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GOP Machine Eats Jenna Haggar

Rep. Jenna Haggar, candidate for District 10, South Dakota House
Rep. Jenna Haggar: dressed for GOP din-din

That smacking sound you hear is the South Dakota Republican machine going, "Yum, yum: Jenna Bits!" The only official Independent in the South Dakota Legislature, Rep. Jenna Haggar, has filed to run for House in the newly drawn District 10 in Sioux Falls. And according to the Secretary of State's candidates list, she has finally acknowledged that she really is a Republican.

Haggar's admission hardly surprises. Her transparent ploy to hide her party affiliation and milk the Independent meme in 2010 had less to do with her electoral success than her last-minute dirty tricks. Her willingness to sacrifice honest conservative principles and vote for the government power grab embodied in HB 1234 shows she sees doing the party leadership's bidding is more important than showing her independence and representing her constituents. Haggar has apparently decided the best route for her Noem-esque brunette ambition is through the party ranks.

Gobble, gobble, gobble.

52 Comments

  1. grudznick 2012.03.20

    Don'g fortet that she has a new boyfriend who is a Republican. That could have something to do with this. By the way, happy spring Mr. H., and thanks for running this blot.

  2. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.03.20

    I'm happy to put a blot on South Dakota for you, Grudz. And happy spring to you! It is the season of love. Dare we speculate that the Haggar-Latterell love just couldn't withstand a mixed relationship?

  3. Bob Newland 2012.03.20

    Jenna. A twit. Or did I mis-spell that?

  4. Rorschach 2012.03.20

    Jenna Haggar has always been a registered Republican since she first registered at age 18. Even as she ran as an independent in 2010 she never bothered to change her registration from Republican. Even as she served in the legislature as an independent she has always been a registered Republican. I shook my head every time any news story referred to her as an independent. Nope, just a right-wing Republican actively practicing dishonesty. That dishonesty pattern has continued too.

  5. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.03.20

    Bob, your spelling is fine. Just fine.

    R, I should have known better than to perpetuate even the quote-marked I. We all should own who we are. If we can't, if we succumb to branding, if we can't endorse our own identities, then who are we?

  6. mike 2012.03.20

    Haggar and Latterell have been going out for almost two years I think.

    She recieved 40+ percent of the vote in her old district because she worked hard and she is friendly. I might not agree with her politics but she knows politics is image and she understood how to use hers.

    Plus it was a very GOP year. She's a lifer in SD GOP politics in some form or another.

  7. Ed Randazzo 2012.03.21

    Wipe up the drool at the corner of your mouths as you salivate over some pipe dreams of conservative defeats in SD and take a peek at some national news. Here's just a couple of news bites.
    1. Your beloved President who would be monarch has updated the National Security Executive Order. Now all his plans are in place to rule his kingdom when he declares a national emergency.....like he's gonna lose the election.
    2. Hope Malia Obama enjoys the spring break trip to Mexico (a 13 year old child) accompanied by 12 of her closest friends and 25 Secret Service agents. Gotta love how generous we are to the touring Obamas. Oh, we will likely hear that the Obamas are paying for the whole thing, but he will have to buy some credibility first to make that one float, amigo. We probably should buy her some carbon credits too. What spin will you use on your students to justify this one, Cory?

  8. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.03.21

    [Irrelevant to Haggar thread... but Ed, again, you live in a fantasy world of chain e-mails, not the reality of what I really do at work. I teach French. We talk verbs. I don't discuss the President's children. Heck, I don't even discuss the President in class. I do have a picture of the President up in my room, because (1) he's our President, and (2) it has French on it.]

    [By the way, not that the President's children are any of our business, but CBS reports it's a school trip, not unlike the trip I'm taking 34 of my students on to France next Christmas. If I were taking them to crime-ridden Mexico, and if my group included children of high-profile Americans who could pay high ransoms, I'd welcome some guards, too. The spin sounds like it's coming from you.]

  9. Troy Jones 2012.03.21

    So much to comment on:

    1) Considering Rep. Haggar never changed her party registration, it is pretty hard to say she tried to "hide her party affiliation."

    2) A person who registers to vote in a party and never changes that registration doesn't qualify as a "career politician."

