194

[nooel]

05:29 PM on 07/27/2010

If Thune runs in 2012, I think that'll be the end of obama.

otherwise, romney's tainted by masscare, palin can't win enough independents, pawlenty just looks desperate, huckabee's too huckabee. thune could and probably would take 2012.

[pennsykid2000]

04:49 PM on 07/27/2010

Senators from sparsely populated states don't have a good track record running for prez. Not a single one has ever been elected, and at least one seems to enter the primaries every go-round. The closest is probably Thune's predecessor, McGovern, and he lost 49 states.

[the964kid]

04:27 PM on 07/27/2010

Thune cant beat Palin or Romney in a primary, he probably can't even beat Huckabee. Not only that but the GOP primary process forces their candidates to move even further to the ultra-right (remember the moment when the 2008 contenders were asked if they believe in evolution and not one raised their hand??). By the time Thune could emerge with a nomination he'll look more like Sharon Angle then his former self.

[maxtwain]

12:54 AM on 07/30/2010

Thune is well known in Iowa, and he fairs far better there then Romney. The establishment will line up against Palin/Huckabee, and Thune is more compatible with Iowa and South Carolina. Southern Iowa shares a media market with South Dakota, so he is already known to many in the state. This will lead to the establishment lining up behind him as well as the evangelicals. Thune will easily outlast Palin, who is bound to self-destruct, and is far outpacing Huckabee in fundraising despite being far less known. A win in Iowa makes Thune a star, and unlike Palin/Huck, he is also a good fit for NH. By then Romney's establishment support will have collapsed. Thune rolls from there, unless a Pawlenty or Gingrich get traction.

Thune vs Romey could end fast with a second Thune win in NH, or it could become a GOP version of Hillary vs Obama, with Thune cast as the insurgent senator against the long-anticipated frontrunner.

[ArtsyJane]

04:24 PM on 07/27/2010

Never heard of him. However, I look at his picture and already know that he is never going to be a president. He doesn't have the face for the job.

[Obeah]

05:04 PM on 07/27/2010

Perhaps not the face of a president but ooooh what an iron-fisted autocrat he would make with that look

[EspritDeVoltaire]

03:15 PM on 07/27/2010

Jeb Bush won't run until 2016 when he is a shoe-in for POTUS. He's too smart to take on the expense of campaigning in 2012 when the GOP field is cluttered with midgets and too many general election voters remember his brother.

[ArtsyJane]

04:26 PM on 07/27/2010

That's what I would do if I were him, but who knows. His brother's team was smart enough to wait the full two terms of Clinton, I would guess they would be smart again to wait the full two terms of Obama.

[Hokeysmokes]

07:05 AM on 07/27/2010

From Wikipedia:

Thune has described his religious faith as the most important aspect of his political career: "Having a Christian worldview shapes my decision-making with respect to all aspects of my life. I always respect people in public life who are principled, and those principles have to be connected to something. And my faith is what serves as the anchor and directs my actions."

In June 2006, Thune reaffirmed his strong support to amend the United States Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

In a 2005 interview with Christianity Today, Thune supported Operation Iraqi Freedom, expressing a hope that this would result in greater religious freedom: "Liberating Iraq from decades of tyranny and dictatorship, bringing about political freedom, will create an atmosphere of where religious freedom will come to Iraq. And that opens the door, obviously, for the Christian faith there as well."

In one example of fiscal conservatism in 2005, he supported a bill to save $40 billion in the federal budget by cutting back student lending, child support, and welfare programs. On the other hand, Representative Thune supported the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and has expressed support for their continuation in 2010.

Although he expressed opposition to earmarks, in 2008 he requested $252,490,000 in earmarks and received $240,081,050.

A worst nightmare scenario if there ever was one.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FJohn_Thune&ei=xrZOTIaTA4bksQPBtpmfBw&usg=AFQjCNFasy67cTUnvFsaCuzRlyjZkVAZJg

[hang319]

11:26 AM on 07/27/2010

typical republican.

[stanblack]

05:47 PM on 07/27/2010

Ugh. Another, Christian Theocratic Party member. Where's our proud atheist alternative please? Although, I have a sense most of our politicians simply play themselves as uber religious morons to pander for the votes.

[jsgaetano]

03:37 AM on 07/27/2010

Thune looks like the Green Goblin from the Spiderman movies.

[WiltonDiary]

12:56 AM on 07/27/2010

John Thune = Fred Thompson without the trophey wife. We know how that worked out.

[maxtwain]

12:55 AM on 07/30/2010

comparing a youthful giant-killer like Thune, who is the same age as Obama, to old lazy Fred is silly.

[ggmome]

06:26 PM on 07/26/2010

Tell me that the Nightmare Presidential Candidate is JEB! Or that it is Karl Rove! What or who could be worse than that gruesome twosome, What this country doesn't need is another Bush and jail time for Rover.

[ArtsyJane]

04:20 PM on 07/27/2010

Jeb Bush and Karl Rove is the same thing.

[cybolt]

05:24 PM on 07/26/2010

OK she's floated the balloon, now everyone wait for the reaction.

[FalstaffsMind]

05:20 PM on 07/26/2010

I would never dismiss Jeb. He's not his brother. He's very good in front of a camera, and has a following in a swing state. He would be very formidable if he decided to run.

[BurgessPenguin]

06:47 PM on 07/26/2010

Still, we need to learn from history and elect no more Bushes to the presidency.

[Brian Ross]

04:48 PM on 07/26/2010

Another Bush in the White House for 8 years? Jeb, who made sure that there was gas at gas stations but whose crack staff forgot that you need generators to pump it out of the ground? Oh yeah, I want THIS guy on the helm of state...

[WiltonDiary]

12:54 AM on 07/27/2010

Then the last Bush was in the White House two summers ago gasoline to run the generatores was at $4.00/gallon.

[redcelt]

06:04 AM on 07/26/2010

Anyone who can rally the stupid is to be feared, particularly now that the affliction affects both sides of the aisle.