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Daschle vs. Thune: Anatomy of a High-Plains Senate Race. By Jon K. Lauck. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007. xvir + 326 pp. Photographs, notes, index. $24.95 cloth.
Historian, political operative, and blogger Jon K. Lauck offers an insider's account of the 2004 United States Senate race in South Dakota. Democrat Tom Daschle, leader of his party in the Senate, sought reelection and was challenged by Republican John Thune. Lauck seeks to explain Thune's surprising victory - or rather, as the account unfolds, Daschle's bitter loss. As is the way with insider accounts, this one produces some striking insights, but is also somewhat limited by its perspective.
Daschle in 2004 struggled, as Lauck puts it, with "the LBJ dilemma" - how to lead a liberal party in Washington while campaigning back home in a red state. On issues such as the war in Iraq, the prescription drug bill, abortion, and gun control, Daschle sought to satisfy conflicting expectations...