Unassuming Thune Could Be GOP's Future

Nice-guy populist eyed as 2012 contender

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 13, 2009 8:06 AM CST

(Newser) – The junior senator from South Dakota is starting to get a lot of attention from the less hysterical sections of the GOP as the party seeks to build on recent successes, writes David Brooks. John Thune never sounds like he's auditioning for a spot on talk radio, but instead puts his pragmatically conservative position forward in a straightforward and gracious style, Brooks writes in the New York Times.

Thune's positions are "straight-down-the-line conservative" but he doesn't approach them in a way that'll scare off moderates, Brooks writes. He wants to scale down government, but not radically overhaul it. Thune and others like him give the GOP "a way to connect fiscal discipline with traditional small-town values," Brooks concludes. "A way to tap into rising populism in a manner that is optimistic, uplifting and nice."

[Images (1)]

[Quotes (2)]

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., speaks after leaving a meeting of Senate Republicans in Washington. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke, file)

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Republican pros are attracted to Thune because he could rally the hard-core conservatives without scaring away the suburbanites. - David Brooks

He doesn’t have radical plans to cut the federal leviathan. He just wants to restrain the growth of government to bring deficits down.
- David Brooks

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 22 comments

Joans

Nov 16, 2009 11:02 AM CST

I live in SD..and I couldn't dislike him even though I don't agree with EVERYTHING he says.. (don't agree with EVERYTHING anyone says..but he's a nice guy..) And if he's up against Palin.. He'd win in a heartbeat! LOL!

ProfessorCold

Nov 16, 2009 3:31 AM CST

Yeah I'm from South Dakota so I've been watching him, and he's totally legit.

reasonator

Nov 15, 2009 4:12 AM CST

BTW, dontlikeyou, I can tell you know nothing about Thune and formed your opinion from the two paragraphs that Newser provided. If you would read the entire NYT story, or actually do some research on Thune, you'll know that he is definitely not a RINO. He is, however, one of those people who, even if you disagree with him, you find it hard to flat out hate him. He's a genuinely nice guy.

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South Dakota • Republican Party • populism • David Brooks • John Thune • Election 2012

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Unassuming Thune Could Be GOP's Future