A conservative political commentator who accused American
Indians in South Dakota of "stuffing ballot boxes" denied
on Saturday that his comments were racially biased.
Robert Novak, a syndicated columnist and CNN host, defended
himself from a storm of criticism that erupted when he
claimed Indian voters stole the 2002 U.S. Senate election.
During an appearance on Capital Gang, he talked
about the "uproar" he caused but didn't apologize for
it.
"I don't have any bias against Native Americans or anybody else, but I do feel,
based on my reporting, that there were very serious voting irregularities in
2002 in South Dakota, which the -- I also believe that -- which the Republican
Party, for political purposes, did not want to protest," Novak said.
Novak didn't specify what he meant by "serious voting irregularities."
He has never written a column about the election and, up until
recently, never talked about it on CNN.
But on the January 6 broadcast of Crossfire, Novak had plenty
to say. He said former Congressman John Thune, a Republican, lost
the Senate race to Tim Johnson, a Democrat, due to voter fraud
among American Indians. Only 524 votes separated the two.
"In 2002, Thune would have been elected to the state's other
Senate seat, but the election was stolen by stuffing ballot boxes on Indian
reservations," he said.
Even earlier, on a December 13 Capital Gang show, he briefly
touched on the subject. "It was probably stolen, for all we know," he
said of the election, adding: "The Indians, they got the phony
Indian votes out there."
Both times, the remarks prompted criticism and disbelief from Novak's colleagues. On
last week's show, James Carville, a
Democratic consultant, defended Indians as "very, very, very good Americans.
And very patriotic Americans."
Indian leaders jumped in the fray as well. Michael Jandreau,
chairman of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, and Frank LaMere, a former Democratic
party official in Nebraska, wrote letters to Novak, demanding an apology.
"When people like you characterize our participation as suspect solely
because you may not like the outcome, you undermine the fundamental
principle upon which our great republic is built," Jandreau wrote in
his letter.
Republicans and Democrats in the state didn't appreciate the comments
either. Gov. Mike Rounds (R), Sen. Tom Daschle (D), Johnson and
even Thune's campaign disavowed Novak's views. Thune is running against
Daschle in the Senate race this year.
With Indians making up 8.5 percent of the state's population, both political
parties are making concerted efforts to reach out to Indian Country.
Johnson publicly and regularly acknowledges his debt to Indian voters and is
leading an initiative, through the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee,
to register more Indians in the key states of South Dakota, Alaska,
North Dakota, Oklahoma and Washington.
It's a role he found himself in after his close re-election in
November 2002. In counties with significant Indian populations,
voters chose Johnson overwhelmingly. In those with an even Indian-White
split, Johnson won narrowly. Among the last votes to be reported on
election night were those from the Pine Ridge Reservation. Once they were
announced, it was clear Johnson won.
But even before the actual election, the conservative media
and others linked to the Republican Party made charges of voter fraud. According
to The Sioux Falls Argus Leader, a former
lawyer for the Republican National Committee visited the state armed
with pre-worded affidavits that some on the Rosebud Sioux
Reservation signed. The documents were later discredited.
Mark Barnett, the Republican attorney general who investigated the allegations
at the time, found them unwarranted. However, state authorities
did charge two people for
voter fraud among American Indians. One pleaded guilty to forging
voter registration cards while the other is awaiting a trial for
allegedly forging voter registration applications.
Despite the official conclusion of no widespread fraud,
the editorial page of the Wall Street
Journal, The National Review and other conservative
commentators have kept the theme alive.
David Kranz, a political reporter the Sioux Falls paper,
predicted the upcoming Senate race will be interesting to watch.
"You have some very key Native Americans,
including Russell Means, who tells Democrats, don't take this for
granted anymore. You just can't," he said on Saturday's show. "Tim Giago,
a gentleman who announced his candidacy against Tom Daschle in the primary said
the same thing. He says, hey, Democrats, don't take, you know, the Native
Americans for granted."
Show Transcripts:
January 13: Capital Gang |
January 6: Crossfire |
December 13: Capital Gang
Stay Connected
Contact Us
indianz@indianz.com202 630 8439 (THEZ)
Search
Top Stories
Trending in News
1 Tribes rush to respond to new coronavirus emergency created by Trump administration
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'
More Stories
BIA waiting to certify results of Rocky Boy's election Tribal official says host hurts Republican Party
News Archive
2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000