Speech leaves crowd 'completely confident'

2007-08-29

Source: Argus Leader

A highly supportive Tim Johnson crowd heard South Dakota's senior senator speak with some difficulty Tuesday, but went away from his homecoming with few doubts about his ability to serve.

About 1,000 people crowded into the Sioux Falls Convention Center for the Democratic senator's first trip back to the state since suffering stroke-like symptoms last Dec. 13 in Washington, D.C.

What they heard was a 15-minute speech read entirely from a script. Some of the words were slurred. Some were difficult to understand. All of it was measured.

But little of that seemed to matter to those who watched.

"I thought his speech is really good," Sioux Falls Mayor Dave Munson, a Republican, said afterward. "He's engaged. And I'm convinced he can carry on his duties. We talked backstage about things, and he knew about all these things. His mind is very, very alert."

Former Sen. George McGovern compared Johnson to other politicians who have battled illness, including President Franklin Roosevelt, and said he thought Tuesday's speech was effective.

"I think he'll be fine," McGovern said. "Sometimes an illness can prompt a person to even greater things."

If anything, it will give Johnson more compassion and understanding for people who face similar struggles, said Bishop Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl, outgoing head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's South Dakota Synod.

"In many ways, his life is enriched by this experience," DeGroot-Nesdahl said. "This will give him a deeper heart for people who have had difficulties like this."

She saw him rolled to the podium in a wheelchair by his son, Brooks. She heard his deliberate speech.

"I could understand him," DeGroot-Nesdahl said. "I think that the thing I'm really celebrating today is that he is really OK. He's all he ever has been."

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