    3) I came of age when Susan Ford was a child of the President and it became acceptable to impugn or otherwise use the children of the President. It continued with Amy Carter, Chelsea Clinton and the Bush twins. Too often it seems "acceptable" to do this when the child is of the other party. It is not acceptable ever. Malia Obama should not be forced to forego a class trip nor should we question whether she has Secret Service protection. This said, I do question the wisdom (but parents make mistakes) of allowing their daughter to go to a place where high-value targets are under threat of kidnapping, etc. by the drug cartels regardless if she is protected by the entire USMC. More importantly, my daughter would not go in the company of someone who is a high value target. Doesn't reflect on Obama as President though and should not be used as political fodder. I'm just glad she and her classmates made it home without incident. Praise be to God.

  10. Bill Fleming 2012.03.21

    Good ol' Ed Randazzhole. Ever the sh*t slinger. Classy guy, all the way.

  11. larry kurtz 2012.03.21

    Troy, you get me to where I can almost grok you then you retrograde into Randazzoian toilet bowl worship. Praise be to the Yellowstone supervolcano.

  12. Rorschach 2012.03.21

    Troy, where did you get your quote, "hide her party afiliation"? I don't see that quote used in the post or any of the comments.

    And where did you get your quote, "career politician"? I also don't see that quote used in the post or any of the comments.

    You sure did set up those straw men to knock down.

  13. Troy Jones 2012.03.21

    It is in what Cory wrote.

  14. Rorschach 2012.03.21

    My eyes must only read black ink today.

  15. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.03.21

    Haggar avoided the use of "Republican" on any of her campaign literature in 2010. Her "About" page still makes no mention of her party affiliation.

  16. Roger Elgersma 2012.03.21

    In the redistricting those Republicans sure did redistrict her. She has about only one precinct the same as before. It made an odd shaped district to put her there. Do they not like the youth having an opinion. Not really sure what there motive was.

  17. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.03.21

    That's really interesting, Roger. Did Haggar step on any toes in Pierre? Are her votes for HB 1234 and her Republican declaration for the ballot part of an effort to get back in someone's good graces?

  18. kwn 2012.03.21

    She's in good ol' Roger Hunts old district. Lot's of very conservitive Republicans out here. Probably won't have a problem getting re elected.

  19. larry kurtz 2012.03.21

    *sitting on my stiff upper lip hands*

  20. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.03.21

    How do those District 10 conservatives feel about Haggar's vote for HB 1234, which layers a lot of big government on local school districts?

  21. Steve Hickey 2012.03.21

    I don't put Republican on any of my campaign literature. I do however use a quote that you can see on the mailer face that is visible in the upper right corner of my blog... http://www.voicescarryblog.com

  22. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.03.21

    Thune thinks you can bridge the divide between Right and Left? Who does Thune think the Left is, Val Rausch? There's a whole blog post in itself! (Hmm... let's see... usury, yes... public schools teaching Christianity, no... abortion bans, no....)

  23. grudznick 2012.03.21

    Young Mr. Hickey shows a lot of class. This very very young woman has done nothing to show that she has any less. Others of us can't say that. I'm just sayin...

  24. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.03.21

    Grudz, just to quibble with words and logic, showing you have class and not showing you don't have class are different actions, aren't they?

  25. Steve Sibson 2012.03.22

    "Thune thinks you can bridge the divide between Right and Left?"

    It is the fascism created by using the Hegelian dialectic to compromise. I wonder what Thune will say about the SDGOP implementing Obama's stimulus, healthcare, and now education agenda. Is that the bridge he is talking about? Hickey is on board with that.

  26. Steve Sibson 2012.03.22

    And Jenna voting in favor of HB1234 puts your title into perspective. The longer you are in Pierre the more likely it is that you will move to the left.

  27. Steve Hickey 2012.03.22

    You misrepresent me again, Sibson. #bearfalsewitness

  28. Steve Sibson 2012.03.22

    Steve, you voted for HB1234 twice and last year voted for SB43. Did you not?

  29. Steve Sibson 2012.03.22

    And Steve, how much federal money does SB197 approve? Is it not $1.75 billion?

