John Thune

[JSojourner]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that this guy will be a factor in the 2012 race? He's a mainstream conservative, young, tall, handsome, and he plays some good basketball. So, in that case, Thune is basically the Republican version of Barack Obama. He's also a giant killer, defeating Tom Daschle, The former Democratic Senate leader, in 2004. If he ran, he would probably occupy the "mainstream conservative insurgent" niche,which is similar to the role that Romney and Thomspon played, or tried to play, in 2008. What do you all think?

Mainstream conservative -- Richard Lugar, Thad Cochran, Mitt Romney, Johnny Isakson, George Voinovich, John Warner, Bob Corker, Lamar Alexander, Pat Roberts, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Gordon Smith, Judd Gregg...


Theocratic conservative -- Jim DeMint, James Inhofe, Tom Coburn, Saxby Shameless, Mike Huckabee, Michele Bachmann, John Thune, Sam Brownback, Rick Santorum, Mike Pence, etc...

Thune is NOT a mainstream, garden-variety conservative. He's a religious wingnut and a member of "The Family".

[JSojourner]

Yawn.  Thune has a cookie-cutter neoconservative voting record.  He's a party-line ideologue who brings nothing new to the country whatsoever.

Thune would be vulnerable in November if Obama regains popularity. He barely beat om Daschle in 2004, a good year for Republican candidates. To have any viability as a Republican nominee as either President or Vice-President in 2012 he must win re-election in 2010. He is an obvious  target for the Democratic Senate campaign in 2010.

Even if the Dems gained signficant popularity, which is possible, Thune will not at all be vulnerable.  He beat the Senate Minority Leader in the last election, and Daschle was very highly regarded in SD, despite being a Dem.

I have to agree with this.  While Stephanie Herseth Sandlin would give Thune a run for his money, I cannot imagine anyone unseating him, barring a scandal of some sort.

Of course, as a member of "The Family", Thune may well have a skeleton or two under wraps. The Family track record is not so good.