Mark Dayton (I-Idiot, MN)

Senator Mark Dayton has apparently started his 2006 campaign to become the next ex-Senator from Minnesota (see also Walter Mondale). Dayton decided to jump on the Barbara Boxer whacko wagon yesterday during debate on Condi Rice (from ABC News):

One Senate Democrat called Condoleezza Rice a liar Tuesday and others said she was an apologist for Bush administration failures in Iraq, but she remained on track for confirmation as secretary of state.

Rice, who has been President Bush's White House national security adviser for four years, was one of the loudest voices urging war, Democrats said. She repeatedly deceived members of Congress and Americans at large about justifications for the war, said Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn.

"I don't like impugning anyone's integrity, but I really don't like being lied to," Dayton said. "Repeatedly, flagrantly, intentionally."

Rice is expected to win confirmation on Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., predicted that Rice would have "an overwhelming majority" of votes.

Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., cautioned against "inflammatory rhetoric that is designed merely to create partisan advantage or to settle partisan scores."

Rice would succeed Colin Powell, who often found himself on the outside looking in with Bush's close circle of war and national security advisers.

By contrast, Rice is a trusted Bush loyalist. As a principal architect of the Iraq invasion and the administration's war on terrorism, she shares blame for overstating the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, Democrats said.

"My vote against this nominee is my statement that this administration's lies must stop now," Dayton said in opposing Rice's nomination on the Senate floor.

Dayton is up for reelection in 2006 in a state which is trending Republican, and you may remember that just before the November elections he suddenly shut down his Capital Hill office and fled Washington in response to a terrorist threat that nobody else knew about. A man of courage is he.

I'm not sure who his Republican challenger will be in 2006, but I'll be sure to send him some money once he's identified.