Former Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, in his first South Dakota speech since his loss in November, noted that
John Kerry was a tremendous liability to him in 2004. Given how conservative South Dakota is, it probably isn't that surprising. But the fact is, when we write off the vast majority of states, and even entire regions of the country at the top of the ticket, it has tremendous consequences in Senate, House, State Legislative and other races across the country.
Because Kerry decided not to compete in places like the Dakotas, Nebraska, Montana, and Wyoming, it means he wasn't talking about the issues that matter to voters there. And it reinforces the idea that he doesn't care about voters in those parts of the country. And it made it tough for people to identify themselves as Democrats in places like South Dakota.
The result is not entirely unexpected. As he notes in the article, in order to win, Daschle had to get at least 23% of Bush voters to vote for him. And while Daschle was talking about issues like country-of-origin meat labeling, ethanol, rural health care, and rural job creation, Kerry wasn't even paying them lip service. His campaign wasn't talking about all of the shitty things the Bush administration had done to rural areas. And Bush was never, once, put on defense in that part of the country. As a result, it made it damn tough to run as a Democrat in South Dakota in 2004. Daschle had to run ads showing him working with Bush, and Stephanie Herseth based her entire message on being an "independent voice" to reassure voters that she wasn't going to vote like John Kerry in Congress.
It wasn't always like this. In 1992, Daschle was running for reelection and he actively campaigned for Clinton. Clinton came to South Dakota more than once, talked about farm programs and rural America. And even though he lost the state to Bush I by a handful of votes, he wasn't kryptonite to South Dakota voters. In 1996, Tim Johnson narrowly beat incumbent GOP Senator Larry Pressler. Clinton campaigned in South Dakota, talked about his work on natural disasters and on ethanol. In fact, Clinton made his final campaign stop in 1996 -- the night before the election -- in Sioux Falls with Tim Johnson, who won the Senate race the next day. Again, even though Clinton didn't win the state, he made it safer to run as a Democrat in South Dakota.
Kerry didn't have a single staffer in the state, and his strategy to focus entirely on a handful of battlegrounds not only cost him the election, but made it harder for Democrats like Tom Daschle to win.
Howard Dean is absolutely right that we need a national strategy, and to engage on issues important to ALL parts of the country. Whoever our 2008 nominee is, they need to remember that a few speeches and a couple of visits can go a long ways to provide cover for Democrats who have to compete in the states Kerry wrote off in 2004. I hope Daschle's loss is a telling reminder that a national candidate needs to run a national campaign.