Repukes going after recovering Sen. Tim Johnson's seat!

[npincus]

http://kos.dailykos.com/

Or Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), Chairman of the Republican Senatorial Committee, to be exact. Frickin' bastard!

Kos excepts Roll Call:

National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Ensign (Nev.) said Wednesday that the GOP is no longer putting off mounting an aggressive campaign to unseat Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) — even though the two-term incumbent is still recovering from a brain aneurysm that has sidelined him since December.

Although Republicans in South Dakota remain fearful of targeting Johnson, Ensign said an appropriate amount of time has passed to allow for the family to deal with his recovery. Separately, at least one South Dakota newspaper also took the gloves off this week, raising questions about Johnson’s return to the public domain.

“It’s time,” Ensign said, stressing emphatically that he and all of his colleagues continue to pray for Johnson’s full recovery. “Obviously, we are all still concerned. But this is a United States Senate seat. He was a top target before his health problems and he’s still a top target.”

Johnson’s staff responded to Ensign swiftly and aggressively Wednesday, attacking the NRSC chairman personally while vowing the Nevada Republican would rue the day he targeted the South Dakota Democrat.


Kos cites, however, that SD Republicans are behaving with more class:


Meanwhile, Republicans in South Dakota continue to be skittish regarding Johnson, believing that attacking him politically on matters of policy will appear unseemly. Observers of South Dakota politics predict Republicans in the state will refrain from saying anything negative about Johnson until he returns to work on Capitol Hill — no matter how long that takes.

[gatorboy]

1. Time to go after Judge Edwards then?

[AX10]

2. John Ensign is the shit from a horses ass!

[onenote]

3. Johnson's seat always was going to be a top target

Johnson won election in 2002 by less than 600 votes out of 335,000. Of course it would be a top seat. The issue is whether they will be able to resist an innuendo campaign about Johnson's health. I doubt it. But there is nothing surprising or inappropriate about the repubs making a priority of unseating Johnson given the narrow margin by which he was elected in 2002.

[npincus]

4. let's call it a matter of decorum, decency and precedent

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/14/america/web.1214.php?page=2

A number of Senators (cited below) have had extended absences due to illness, and the opposing party was respectful and did not try to unseat that person for however long they were away. That they would do this now is a measure of how low the Repuulican party has sank.


He is the second senator known to become ill since the November elections. Senator Craig Thomas of Wyoming, a Republican, is being treated for leukemia, but has been at work.

According to information from the Senate historian cited on CQ.com, at least nine senators have taken extended absences from the Senate for health reasons since 1942. Robert F. Wagner, Democrat of New York, was unable to attend any sessions of the 80th or 81st Congress from 1947 to 1949 because of a heart ailment. Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., Democrat of Delaware, missed about seven months in 1988 after surgery for a brain aneurysm. And David Pryor, Democrat of Arkansas, suffered a heart attack in April 1991 and returned to the Senate in September that year.

[warren pease]

5. I love this line...

"Separately, at least one South Dakota newspaper also took the gloves off this week, raising questions about Johnson’s return to the public domain."

"Separately," my ass. When newspapers start reciting the GOP pitch, it's hardly a "separate" issue. Since when have GOP talking points and mass media's political focus failed to align properly?

In this case, Johnson's resignation would allow GOP governor Rounds to appoint a successor who would -- shockingly -- be a republican, who would cancel out the democratic majority (not that it's been very noticeable except in committee chairmanships) and hand the tie-breaking vote to... pretzel-bodied gout sufferer and world-class bag of lizard excrement, the big Dick.

So if you're a republican slime-ball, what's not to like? On the other hand, if you're a normal thinking person, Johnson's resignation would feel like the ice-cold hand of a thousand-year-old corpse gripping your heart like a skeletal vise.

Or maybe worse, but it's early still on the west coast.


wp

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Then here in Kansas, we need to go after Brownback's seat

He is not only sick (in the head) but he has missed most votes this session since he is running for president.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. Sounds good