Sibby Online

KELO-Land calls negative ad untrue

DVT has posted KELO-Land’s analysis of the Daschle ad charging John Thune with negative ads. They conclude the ad to be untrue. As I already argued in a previous post, it is Daschle who is running a negative campaign with false allegations. Thune is not running negative ads.

Also in that previous post I disclose that the Daschle ad in question represents Susan Heidepriem as a Republican. What the media have not mentioned is that she is married to trial lawyer Scott Heidepriem. The ad that the Daschle campaign has been whining about is by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the issue just happens to be tort reform.

Earth calling Argus Leader...earth calling Argus Leader...where are you?

State Fair debate cancelled

The Larry Diedrich campaign just issued this press release:

South Dakota State Fair goers in Huron next week will eat cotton candy, admire the livestock entries and even stare wide-eyed at a traveling 9,000-gallon tank of seawater and live sharks.

But those same fair goers will not be able to watch the candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives debate because the traditional debate has been cancelled. Congressional candidate Larry Diedrich said he was disappointed the debate would not take place and wondered how a debate that’s taken place each election cycle could not be scheduled.

“I was very much looking forward to meeting with Rep. Stephanie Herseth in the second debate of the general election campaign to discuss our different ideas for South Dakota,” Diedrich said Tuesday afternoon after being told the debate was off. “It’s unfortunate that the voters are denied this opportunity to see the two of us exchange ideas and explain the differences between us.”

Both campaigns had committed to debating at the State Fair.

Blogger coverage

John Hinderaker of Powerline was among those allowed to blog the Republican Convention. He has posted some great analysis of last night’s speeches. He also posted a picture of Miss America.

Hinderaker also talked about the synergy of talk radio and blogging at the Dakota Blog Alliance conference. As I write this blog, I am hearing President Bush address the War on Terror on Rush Limbaugh's program.

Readers respond to Argus Leader post

A Sibby Online reader sent me this response to my latest post on the Argus Leader:

Thanks for the heads up about the Argus report of Thune at the convention. It's getting so I am more upset with the Argus than I am with Daschle!! This is not fair reporting - it is slanted, without saying so directly, to make Thune look bad and to make people feel sorry for Daschle. And it doesn't do any good to write a letter to the editor - it would probably not get printed for a month if at all. And the Argus blog is a joke; no one is ever there!

The South Dakota voter is the victim in this type of reporting, not Daschle.

Another reader recommended a boycott:

Having followed the stories concerning the Argus Leader why has some one not organized an advertisers boycott and a cancel subscription drive.

I have also been told that the atmosphere in the Argus Leader is “frantic” about the influence us bloggers are having in South Dakota. It’s amazing how the left has a real problem dealing with the truth.

I also got an email regarding the “Bush Hug” post:

Did you see…That Steve, Edie and Brian were talking about the "Daschle Hug ad" this morning on Fox and Friends? Their comment was similar to Rush's in that they said "Did he (Daschle) not think this ad would be shown outside of SD?"

The Argus Leader…Daschle’s campaign letter

The front-page above the fold report in today’s issue of the Argus Leader is titled, “Thune attacks Daschle record at convention”. The Argus Leader is trying to help Daschle play the victim yet again. The report included this ending:

Daschle left the Democratic convention in Boston after two days to head back to Sioux Falls for a campaign event and to raise money around the country. But Thune said coming to New York was worth the trip.

The Argus Leader had a perfect opportunity to report on the Hamptons fundraiser, but did not. DVT has a post where a controversy has risen:

Bloggers wondered why people in NY had more information about where Daschle raised his money than South Dakotans did and some people emailed the Argus Leader and the editor, Randell Beck, said this on the Argus "blog": "Daschle's fundraising visit to the Hamptons has been reported at least twice in this newspaper." I can't find these "reports." Tonight I even went to the library and looked through every Argus since the NY Times story was published. It looks like Beck was completely wrong.

The Argus Leader had a perfect opportunity to detail Daschle’s trip around the country to raise money by adding the Hamptons trip. But the facts would get into the way of the Argus Leader’s “Daschle is a victim” story.

SDP has also weighed in and so has Ryne McClaren.

The hug…but watch your back

Tom Daschle desperately needs to gain votes from supporters of President Bush, so he runs the “Bush Hug” ad. What he does not want us to remember is what he said in March 2003…on the eve of war:

"I'm saddened, saddened that this president failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to war," Daschle said in a speech to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "Saddened that we have to give up one life because this president couldn't create the kind of diplomatic effort that was so critical for our country."

By April 6, 2003 the Argus Leader decided to censor letters regarding this quote. Daschle also learned that his position was not popular.

And Rush Limbaugh remembers more about Daschle's flip flops:

You know, this Daschle ad, it just reminds me of something. As conservatives, be conservative. If you're conservative, run as a conservative. The libs do. When libs have to win, what do they do? They run as conservatives. Here's Daschle out there running as a bigger hawk than Bush! When he wants to win reelection, what does he do? There's no reason for us to go moderate. There's no reason for us to go centrist. There's no reason for us to pursue John McCain or any of these undecideds. Be who we are. Now, about this Daschle ad. F. Lee Levin reminded me, and I had forgotten this. He's our legal advisor here. Flee reminded me that Daschle held up the defense appropriations bill until 9/11 happened.

