Redstate

You might just get re-elected after all.

I think Rob Simmons is safe through 2012.  He's pretty popular in his district and is a very effective Member.  They thre everything that had at him with venom in 04 and he won with a surprisingly large margin.  

With this news, I bet he's going to do well for the rest of this decade.

Has a popular Republican GOV, Lieberman as a SEN, 3 Rs in the House and only 2 Ds there.  President Bush only lost 54-44.  I'm realizing that CT is no northeastern bastion of Manhattenite liberalism.  They seem to like moderates of both parties.

Simmons and the rest are probably pretty safe.

I'm waiting to see what the decision on Ellsworth is...

There are particular circumstances why this Republican Governor, Jodi Rell, is popular, and they have nothing to do with ideology.

From the AP, via Yahoo.

On the politics of this, I think it is fair to say that John Thune is immediately relegated to lame-duck one-termer status (very early into his term, I might add), if Ellsworth is indeed closed.

After all, if Liebermann, Collins, and Snowe seem to have more clout than the once-thought-to-be Senate Golden Boy, that's some big-bad news for him, is it not?

I think that's when BRAC is going to address the AF bases on the list.

You are correct that Thune will suffer a tremendous blow in terms of his perceived influence, and the Admin was foolish to refuse to intervene.

Having said that, there is absolutely no justification for Ellsworth being operational at this point in time.  We are not under threat of invasion from the Soviet Union any more, dispersing our aircraft is inefficient and ineffective.

Ellsworth should have been closed in the last BRAC, but Clinton intervened on behalf of Daschle.  While it is admirable that the Bush folks are (in the Ellsworth instance) letting sound policy reign, it's horrible political strategy.

Were it not for the intervention of the White House, John Thune would be in the early stages of his re-election race as a sitting governor and thinking about whether he would run for POTUS in 08 or who he was going to support.  Instead he ran against Johnson, got cheated out of that seat, and then ran against Daschle where he won.

If Ellsworth doesn't get saved by the BRAC panel, Thune will find all sorts of ways to exact retribution on the Administration.  His opposition to Bolton will look serene in comparison.

If Ellsworth doesn't get saved by the BRAC panel, Thune will find all sorts of ways to exact retribution on the Administration.  His opposition to Bolton will look serene in comparison.

Then he absolutely will be gone in '10, as loyal Republicans won't put up with someone having a personal hissy-fit. And he'll deserve to be gone.

Did anyone ever think that Thune is the one who alienated the administration with his silly Bolton and CAFTA disloyalty?! Maybe they might have been more willing to go to bat for him...

I wanted to like this guy, but the more I'm seeing from him, the more I'm thinking he's the weakest of the freshman class, esp. when compared to people like DeMint.

If he can't handle one political setback (which, as you point out, is a totally justifiable move, on the merits) without going off the rails, then he doesn't deserve to be a Senator.

Remember that SD only has a quarter of a million total population; losing the 7000 jobs associated with Ellsworth is a big deal.

Losing the base would be a major political loss for Thune. During the campaign, Daschle made a major point out of demonstrating that he'd saved Ellsworth, arguing that his status as leader of his party in the Senate was the reason, while Thune would be unable to do so as a frosh senator. Thune (rightly) made just as big a reply that his relationship with the president matched Daschle's leadership position.

I can see why Thune is upset; as was already noted, he was set to run for governor in '02, with a victory all but guaranteed. The president urged him to run against Johnson, and then again against Daschle. He responded to the president's urgings in both cases. You'd think that'd earn him something big at the White House, wouldn't you?

Won't be closed.  Not only does the AF not Want to go to the trouble of reorganizing their  B-2s, but they want to move some B-52s up there, too.  The biggest reason any major Air Bases would close is continued fallout from that Boeing deal where what's her name set up the contract from within the AF and then accepted a job within Boeing to Oversee that same contract.

Wasn't long after that when Congress told the AF they were 10,000 overstrength when they can barely accomplish their mission as-is.

God forbid we ever face an opponent with a competent Air Force before ours gets back up to full-strength.

As for closng "Major" Army installations in VA:

Monroe, Story and the others are peripherals at best.  Their garrisons Would be best off consolidated to the actual Major installations nearby.  Would even give the economies in their aeas a boost as that land opens up for civilian use.

The threats of the future lay in the Pacific and not the East coast.  There are enough boats in Norfolk to protect the Atlantic.  Close the base and create a bigger and better one near our next enemy-China