He didn’t have ANY opponent in the last election.
>> Thune’s not up until 2016. I betcha few in SD will remember this vote 5 years from now, and if they bring it up, Thune will say that he opposes filibusters for District Court Judges and that he believes that all such nominees deserve an up-or-down vote, and that will be that. <<
Bingo. The fact Thune got a free pass from conservatives in 2010 has just emboldened him to feel he can cut whatever deals he wants with the RATs and conservatives will still kiss his butt. He now gets six years before facing voters again and that's a lifetime in politics. The failure of the conservative base to hold Thune accountable for betraying us on Bolton and for his big spending policies was a huge mistake, IMO. Especially coming from the freepers who always sanctimoniously lecture us about how we should focus on Senate races so-called "red states".
Not only was Thune totally unopposed in both the primary and general (meaning all the donations to him were used by his PAC to elect RINOs like Murkowski), but a great number of conservatives stroked this guy's ego and talked him up as Presidential material when he had a mediocre record. It must be very good to be John Thune right now. Make pretty public speeches about what a devout Christian conservative you are (sprinkling tons of references to your staunch pro-life, pro-gun, and pro-family beliefs), then wine and dine the beltway insiders behind the scenes and sellout to whatever scheme they want in exchange for political clout in the Senate and $$$ for South Dakota. If there is any fallout when you get caught selling your soul, it will be forgotten in five years.
He's another politician who's caught a fatal dose of beltway fever.
None of the closure votes surprised me. A couple were disappointing, like Saxby Chambliss -- since there was a good chance they'd vote the right way -- but every Republican who voted for closure is ALREADY known for being wobbly and cutting deals with Dems in the past. The only that surprised me is that Dick Lugar was NOT one of the closure votes. So John Thune voting for closure? Not a surprise. John Thune being called a conservative christian patriot and Lindsey Graham being called a homosexual RINO scumbag when they vote identically 95% of the time? That's surprising. So many conservaitves value rhetoric over actual record.