Thune in trouble now :) - SD air force base affected

[Catchawave]

<snip>

Among the major closures Rumsfeld seeks is Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, home to 29 B-1B bombers, half the nation's fleet of the aircraft, and the state's second largest employer. That would deal a potential political setback to Republican freshman Sen. John Thune, who had claimed he could protect the base if elected during his campaign to defeat former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.

<snip>

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050513/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/base_closings

[NewJeffCT]

1. I bet they'll make him look like a hero

He'll fight for the base & it will be one of the ones taken off the final list. They'll do that in a couple of Republican areas some time next year before the elections so it will be fresh in people's minds.

[fob]

2. DING DING DING!

You got it. The timing of Thune's "saving the base" will depend on how he's polling as November rolls around.

[warrens]

3. Possibly

But under the new rules, Congress can either accept the entire list or reject the entire list. They are not allowed to make changes.

[MaineDem]

4. True but...

Changes can be made before the BRAC commission makes its recommendation to the President. Now is when the hearings and visits will take place. I wondered if some of these will be "saved" by GOPers facing re-election.

[Catchawave]

5. But if he kept his "promise" ,

...it wouldn't have been on the list in the first place? A base knows when they're being looked at by a BRAC team, that's when he should have "been protecting" his state's 2nd largest employer, before they made the final cut !

[RobertSeattle]

6. Check out the Notes' Headline "Thune Fails to Keep Ellsworth Off List"

Ouch!

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=754915&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[paineinthearse]

7. NPR radio featured this in the 4PM hour

Interviewed the Mayor of the nearby city.

Thune campaigned on the lie that a rethug would have "the ear of the President" and be in a better position to insure Ellsworth would stay open.

I'm from the the bluest state in the Union and we are picking up 400-500 jobs!