Scorched-earth politics

With a one-vote margin, every Senate race is huge, but the South Dakota contest is a battle between a popular president and a popular senator—even though neither one appears on the ballot. So why is the political contest between Tim Johnson and John Thune more about drought and the future of farming than about Bush, Daschle, and who controls Washington? | Bob Jones

If Tom Daschle seemed in a hurry to close down the Senate for summer recess back in early August, there was a good reason: He had a fair to get to. It's no coincidence, surely, that fair season corresponds with campaign season in South Dakota. In a state where voters expect to personally shake hands with every office seeker, politicians are more common than prize-winning pigs at the various county fairs that seem to run continuously throughout the hot prairie summer.

The state fair, of course, is the granddaddy of them all, the place to schmooze perhaps 20 percent of the far-flung population in just a couple of days. Small wonder Mr. Daschle dashed straight to the fairgrounds when Congress recessed. In temperatures approaching 100 degrees, Mr. DaschleÑone of the three or four most powerful men in Washington—stood for hours inside a white wooden shack, kissing babies, signing autographs, and otherwise stumping for votes.