Johnson Touts Fund Raising In S.D. Senate Race

Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) speaks clearly yet haltingly on the Senate Senate floor these days, sometimes moving around in a wheelchair and occasionally with a walker.

Yet with a modest challenge in his Senate election this year, Johnson is trying to project a vigorous fund raising effort despite his physical limitations some 19 months after suffering a debilitating brain hemorrhage. On Tuesday afternoon Johnson's campaign announced it had raised $5.1 million for the 2008 race, with $2.7 million in cash on hand.

This isn't much money compared to big state races like Texas or Virginia, where candidates are well on their way to raising $20 million, but it's an impressive dollar figure for a small state like South Dakota.

Republicans have tread lightly around Johnson's health situation, not wanting to use his health limitations against him even though Johnson is unable to traverse the state campaigning and so far has yet to commit to public debates with his challenger.

The Republican candidate, state Rep. Joel Dykstra, trails badly in polls and the National Republican Senatorial Committee has decided not to go all out in attacking Johnson's policies even though South Dakota would naturally be one of the few states where Republicans could pick up a seat this year. Johnson's coma from his brain hemorrhage in December 2006 had the political world transfixed because his death or resignation would have changed the balance of power in the Senate. He returned to the Senate last year.

Dykstra himself doesn't even mention Johnson's name or criticize the incumbent, merely criticizing the "majority party" in Washington for energy policy. Dykstra raised a meager $380,000 so far for the race.
Continue reading post...