Thune in 2012?

[pbrower2a]

He'd be the VP candidate to turn to if the Dakotas were close and the potential difference between winning and losing the election. Other than that, South Dakota is a media desert and, because of its poor flight connections, a logistical nightmare from which to campaign for nationwide office.

[pbrower2a]

Other than that, South Dakota is a media desert and, because of its poor flight connections, a logistical nightmare from which to campaign for nationwide office.

Obviously convenient flight connections have been the primary consideration in recent GOP VP selection.  It explains why Republicans never pick running mates from states like Wyoming and Alaska.

Dick Cheney took a formal residence in Wyoming as a necessity for running for President (he was then living in Texas, and in accordance with the Constitution the President and Vice-President cannot have official (primary) residence in the same State.

Sarah Palin was a catastrophic blunder as a VP choice, and the least of her political weaknesses was being from a politically-small and isolated state -- unless you attribute her gaffes to jet lag. (She makes them without jet lag, so that isn't such a consideration).

Modern campaigns are now done by air, so being near a major air hub (O'Hare International Airport is about as big as there is) is a huge advantage for the President and his staff -- and the efficiency and co-ordination of staff are both essential to an effective campaign. Such may matter less for a VP candidate who doesn't have much control of the logistics of campaigning for anyone but himself.  The state now matters less than does proximity to an air hub; Obama could almost as easily have campaigned from Gary, Indiana as from Chicago -- but not from Champaign, Illinois. Gary is a post-industrial dump and Champaign is a nice college town, but one is 30 miles from O'Hare International Airport, and the other is about 150 miles away. Airline connections remain treacherous.

[pbrower2a]

Modern campaigns are now done by air, so being near a major air hub (O'Hare International Airport is about as big as there is) is a huge advantage for the President and his staff -- and the efficiency and co-ordination of staff are both essential to an effective campaign. Such may matter less for a VP candidate who doesn't have much control of the logistics of campaigning for anyone but himself.  The state now matters less than does proximity to an air hub; Obama could almost as easily have campaigned from Gary, Indiana as from Chicago -- but not from Champaign, Illinois. Gary is a post-industrial dump and Champaign is a nice college town, but one is 30 miles from O'Hare International Airport, and the other is about 150 miles away. Airline connections remain treacherous.

Something tells me that in all the conversations McCain and Obama had with their respective staffs over who to pick as their running mates, the issue of "proximity to a major air hub" didn't come up once.  Same probably goes for every other presidential nominee in the past half century.

..."Proximity to an air hub" matters far more for the Presidential candidate and his staff than for the VP who doesn't have much of a staff. VP nominees can travel fairly light; Presidential nominees have strategy to discuss with large staffs. It's obviously easier to make a campaign trip to Knoxville from Chicago than from Milwaukee even if the dstance isn't so much greater. Any time that the equipment must be transferred from on aircraft to another is time that could be spent some other way.

It matters greatly for a Presidential candidate even if he goes by private jet; not everyone (like advance men) can be on the same jet. 

 

[pbrower2a]

Why can't the Right recognize that Barack Obama ran a masterful campaign in part because of his superb logistics and his communication network. He knew how to exploit comparative advantages in campaigning. He played margins well and used media as well as anyone. He
played a "beat-the-cheat" strategy so that the Presidential election did not depend upon some futile effort to win one statewide election where a Katherine Harris or Kenneth Blackwell could make the difference by playing games with the electoral process.

If you want a military analogy, then here it is. Armchair generals see military campaigns as arrows on the map.  Real generals talk about logistics and lines of communication so that soldiers have ammunition and food and that colonels are able to co-ordinate with fellow colonels. Troops that run out of needed supplies are killed or captured. Middle-rank officers in charge of units that get cut off inevitably commit huge blunders.

 

 

[pbrower2a]

Hmm, a Bush-loyalist evangelical fundamentalist warmonger from South Dakota? Sure sounds like a recipe for success...

So can anyone please elaborate on how Thune is "not a nutjob"?

Not a nutjob, but simply holding beliefs that economic reality and rational science discredit.

I can almost see the negative ads forming in my mind: "John Thune believes in....

(right wingtalking point , trombone glissando, his image morphing into George W. Bush)

... just like George W. Bush!

[pbrower2a]

I really feel like Thune will run in 2012. He use his conservative principles, values and he can relate to people as a "regular guy".

I think he may run. Anyone else?

He should be voting smarter....

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/13/republicans-franken-shocked/

How can anyone oppose any measure that can protect people from rape on the job? Rape is not an inherent part of any job description except in prostitution.

Employers -- especially government contractors --  have a reasonable responsibility to deter rape with reasonable policies. Rape is not a fringe benefit for male employees, and certainly no responsibility for female employees.

Stupidity is a bad idea in partisan politics.