‘Taliban' remark draws GOP fire

By Denise Ross, Journal Staff Writer | Tuesday, May 25, 2004

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RAPID CITY — Republican groups in South Dakota and Washington, D.C., went on the offensive Monday after Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., compared them to the Taliban.

The Taliban controlled Afghanistan's Islamic government, which subjugated women and provided safe harbor to Osama bin Laden and his

al-Qaida terrorist network until the United States ousted them in late 2001.

At a campaign rally for Democratic U.S. House candidate Stephanie Herseth on Sunday in Sioux Falls, Johnson delivered this statement to the crowd, according to The Associated Press: "When Stephanie Herseth fills this seat, we are going to have a rising star in the House of Representatives. And how sweet it's going to be on June 2 when the Taliban wing of the Republican Party finds out what's happened in South Dakota."

That prompted calls for apology from Republican U.S. House candidate Larry Diedrich, the South Dakota Republican Party, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the South Dakota Family Policy Council.

Diedrich faces Herseth in a special election in one week, on Tuesday, June 1.

South Dakota Republican Party Chairman Randy Frederick called the statement "repulsive" and "an attack on the character of all Republicans in South Dakota."

South Dakota Family Policy Council executive director Rob Regier, whose group is not affiliated with either political party, said Johnson's statement was anti-Christian.

"Sadly, he and Sen. (Tom) Daschle and Stephanie Herseth have turned their backs on God's church on key issues such as infanticide, religious freedom and homosexuality. Their contempt for the Christian world view reveals an ugly double standard in the liberal mantra of ‘tolerance.'"

Diedrich said he is "offended" and "deeply disappointed" by the remark.

"Our campaign has the support of farmers, seniors, young adults and just so many folks throughout our great state. To insult them by likening them to the Taliban is simply unconscionable," he said.

The groups sought an apology via press releases sent to reporters, but they got something short of that.

Johnson spokeswoman Julianne Fisher said the remark needs to be put into the perspective of the political rally in which it was delivered.

"This comment was made at a political rally. Sen. Johnson was trying to rev up the troops. This is the guy who was compared to Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein by the Republican Party in 2002, when his own son was fighting in Iraq," Fisher said. "The senator regrets it if Larry Diedrich is taking this personally, but it was not directed at him."

Fisher said Johnson's Washington office received no direct communication from the groups who sent press releases.

Johnson critics said Johnson was not compared to bin Laden or Hussein. Rather, Hussein's image was used in an anti-Johnson campaign ad critical of Johnson's voting record on missile defense.

With just a week to go in the House race and Diedrich behind in the polls, Republicans sought to pressure Herseth to distance herself from Johnson's statement.

"It is my sincere hope that she will join me in asking Sen. Johnson for an apology," said Diedrich.

Frederick went further, saying Herseth should have responded on the spot.

"Most self-respecting South Dakotans would be embarrassed to have witnessed such a spectacle. Stephanie Herseth did nothing to stop the verbal assault on Republicans," he said. "She talks about a clean campaign but then stands by as her friends verbally abuse good South Dakota Republicans."

In an e-mail sent to Republican supporters, Frederick asks people to call talk radio shows, write letters to the editor and forward his message to "everyone in your address book."

Herseth declined to comment directly.

Spokesman Russ Levsen said: "It wasn't the best choice of words. But the focus of the event was a get-out-the-vote rally and to talk about Stephanie's support in the final week of the election."

Contact Denise Ross at 394-8438 or denise.ross@rapidcityjournal.com