South Dakota Senator Johnson to Run Again. Maybe.

Senator Tim Johnson informed the media that he is not only headed back to work; he's also headed back to the campaign trail. His staff says that might not necessarily be the case.

ABC News has it that Johnson will run for re-election to the Senate in his home state of South Dakota (see page 4). He had a long 8 months of recovery — he suffered his hemorrhage in December — and now he's doing better but with a long road ahead of him. ABC's Bob Woodruff did some additional coverage on the Senator: that he's well-respected by his colleagues, that his family had a hard time with the inevitable questions from reporters about political calculations and the slim Democratic Senate majority, and about how Johnson is easing back into day-to-day life.

Some local media in South Dakota carry a slightly different story about his re-election plans. According to the Argus-Leader, Johnson's designs on running again are not set in stone.

I think on a personal level his return to health is a happy story; on a political level, this a situation that bears watching. The Hill had a story early this month concerning Republicans and their stated intentions to target the seat, to which Former Senate Tom Daschle responded by calling the GOP out on pursuits that can at best be described as highly inappropriate.