State News
South Dakotan visits ailing senator
Tony Dean says Tim Johnson is speaking better than he thought he would.
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FarkPIERRE -- A Pierre man who recently visited with U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson says the ailing politician expects to be back in the office sooner than most people think.
Tony Dean, an outdoor television and radio personality, said Johnson's speech is better than he thought it would be. Dean said he had little troubling understanding the senator.
Johnson suffered a brain hemorrhage in December and underwent emergency surgery. He left a Washington hospital in February, when he was moved to an undisclosed rehabilitation facility. Johnson now is recovering at his Fairfax, Va., home.
Dean, a longtime friend, is thought to be one of the few non-office or close family friends to get a visit with Johnson. Johnson's wife, Barbara, set up the meeting.
Johnson has lost about 30 pounds but still looks good, Dean said. His mind is "keen," Dean said, adding that Johnson is working on Senate business at home.
He said Johnson hopes to be back on the Senate floor by late summer or fall.
He was diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation, a condition that causes arteries and veins to grow abnormally large, become tangled and sometimes burst.
The first photos of the senator, released in March, showed him sitting in a wheelchair. A new picture, released by his office this week, showed him standing during therapy and walking with the aid of a therapist.
Dean told KCCR Radio in Pierre that he and the senator did not talk about the 2008 Senate race, but Dean said he believes the two-term Democrat will run again.
Johnson's sudden, life-threatening illness attracted attention from all over the country as the Democrats were then a month away from assuming a new one-vote majority.
His spokeswoman, Julianne Fisher, said Johnson anticipates running in 2008 and is working toward that goal.
"He will work from here for a while and then make that decision," she said.
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