I put this up last week, but we'll revisit it today, since it's now official that politico Justin Brasell is packing up and headed to South Dakota where's he's promised to run a "state of the art campaign" for John Thune's re-election bid in 2010.
"We are hiring more people," Brasell said. "We will be having an announcement later this week."
"Raising money will be a focus. I think Senator Thune wanted to put together one of the best Senate campaigns in the country this cycle. That requires a lot of resources."
Over at 538, statistical god Nate Silver notes Thune's 64-34 splits and says the South Dakota Senator doesn't have anything to worry about (ea).
There's no reason to think that Thune should be vulnerable in the first place, and were something unexpected to happen -- like Tom Daschle deciding he wanted a re-match -- the Republicans would throw tons of money at the race to protect one of the few rising stars in their party. The other long-shot scenario is that Thune decides he wants to run for governor to gain some executive experience prior to a prospective White House run in 2012 or 2016, in which case Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin might try her luck.
Quick thought: Why does Thune, as Brasell says, want to put together "one of the best Senate campaigns in the country"? There are no indications he's in any danger of losing.
It's quite reasonable Thune wants to send a signal to the party similar to the one that vaulted Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels into the party's consciousness last November.
Hear ye, hear ye. I won. And I won big in a Democratic year.
2012, here Thune comes!
