Staff: Johnson will run a good, strong campaign

| Saturday, February 24, 2007

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The chief of staff for Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., said he believes the ailing lawmaker will run "a good, strong campaign" for re-election in 2008.

Drey Samuelson, who has been Johnson's chief of staff during his 20 years in the U.S. House and Senate, said Thursday that he expects the South Dakota Democrat will run next year, despite the brain hemorrhage he suffered more than two months ago.

No decision has been made, he added.

Johnson was discharged from the hospital last week and was moved to an undisclosed private rehabilitation facility. His recovery is expected to take months.

"The track of his recovery has been so strong I anticipate that he will be able to run a good, strong campaign," Samuelson said. "My expectation is that he will run."

Johnson's campaign has not changed course since Johnson fell ill at the end of the year. Several of his Democratic colleagues - including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada - had or planned fundraisers for him, and campaign veteran Steve Jarding has joined the senator's legislative staff. Jarding is expected to eventually move to the campaign.

Samuelson said Johnson's wife, Barbara, has discussed re-election plans with the senator and "he was relieved we were moving forward with raising money, and also happy that we were."

He said the final decision will be made by Johnson and his wife, and his health will be a factor.

"He wouldn't run if he couldn't run a good campaign," Samuelson said.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is one of the senators helping Johnson. He has formed a joint fundraising committee to help Johnson raise money for 2008.

Baucus chief of staff Jim Messina said the assumption is that Johnson will run.

"We need to put him in a position to run again, and that's up to him and his family," Messina said.

"Part of how you have that option is to have the campaign money to do it."

Samuelson said the senator has been doing very well in his recovery from the life-threatening hemorrhage. Though he is still undergoing speech, occupational and physical therapy, he has been working some and following the news.

Johnson's recent request of copies of two dense, policy-heavy publications - Congressional Quarterly and The Economist - is proof of his progress, Samuelson said.

The senator was rushed to George Washington University Hospital on Dec. 13 after becoming disoriented during a phone call with reporters. He underwent emergency surgery hours later. He was diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation, a condition that causes arteries and veins to grow abnormally large, become tangled and sometimes burst.

Samuelson said the night of the surgery was surreal as he received updates on the condition of his longtime friend.

It's not the first time Johnson's chief of staff has dealt with his boss's medical issues. The senator battled prostate cancer in 2004.

"I've learned more about the human body from all this," Samuelson said jokingly.