Yesterday afternoon, Dem Senator Tim Johnson began to stutter uncontrollably during a conference call with reporters, leading to speculation that he’d had a stroke. Late last evening, the gentleman underwent successful brain surgery to repair what appears to be a congenital condition that caused bleeding in the brain.
The nation went bonkers … it’s still holding its breath. He’s the “plus one” that keeps the Senate Blue.
FOX News began grisly and gleeful speculations immediately — it’s what they do. The mob that takes them seriously must have gone to their nightly prayers with all the fervor of Pat Robertson’s people when he suggests someone be “done in” by the Almighty.
The Blue’s that pray … or meditate … or visualize … had every reason to offer up their affirmations for Johnson’s continued good health. I know I did … and do.
I’d suppose the test of ones spiritual chops would be WHAT one would pray for, no matter the political differentiation of the candidate or the snarl in leadership involved … and I’d suppose our collective spiritual SAT score looks a bit dismal today.
Despite all that, Mr. Johnson seems to be recovering, Harry Reid says he looks good and his family is optimistic. He has a month to recoup … we can only pray he will be totally restored to health.
It’s the #1 news story today — for good reason. Makes you aware of the power of the Fates, doesn’t it?
Jude
Sen. Johnson Recovering After Surgery
Control of Chamber Could Be in Question if He Cannot Serve
Charles Babington, Jonathan Weisman and Debbi Wilgoren, WaPo
Thursday, December 14, 2006; 10:30 AM
Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) underwent emergency surgery overnight to repair bleeding inside his brain and was “recovering without complication” this morning, according to the U.S. Capitol physician.
Johnson, 59, who is in the critical care unit at George Washington University Hospital, fell ill at the Capitol yesterday, introducing a note of uncertainty over control of the Senate just weeks before Democrats are to take over with a one-vote margin.
Johnson “was found to have had an intracerebral bleed caused by a congenital arteriovenous malformation,” Adm. John Eisold, attending physician of the U.S. Capitol, said in a statement issued by the senator’s office shortly after 9 a.m. today. “He underwent successful surgery to evacuate the blood and stabilize the malformation.” Eisold said it was too early to offer a long-term prognosis.
The statement quoted Barbara Johnson, the senator’s wife, saying, “The Johnson family is encouraged and optimistic. They are grateful for the prayers and good wishes of friends, supporters and South Dakotans.
“They are especially grateful for the work of the doctors and all medical personnel and GWU hospital.”
The two-term senator was rushed to the hospital early yesterday afternoon, shortly after becoming disoriented during a conference call with news reporters. He underwent “a comprehensive evaluation by the stroke team,” his office said, and eventually was diagnosed with the brain hemorrhage, the severity of which has not yet been announced to the public.
Arteriovenous malformations are defects of the circulatory system, essentially tangles of snarled arteries and veins, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. They are believed to develop soon after birth, or in utero, and in many cases can exist for years — in the brain or elsewhere — causing few, if any, problems.
But for about 12 percent of people with neurological malformations, or an estimated 36,000 Americans, the abnormalities can cause a wide range of symptoms, according to a fact sheet posted on the institute’s website. They include severe headaches, seizures, paralysis, memory loss and, in rare cases, death.
Malformations can damage the brain by depriving it of oxygen, compressing parts of the brain or spinal cord, or triggering bleeding, or hemorrhaging, through a combination of high blood pressure and weakness in the vessel walls. If enough blood escapes from a ruptured malformation into the brain, the result “can be a catastrophic stroke,” the fact sheet said. But aides to Johnson said Wednesday that the senator had not suffered a stroke.
Johnson’s illness — which sent Senate Democratic leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) rushing to the hospital to check on Johnson — underscored the fragility of Democrats’ hold on the next Senate, which they won by the narrowest of margins in the Nov. 7 elections. Should Johnson be unable to complete his term, South Dakota’s Republican governor, Michael Rounds, would name a replacement for the next two years.
With Johnson in office, Democrats would hold a 51-to-49 edge in the Senate that convenes Jan. 4 as part of the 110th Congress. (The two independents have said they will caucus with the Democrats.) But if he is to leave office before then and Rounds replaces him with a Republican, the GOP would control the chamber.
In a 50-50 Senate, Vice President Cheney could break tie votes in the GOP’s favor. But a Senate that becomes evenly split after it is in session would not necessarily fall to Republicans, Senate historians said. Rules and precedents could leave a party in charge of the chamber even after its membership falls below that of the other party.
