KOTA Territory NewsPolitical Expert: Thune Could be GOP's 'Obama'

Political Expert: Thune Could be GOP's 'Obama'

Shad Olson

John Quinn remembers 1968 like it was yesterday.  The Yale graduate and rising Republican political advisor had a hunch about a young Congressman from the state of Texas.  Quinn thought a lot of the man and his talent and potential.  Quinn thought he could even win the presidency someday, so he set up a meeting to tell him so.  The Congressman's name?

"George Herbert Walker Bush." 

Forty years later, Quinn says the name, smiling the smile of proven history and of wisened political acumen that tells you his days of hunches and of fulfilled political promise aren't close to running out.  After serving as an advisor to the Nixon White House and working on four other Presidential Campaigns, the university professor from Rapid City has another hunch these days.  This time, about a young Senator from the upper midwest.  A man Quinn believes holds all the star power, conviction and appeal to make a similar run for the G.O.P.-- South Dakota U.S. Senator John Thune.

"He is young.  He is articulate.  He is tall, slender and well spoken,"  Quinn says, laying out a description of Thune that is intentionally and eerily familiar to that of another player on the political scene.

"Thune could very well be the Republican counterpoint to Barack Obama," Quinn says. 

And the parallels are striking.  Both Thune and Obama are 46.  Both are taller than average height, and most importantly, Quinn says, both are endowed with the same easy charisma and aw-shucks good looks that play well under the bright lights of Presidential politics in the digital media age.  Especially with women.

"Both Obama and John Thune are very popular with the young vote and with the woman vote, and both of those are extremely important in building a broad base of support that can win the race."

While the star quality may ring the same, their campaign war chests are another matter.  Last week, Barack Obama reported a campaign fundraising milestone, gathering $25 million dollars in the first quarter of  2007, just one million less than Democratic rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.  Quinn concedes that Thune would have a lot of catching up to do in a very short time to make a legitimate showing in the race, but he insists the obstacle is not insurmountable, given what he calls Thune's tremendous appeal. 

"His own timeline may be different," Quinn says. 

"Thune and his wife may be thinking more toward the 2012 race, but I know that people in the party are strongly considering his abilities when they look at the possibility of a vice-presidential nominee, so why can't we have a 'favorite son,' a 'dark horse' kind of candidate who could come out of nowhere and win?"

Thune himself has endorsed Arizona Senator John McCain for the Presidential nomination, a stance Thune has not deviated from in numerous questions about his own political ambitions.  On a Thursday teleconference, Thune once again affirmed his support of McCain, but gave an amused smile when asked if the Republicans had someone in their party who could serve as a counterpunch to the 'rockstar' qualities of Barack Obama.

On the nationally syndicated, Laura Ingraham Radio Show, Thune was asked in February if he would consider a Presidential run, or a Vice-Presidential appointment, if offered.  Thune chuckled and answered only that he "had his hands full," serving South Dakota in the U.S. Senate.

"He has to say that for now," Quinn says, his eyes sparkling again with the enthusiasm that comes quickly whenever he discusses Thune's prospects as a poltical commodity.

"He has the ability when he speaks to make these wonderful references to people like Teddy Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, and as you know, those are three of our greatest Republican Presidents,"  Quinn says.

"And maybe someday, there is the possibility we could add John Thune to that list."