  30. Steve Hickey 2012.03.22

    Sibby - Here we go again. I oppose Obamacare. There are a variety of theories as to how best to oppose it. You know my answer to this - I do not support any and every attempt to stop Obamacare because some attempts are hastily and ill-concieved and in my view are a distraction or even detrimental to the goal. For that you persist in telling people I want to implement Obamacare. If you get elected I can't wait to see you sign these pledges to vote for bills that you haven't read because they haven't been written yet. To give you a taste of your own medicine, I think I'll broadcast that candidate Steve Sibson thinks we should throw unlimited amounts of taxpayer money at education and have no accountability for how it is spent. I'll then add that you are in cohoots with the SDEA because you do oppose HB1234, don't you? If you oppose it that means you are FOR everything else the SDEA has ever promoted. Case closed. Facts are facts.

  31. Steve Sibson 2012.03.22

    Steve, the SDGOP says they oppose Obamacare while they are setting it up. They have hired project leaders and are currently in the process of hiring another.

    The members of the SDEA have finally woke up and learned they are being played as pawns. I hope you too will wake up, instead of threatening to do what you don't like done to you. So much for the golden rule, huh?

  32. Steve Sibson 2012.03.22

    "Steve Sibson thinks we should throw unlimited amounts of taxpayer money at education and have no accountability for how it is spent."

    And who does not like accountability when it comes to his voting record?

  33. Steve Hickey 2012.03.22

    :-&

    You've admitted to me that the voting records you keep are flawed.

  34. Steve Sibson 2012.03.22

    Yes Steve, I said they have problems but they are still a great tool. Man cannot create an utopian environment now can he?

  35. Steve Sibson 2012.03.22

    And Steve, I have said thes before and I will say it here:

    Your score of 60% is nothing to be ashamed of. I consider it a good score.

    I also invited you to provide input to make the scorecard better when I said they have problems. Unfortunately you insist on attacking the idea all together. That is not what I consider winsome.

  36. larry kurtz 2012.03.22

    What earth haters like Hickey and Sibson really want to do is have President Obama's name taken off PPACA. HB1234 should be named DaugTeach.

  37. Steve Hickey 2012.03.22

    You are right to be thinking about the Golden Rule in how you measure other people. I wasn't threatening to broadcast misinformation, I'm too busy to worry about anyone but myself. The point was to illustrate using the same measure on you that you use on me and to try and communicate to you the frustration it is to be publicly misrepresented. The scorecards are a joke. They are subjective interpretations of cherry-picked bills/votes which are then given arbitrary percentages that prove nothing - they are a disservice to elected officials because they provide no context and they mislead voters. I'm going to quit on this conversation at this point because we are now off topic.

  38. Steve Sibson 2012.03.22

    "The scorecards are a joke."

    There are two very important benefits of the particular scorecard that I am addressing:

    1) Those citizens putting it together are paying closer attention to the legisaltive process and are becoming better informed on what is going on in Pierre. Their wish is for others to become better informed. To say they are political hacks trying to mislead voters is bearing false witness. They are taking great pains to tie the votes to the SDGOP platform, not some personal agenda.

    2) The hope is that the focus on voting records will move the scores higher thereby putting more support behind the SDGOP platform. I wonder about those Republicans who would say that is a bad thing. Perhaps they need to attend the convention and change the platform so that other Republicans are not mislead by what it says it stands for.

  39. Troy Jones 2012.03.22

    Steve,

    "Those citizens" won't even disclose who they are.

    "Those citizens" do "cherry pick" the issues to get the results they wanted (to make friends look good and enemies look bad, even if it made some very liberal Democrats look good). The blatant cherry picking is misleading voters and bearing false witness to serve their own agenda.

    "Those citizens" used mental and logic gymnastics to distort the platform.

    "Those citizens" hope to make people more adherent to the GOP platform did not do it. The mockery and their insiduous dishonesty was a mockery of the GOP platform.

    I can respect people who state their case by putting their name to the test and even make a character assassination if they feel it warranted. But "those citizens" who hide behind a cloak and expropriate the GOP moniker and misrepresent the platform, not so much.