Daschle was holding that up, the whole authorization for the defense appropriations bill, 2001, Bush's first year, purely political. 9/11 happens, Daschle does a 180, and I remember doing a monologue on this program accusing Daschle of action that was almost akin to sabotaging the Bush war on terror because of this, and I have instructed Koko at the website to go back to our website archives and repost this monologue tonight. We update that website, juxtaposed with Daschle's ad, just to show that liberals have to lie in order to win reelection because Daschle is out there trying to portray himself as something that he's not, piggybacking with Bush. It's a great illustration. All we have to do is be who we are.

First Daschle was obstructing the Bush agenda. Then 9/11 and Daschle turns a 180. Then the Iraq war is about to start and Daschle is anti-Bush again. Now, he is up for re-election in Bush country and he is hugging again. Just when I thought John Kerry was the master of flip-flop.

Daschle busted by Drudge

SDP points out the Matt Drudge report that busted Daschle for using the “Bush Hug” ad in South Dakota as the rest of his party is throwing partisan bombs at the Republican Convention in NYC. Looks like more Daschle clout lost in the eyes of DC Dems.

Then comes Thune's speech that spoke the truth about the “Daschle Dead Zone” in the U.S. Senate. I got to listen to Thune at 4PM thanks to Greg Belfrage. Thune pointed out that not only does Daschle’s obstruction hurt the Nation, it hurts the people of South Dakota.

Thune also pointed out the false accusations made by the Daschle ad. You know the one…it’s the one I have been talking about. The one with four so-called Republicans competing for the Tony Dean award of 2004.

Kerry daughters booed at MTV Awards

It is reported that John Kerry's daughters were booed while promoting their dad during the MTV awards:

A widespread assumption that young Americans watching MTV may be more prone to vote for John Kerry for president over George W. Bush could be highly off target, as Kerry's daughters received prolonged booing at the network's Music Video Awards in Miami.

"From the moment Alexandra and Vanessa started speaking, the boos outweighed anything close to cheers," according to the Drudge Report.

Another website, juiceenews.com stated: "At one point one of the daughters even held her finger to her mouth in an effort to 'shush' the rowdy crowd. The boos only grew louder when the daughters suggested that the best choice for a president in this year's election should be their father."

More on Daschle’s negative ad

There was a response to Don Frankenfeld’s appearance on the Tom Daschle ad attacking the First Amendment right of third parties. On page D7 of the 8/29/2004 issue of the Rapid City Journal is a paid ad that consists of an open letter to Frankenfeld from Dan Nelson. Click on the image to view the ad.

Noel Hamiel’s 8/28/2004 column mentioned another participate in the negative ad:

Some were surprised to see former Mitchellite Kris Graham in a new television ad for Sen. Tom Daschle. Graham, former Davison County Republican chairman, now lives in Sioux Falls. Graham said she appeared in the commercial because she opposes the flood of third party commercials.

“I truly believe we need to look at what the candidates have done, without the influence of third party commercials,” she said.

Asked why she switched her allegiance to Daschle, Graham said: “At this point in time I believe that Tom Daschle is the one. With his knowledge and expertise, he can work with South Dakota issues and problems.”

Graham declined to comment on the candidacy of John Thune, Daschle’s opponent.

In the ad Graham actually blamed John Thune for running negative ads, and not third parties. Since her statement in the ad is wrong (Thune has not run such ads), her no comment regarding John Thune is very interesting.

Letters in the Argus Leader

Today there were two letters to the Argus Leader regarding its bias. One charges "liberal" and the other charged “right-wing”. Randell Beck has often argued that he gets both charges, and therefore the Argus Leader is not biased. I wonder how many of each he gets?

Today, I will question...which argument is valid and which is not? If you look at both letters, you will see the one charging a liberal bias has facts to back it up…the other does not have any facts.

From the liberal bias side, titled “Liberal media”:

The Argus Leader June 20 story, "9-11 commission invites evidence of ties," does not mention that the commission report details a series of contacts between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden or that commission co-chairmen Lee Hamilton and Tom Kean both publicly stated the commission's findings confirmed what the administration said.

Also ignored was Russian President Vladimir Putin's report on June 18 that between Sept. 11, 2001, and the Iraq War he warned President Bush that Russian intelligence service "received information that officials from Saddam's regime were preparing terrorist attacks in the United States and outside it against the U.S. military and other interests."

In the Argus Leader June 23 story, "Bush: Torture laws didn't apply," the president is quoted as saying, "still prisoners must be treated humanely and in accordance with the Geneva Convention."

Leaving out significant parts of the news and printing headlines that depict an inaccurate picture of the facts are just two of the more subtle methods used to bias news coverage.

Read newspapers and news magazines and listen to network news reports very critically with the liberal bias of the presenters in mind.

Now the other sided, titled “Right-wing media”:

In response to the Aug. 8 column by editorial page editor Chuck Baldwin, the message comes through loud and clear. You will select only what you want printed and claim it is a representative sample of your correspondence.

You only cover what you want in the Argus Leader.

We are fast approaching total control of the media by the right-wing branch of the Republican party.

President George W. Bush was appointed by the Supreme Court. He was not elected in 2000. How can he be re-elected?

So in the mode of being fair and balanced, which argument holds water…you decide.