“It’s what happens in January that counts,” said Senate associate historian Donald A. Ritchie, referring to when party leaders hash out rules governing the chamber’s organization.
Rounds’s office declined to comment on the situation yesterday except for a statement from the governor, which offered prayers for Johnson and hope for “good news for our friend and colleague.”
Johnson spokesman Noah Pinegar said the senator “became disoriented” during a late-morning conference call with reporters, placed from the Capitol’s Senate recording studio. “He had difficulty completing a response to a question,” Pinegar said, so aides ended the call and walked with him back to Hart Senate Office Building.
When they arrived, Pinegar said, Johnson “wasn’t himself.” A team from the Capitol physician’s office quickly arrived and sent the senator to the hospital by ambulance. Johnson’s wife, Barbara, was with him at the hospital as tests were being conducted last night, Pinegar said.
Reid spent much of the afternoon and evening with Johnson’s family at the hospital, said spokesman Jim Manley. He would not comment on Johnson’s condition.
The Sioux Falls Argus Leader’s Web site said that Rep. Stephanie Herseth ( D-S.D.) asked constituents to pray for Johnson and that she said she thought Johnson had suffered a severe stroke. But that was before Johnson’s staff had ruled out a stroke.
The only time that partisan control of the Senate changed in mid-session, historians say, was in 2001. Republicans began the year controlling the 50-50 chamber with Cheney’s tie-breaking vote. But Democrats, mindful of the recent sudden death of Sen. Paul Coverdell (R-Ga.), were aware they could be a heartbeat away from the majority.
In order to adopt new rules organizing the Senate, the two parties must reach nearly unanimous agreement. Democrats in 2001 blocked the naming of committee chairmen and members, demanding concessions before agreeing to the rules. Among those concessions: Should the numerical advantage change, all committee assignments and chairmanships would be nullified, and a new organization would have to be submitted.
That’s what happened, not because of a death but because disgruntled moderate Republican Sen. James M. Jeffords (Vt.) decided to caucus with the Democrats, giving them a 51-49 edge and the powers of the majority. Senate Republican sources said yesterday that their party is likely to press for similar concessions when negotiating the operating rules for the next Congress.
But even if Johnson were incapacitated, Democratic aides say, they would resist.
A different scenario unfolded in 1954, after the deaths and replacements of several senators over two years. Republicans remained the majority party even though Democrats eventually outnumbered them, 48 to 47, with one independent. Democratic leader Lyndon B. Johnson did not challenge the GOP’s control, in part, historians said, because the independent, Wayne L. Morse of Oregon, warned that he would caucus with the Republicans if need be. That would have led to a 48-48 chamber, and Vice President Richard M. Nixon would have broken the tie in Republicans’ favor.
Tim Johnson has a quiet demeanor and low profile in Washington, but he won two impressive Senate victories. As a House member in 1996, he ousted GOP Sen. Larry Pressler, then chairman of the Commerce Committee.
Six years later, Johnson managed a 524-vote win over Republican John Thune. Thune returned two years later to defeat Thomas A. Daschle, the Senate Democratic leader, in a costly, closely watched election.
Thune had attacked Johnson for voting against the Persian Gulf War resolution in January 1991. When Congress in 2002 debated authorizing Bush to invade Iraq, Johnson announced he would vote aye.
In a floor speech, he said: “There is a strong possibility that I may be voting to send my own son into combat, and that gives me special empathy for the families of other American service men and women whose own sons and daughters may also be sent to Iraq. Nevertheless, I am willing to cast this vote — one of the most important in my career both as a senator and certainly as a father — because I recognize the threat that Saddam Hussein represents to world peace.”
The senator’s son, Staff Sgt. Brooks Johnson, was stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq before becoming an Army recruiter in Illinois.
Given Johnson’s narrow reelection win over Thune, and South Dakota’s GOP tilt — Bush carried the state by 22 percentage points in 2004 — Republicans consider Johnson one of their top targets in the 2008 Senate elections.
The leading candidate to oppose him is Rounds, who was reelected to a second term last month. Johnson had previously committed to seeking a third term. Should he not run, Democrats probably would turn first to Herseth, who easily won reelection last month. ++
Staff writers Lyndsey Layton, Allan Lengel and Debbi Wilgoren, political researcher Zachary A. Goldfarb, staff researcher Madonna Lebling and washingtonpost.com staff writer Chris Cillizza contributed to this report.
