It sounds as though he's a pretty reasonable choice for the position, as Republicans go. What interests me more is the open seat this creates.

Here's a map of the district, and it looks like pretty tough territory for Dems. Then again, so is South Dakota, and we won a special election there last year. But what does this New Yorker know? Anyone closer to the ground know if this seat might be winnable?

UPDATE: Bush beat Gore 63-35 in the 2002 district lines, making this the most Republican district in the state. (To compare, Bush's 2000 margin in South Dakota was 60-38.) 2004 data by CD aren't available yet, but here's the breakdown by county:

Hamilton: Bush, 53-47
Warren: Bush, 72-28
Clermont: Bush, 71-29
Brown: Bush, 64-36
Adams: Bush, 64-36
Scioto: Bush, 52-48
Pike: Bush, 52-48

In other words, um, if we can win here, we can win anywhere.