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But his stint as a Capitol Hill aide was short. In 1985, Thune, inspired by the Reagan message of lower taxes and smaller government, went to Washington to work for Abdnor. In 1980, Abdnor rode Ronald Reagan's coattails to the Senate by portraying McGovern as out of touch. ''He didn't have any factual stuff, but he was convincing.'' Now 81, Abdnor said it was Thune who, barely out of high school, persuaded him to take on South Dakota's legendary liberal Democratic senator, George McGovern. They struck up a friendship that would go far beyond the basketball court. ''I noticed you missed one,'' he said by way of introduction. The next day, Abdnor stopped young Thune in town.

One Friday night during Thune's freshman year of high school, Representative Jim Abdnor, a farmer and West River Republican, dropped into Murdo and watched Thune sink five out of six free throws. The Thunes were not politically active, and Thune is not one of those politicians who got his start running for student council. If he swears, I never heard it, and I never saw him drink anything stronger at dinner than cranberry lemonade. ''They think, Oh, I've got to be charming in a couple of minutes.'' In a state where politeness matters, Thune is unfailingly so. ''John doesn't have to turn it on, and a lot of candidates do,'' said Dick Wadhams, Thune's campaign manager. January), Thune is also a regular guy - someone who can wax eloquent on the various flavors of Gatorade or crack up his aides by reciting lines from the Chevy Chase ''Vacation'' movies. Square-jawed and telegenic (when his female colleagues created a gag pinup calendar, Hunks of the House, Thune got top billing as Mr. Democrat (SHERYL GAY STOLBERG, 8/01/04, NY Times Magazine) Posted by Orrin Judd at 11:47 PM THE 1980 TEMPLATE:

12 down vote +100 paragon partition manager 11 free edition