S.D. Sen. Johnson in critical condition
MARY CLARE JALONICK, AP
1 hour, 3 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota was in critical but stable condition Thursday after late-night emergency brain surgery, creating political drama about which party will control the Senate next month if he is unable to continue in office.
Johnson suffered from bleeding in the brain caused by a congenital malformation, the U.S. Capitol physician said, describing the surgery as successful. The condition, present at birth, causes tangled blood vessels.
“The senator is recovering without complication,” the physician, Adm. John Eisold, said. “It is premature to determine whether further surgery will be required or to assess any long-term prognosis.”
Eisold said doctors had to drain the blood that had accumulated in Johnson’s brain and stop continued bleeding.
Democrats hold a fragile 51-49 margin in the new Senate that convenes Jan. 4. If Johnson leaves the Senate, the Republican governor of South Dakota could appoint a Republican — keeping the Senate in GOP hands with Vice President Dick Cheney’s tie-breaking power.
Johnson’s condition, also known as AVM, or arteriovenous malformation, causes arteries and veins to grow abnormally large and become tangled.
The senator’s wife, Barbara Johnson, said the family “is encouraged and optimistic.”
In a statement from Johnson’s office Thursday, she said her family was “grateful for the prayers and good wishes of friends, supporters and South Dakotans.”
A person familiar with Johnson’s condition said the 59-year-old senator’s underlying condition caused the stroke-like symptoms and doctors will be watching him closely for the next 24 to 48 hours. The person spoke on condition of anonymity out of respect for the senator’s family.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada visited Thursday morning. He had visited the night before as well.
The emergency surgery lasted past midnight Wednesday
Apart from the risk to his health, Johnson’s illness carried political ramifications, coming so soon after the Democrats won control of the Senate. If he were forced to relinquish his seat, a replacement would be named by South Dakota’s GOP Gov. Mike Rounds.
A Republican appointee would create a 50-50 tie, and allow the GOP to retain Senate control.
Rounds’ press secretary, Mark Johnston, said Thursday the governor was watching events and had nothing new to say.
“We’re watching as much as everyone else,” he said. “The most important thing is making sure Sen. Johnson is OK.”
President Bush awoke Thursday to news of Johnson’s condition, said first lady Laura Bush.
“We’re praying like I know all the people of South Dakota are for his very, very speedy recovery,” Mrs. Bush told CBS’s “Early Show.”
Johnson, who turns 60 later this month, was admitted to George Washington University hospital at midday after experiencing what his office initially said was a possible stroke.
His spokeswoman, Julianne Fisher, later told reporters that it had been determined that the senator had suffered neither a stroke nor a heart attack.
Johnson became disoriented during a conference call with reporters, stuttering in response to a question.
Before he ended the call, Johnson appeared to recover and asked whether there were any additional questions.
Fisher said he then walked back to his Capitol office but appeared to not be feeling well. The Capitol physician came to his office and examined him, and it was decided he should go to the hospital.
He was taken to the hospital by ambulance around noon, Fisher said.
“It was caught very early,” she said.
In its earlier statement, Johnson’s office had said he had suffered a possible stroke and was “undergoing a comprehensive evaluation by the stroke team.”
Johnson is up for re-election in 2008.
In 1969, another South Dakota senator, Karl Mundt, a Republican, suffered a stroke while in office. Mundt continued to serve until the end of his term in January 1973, although he was unable to attend Senate sessions and was stripped of his committee assignments by the Senate Republican Conference in 1972.
Johnson, who was elected in 1996, holds the same seat previously held by Mundt.
South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson said there were no special restrictions on an appointment by the governor and a replacement would not have to be from the same political party.
Johnson, a centrist Democrat, was first elected to the Senate in 1996 after serving 10 years in the House. He narrowly defeated Republican John Thune in his 2002 re-election bid. Thune defeated Sen. Tom Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader, two years later.
Johnson underwent prostate cancer treatment in 2004, and subsequent tests have shown him to be clear of the disease.
Johnson is the second senator to become ill after the Nov. 7 election. Wyoming Sen. Craig Thomas, a Republican, was diagnosed with leukemia on Election Day. He is back at work. ++
Associated Press writers Laurie Kellman and Natasha Metzler in Washington and Dirk Lammers in Sioux Falls contributed to this report.
What’s right and good doesn’t come naturally. You have to stand up and fight for it - as if the cause depends on you, because it does. Allow yourself that conceit - to believe that the flame of Democracy will never go out as long as there’s one candle in your hand.
~ Bill Moyers
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December 14th, 2006