Sen. John Thune doesn't look to his father, Harold, for political advice.

He doesn't have to. His father's words are with him every day, even when they're half a country apart.

"He never tried to influence my decision making in one way or another," John Thune said of his father. "But everybody has that voice inside their head. And he's kind of that voice inside my head, the one that knows where the lines and the boundaries are." At 88, Harold Thune is a former Division I basketball star, a war hero, a retired businessman and teacher and the father of a U.S. senator. He's also a religious man who believes God is a part in all things, including shaping political philosophy.

"Our faith in the Lord has been a very instrumental undergirding for our positions," he said.

But Harold Thune is far from a political animal. His son, John, discovered that world, and the successes and failures that awaited, all by himself.

"He wasn't into politics at all," John Thune said of his father. "He taught world history and international relations. So he paid attention. But his commitment (to politics) was in being a good citizen, not in any activist way.

"I don't think anybody would have envisioned that any family member of ours would have gone into this."

Yet the Murdo kid who grew up tall and athletic went into it in a big way. He worked for former U.S. Sen. Jim Abdnor in Washington, D.C., then for the Small Business Administration there before retuning home to South Dakota to work for the state Republican Party, the late-Gov. George Mickelson and the South Dakota Municipal League

Thune tried a run for statewide office in 1996, when he was elected to the first of three straight terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Then he took on a strong Democratic incumbent in the 2002 U.S. Senate race. Thune lost to Sen. Tim Johnson by 524 votes, a punishing defeat that might have chased him out of the political spotlight.

Instead of a retreat, Thune took a bigger chance and faced an even more formidable opponent two years later, when he beat powerful Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, ending a 26-year congressional career.

Harold Thune was rarely seen in that campaign, even though his son made reference to his father's war service and ethical teachings. Thune said his dad didn't offer any political advice about the Daschle challenge.

"He never said you should run or shouldn't run, anything like that," Thune said. "He just believed that if you felt strongly about something, do it, then accept the consequences. Don't blame other people if it doesn't work out."

Thune said he took that attitude into all of his campaigns and still remembers the encouragement he got at home when he announced his first U.S. House campaign.

"When I told my mom, she said she was so happy," Thune said. "She said, 'I know you'll carry Murdo.'"

Thune did that, and quite a bit more, and he believes both of his nonpolitical parents are happy with his decisions.

"They have enjoyed the ride, defeats and victories," he said.

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