  40. Steve Sibson 2012.03.22

    Troy, If you don't know who they are, then how why you make those false allegations. And have you ever heard of anonymous free speech? Or do Republicans want to forsake that constitutional right too?

  41. Steve Sibson 2012.03.22

    "The blatant cherry picking is misleading voters and bearing false witness to serve their own agenda."

    Is is the SDGOP leadership that is bearing false witness in regard to the SDGOP platform and that has been exposed by the scorecard. The SDGOP leadership are the ones with their own agenda, and they hide behind their closed caucus. How dare they now insist that citizens come out in the open so that the kind of retaliation that happened to Stace Nelson can be inflicted on them.

  42. Bill Fleming 2012.03.22

    Sibby, to argue for transparency from behind a cloak of anonymity is absurd, and arguably dishonest. Just as an anonymous person is free to speak we are free to ignore them, especially if what they are promoting is false on its face.

  43. Troy Jones 2012.03.22

    Steve,

    I've already gone through point by point both the ludicrous selection of the bills and the misinterpretation of the platform. That joke and its continued reference as representative of the GOP platform is blatantly deceptive with an obvious intent to mislead.

    Asserting Stace Nelson is a victim is goofy. He seems to be one who likes it so much one could think he is a masochist meaning the beatings he takes are just doing him a favor.

  44. Steve Sibson 2012.03.22

    Fleming, do you know the difference between government and the private sector?

  45. larry kurtz 2012.03.22

    Sibson, do you know your glutei from your amygdala?

  46. Steve Sibson 2012.03.22

    "He seems to be one who likes it"

    That is a blatantly false allegation. I know because I acrually spent time talking to him. The scorecard discloses the platform plank that was used to base the vote. You can disagree, but it was disclosed. The "who" should not matter. What matters is the issues are discussed.

    And what was mislead? Again, the method being used here is to discredit those who are telling folks how people vote. In other words, the legislators are wearing no clothes. Sad if too many find out their representative misleads them into voting "R" because the "D" is evil while the "R" implements Obama's major policy positions. And you simple-minded partisan party types can only talk in a dichotomy. Ever think the populist "D" disagress with the Marxist "D" and agrees with the conservative "R" who disagress with the fascist "R"?

  47. Troy Jones 2012.03.22

    If he didn't like it he wouldn't keep going back to his querencia.

  48. Bill Fleming 2012.03.22

    It doesn't make any sense, Sibby, unless they're embarrassed to admit who they are. When the Founders organized the revolution they did so anonymously. But when they finally took on the establishment head on via the DofI they signed their names to it. One would think if a group were pronouncing themselves the only true Republicans, they would offer themselves up as personal examples. Unless of course to do so would somehow weaken their argument. If they don't want to take personal responsibility for their views, why should they expect anyone else to? It seems you are once again defending the indefensible.

  49. Stace Nelson 2012.03.22

    Wow! A man trys to get a little fencing done and clean up on the old farm and he gets whacked around in the blogs!

    Mr Jones, you keep comparing notes with the other blindmen trying to figure out what this ugly old elephant is. You may yet inadvertantly stumble into understanding what an honest old public servant actually is. :-D

    I took a beating? I took a couple punches for doing my job; however, a beating? Compared to the things I went through previously for this country? These dishonest politicians hit like the little rats they are.

    Querencia? You got me there. Too tired to care or look it up.

    Get used to me being around Troy. Even after I am out of the legislature, rest assured you will hear my loud voice involved in the Republican Party for as long as the Good Lord gives me. Make sure you come up someday and introduce yourself. Remind me of your comment that you and your friends keep beating me up, I am always up for a hearty laugh.

    Folks are still whining about the report card? :-D

  50. Bill Fleming 2012.03.23

    I'd like to hear Stacey Nelson's take on a couple of recent issues. http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/22/us/marine-obama/index.html First, the Gary Stein Internet activity, and second, the Trayvon Martin slaying. Curious as to what he's thinking about these matters, Cory.

  51. Steve Sibson 2012.03.23

    "When the Founders organized the revolution they did so anonymously."

    And we have a revolution today...the truth about ones voting record in Pierre. It is no one's fault except the SDGOP leadership that what they tell voters and what they do in Pierre are two opposite things.

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