2004 Election: New Faces

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SOUTH DAKOTA

REPUBLICAN

JOHN THUNE

The Giant Killer

Elections are not just about votes. They're also about symbols. And for Senate Republicans, minority leader Tom Daschle has long been Moby Dick. Here was a Democrat from a solidly Republican state, South Dakota, who not only couldn't be defeated but also seemed to emerge from each legislative and electoral battle bigger and more powerful. So when John Thune arrives in Washington next year, he will not be just another freshman Senator. He will be a conquering hero--the man who vanquished the G.O.P.'s 18-year obsession.

Thune, a clean-living former Congressman (friends say he doesn't curse or touch alcohol), ran a profoundly focused race, taking every opportunity to remind voters that Daschle's positions on gay marriage, gun control and abortion set him at odds with "South Dakota values." But he did not bag his big game alone. Majority leader Bill Frist broke with more than a century of Senate etiquette by visiting South Dakota to campaign for Daschle's ouster. (The last time anyone can remember a Senate leader visiting his opposite's state to rail against him was in 1900.) President Bush, who personally persuaded Thune to make a losing but whisker-close Senate run in 2002, made sure that money flowed freely from the G.O.P. spigot; despite Daschle's incumbency and name recognition, Thune raised $12 million to his opponent's $18 million.

Ultimately, the out-of-synch nature of Daschle's career may have been the most critical factor in Thune's victory. For three terms Daschle managed to pull off the balancing act of being a high-profile, left-leaning Senator in a low-profile, right-leaning state. South Dakota tipped further to the right in 2004, however, and Daschle knew it. His campaign frequently touted a study that showed the Senator agreed with President Bush about 70% of the time and aired a spot showing Daschle and Bush hugging on the floor of the House in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Still, that symbol of unity was not strong enough to keep the three-term symbol of Democratic leadership in office.

COLORADO

DEMOCRAT

KEN SALAZAR

The Hispanic Rancher

Agriculture is always a hot issue in Colorado, and rural voters tend to like Republicans. But from the start of this year's U.S. Senate race, it was clear that Democrat Ken Salazar, 49, had a lot of appeal for Colorado farmers and ranchers, largely because he's one of them. His Republican rival, Peter Coors, went to Phillips Exeter Academy and Cornell University and grew up in a family that hobnobbed with the Reagans and Du Ponts. Salazar's family members, by contrast, have been Colorado farmers since the 1800s. He grew up on a remote ranch in the San Luis Valley--a place that did not get electricity until after he had gone away to school.

Salazar doesn't fit the Democratic stereotype in any case. Like many in his party, he favors protecting the outdoors; as an attorney, he practiced environmental law, among other things, and wrote the pro-environment Great Outdoors Colorado amendment to the state constitution. But unlike hard-line environmentalists, he is a staunch friend of agriculture. A sign on his desk reads NO FARMS--NO FOOD.