Despite an empty record of inattention to her duties, Rep. Kristi Noem handily won re-election to Congress this week.
Her first big move following her victory: lighten her work load even more by abdicating her leadership role. Tom Lawrence posts Noem's full letter to her colleagues announcing she will not seek a sophomore class leadership position:
Freshman Class Colleagues:
For the last two years, I have been humbled to serve as one of the freshmen liaisons to our House leadership team. During that time, I have worked hard to listen to all of you and represent our voices at the leadership table. While none of us believe we have achieved everything we set out to do over the last two years, together as a class we played a large role in changing the conversation in Washington. That is something we can all be proud of.
As we prepare for conference leadership elections next Wednesday, I have decided that I will not run for the sophomore class leadership position. The strength of our class lies largely within our diversified backgrounds and life experiences. As such, I have no doubt our class will be well represented by whoever* we choose to fill that position.
It is an honor to serve with each of you. I look forward to working with you as we continue offering solutions to the serious challenges facing our nation.
Sincerely,
Kristi[Rep. Kristi Noem, quoted by Tom Lawrence, "Noem Opts out of GOP Leadership Role," Republic Insider, 2012.11.09]
You'd think our freshly re-affirmed Congresswoman would look for every avenue she could find to carry South Dakota's voice to the powers that be. As our only Congressperson, Rep. Noem needs to cover more ground.
But she probably found that leadership just means more meetings, and she just hates how those meetings take her away from more important matters.
See, Republicans? Reward Kristi's bad behavior, and what do you get? Even more bad behavior.
*whomever. Object of verb choose. Maybe Kristi needs time to go back to SDSU to pick up a college English credit.
Interesting that John Thune is also backing away from taking on a larger role in the US Senate.
One other note to Kristi. When you submit your letter of resignation. Open it with "To whom it may concern" and not "To whoever it may concern." Just a friendly tip.
Noem has defeated two opponents whose educational and work achievements so outclass hers that there are no comparisons. Her debate performances with both opponents were contrasts of bluff and bluster against people who actually know things. The ultimate difference is that Noem (and Thune) had a better understanding of South Dakota's changing demography, Romney must have modeled his vision of the American electorate on South Dakota.
She prob doesn't have good French language skills or Jana's sewing skills or my plumbing or electrical skills.
There is enough to pick you you don't need to go there.
Language is ever-evolving. Most people choose to just use "who" rather than stopping what they are saying to think about the grammar rules and what might be correct. Sometimes being grammatically correct sounds wrong to the ear. Mrs. Noem's use of "whoever" is perfectly correct to 99+% of South Dakotans.
Linguistics was one of my favorite subjects At Dakota State.
Jana, maybe she does not know any of them or if they even listen to her. So with this thought, maybe she is just trying to find anyone who would read her scribbles.
$3300 a day: curious why anyone would pay that to have ones way with her.
Les: grammar is basic, common, and expected of all university graduates. Michael, a lot of South Dakotans say ain't and bullshit, too. That doesn't mean such colloquialisms or errors are appropriate in formal business communication. And don't confuse Kristi with talk of linguistics. We need to get her English skills up to proficiency before we let her play some evolutionary-linguistics crusader.
Thune's not taking a step up; Noem is taking a step back. Are these two moves connected?
Hey, is Noem backing away from the leadership to free up more time to run for Senate in 2014?
Good Lord, you people and your nitpicking :( So someone makes a grammatical error or a spelling error; at least you know she wrote it herself.
Must be nice to be so perfect.
Yeah, you're right, Paula: we wouldn't want Kristi to hold herself to the high standards of university education. People might start thinking she's not South Dakota enough.
And we certainly wouldn't want to expect her to work hard to make South Dakota's voice heard. She must have more important things to do.
Listen, I didn't even vote for her, but to read many people on here nitpick about every cotton-pickin' (is that spelled right?) thing about someone is really ridiculous. Yes, we KNOW you don't like her, we KNOW you think she's done a crappy job and will in the future, we KNOW you think she's uneducated, we KNOW you like to criticize her campaign, we KNOW you like to pick on her hairdos. Don't know know how immature that comes across to analyze every single move a person makes, down to a grammatical error?
Maybe Kristi needs more time away from committees to work on her Wildlife Sticker Book and coloring projects. Does she get college credit for those?
That's supposed to say, "Don't you know how immature..."
Also, I am not university educated...does that make me not on your same level????
Kristi Noem: Me Immature, Level Freshman.
Not at all, Paula. But Kristi Noem made a big deal out of getting her diploma. I cite her inattention to grammar as a small indicator of the attention she paid to her university studies.
And please note, I cited the grammar point in a footnote. My main point, as made clear by the arrangement of my original post, is that Noem apparently intends to slack off even more during her second term.
Mrs. Noem's career choices make the Kardashians look like rank amateurs.
I'm with Cory. Noem for US Senate is about to begin. Rounds better get his act together. This means SHS is likely a candidate also.
You think she doesnt have time to attend those meetingsor do you think she is going to get her masters degree.
Any thoughts on this article from Politico about John Thune not moving on up?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83580.html
Heidi Heitkamp wins ND's US Senate Seat this year...In 2014 Stephanie Herseth makes her comeback to win SD's US Senate Seat...
By 2015 the Dakota's will have 2 Female US Senators and it's about time!
By 2015: Heitkamp/Herseth will be representing the Dakotas in the Senate:)
Interesting, G... I see Heitkmap has hired SHS's gal tessa Gould as her chief of staff. Heitkamp also sounds Blue-Doggy with her Keystone XL support and distancing from Obama. Perhaps Heitkamp will lend some synergy in 2014 and stump for SHS here.
Moore, here's some pure speculation: Thune's playing the loyal party boy, deferring to a slightly senior member (Cornyn entered Senate in 2003, Thune 2005) and avoiding a minor leadership contest that could distract from maintaining a united front against the slightly stronger Democrats and an emboldened President. Maybe Thune is looking ahead to 2016 and avoiding getting too high up, lest he get Daschle'd by South Dakotans who don't cotton to all that fame and success. Maybe he's listening to his senior aide/staff historian Jon Lauck, who reminds him that South Dakota's longest-serving Senator, Karl E. Mundt, never served as whip or majority leader. Two terms down, two to go...
...or maybe he's just setting things in motion for his Presidential bid in 2016. Instead of getting caught up in running the Senate, he keeps himself a little freer to flip through the Romney rolodex that he'll get as a Christmas present and convince the big donors that he can make the sale in 2016.
Noem against Rounds in the primary seems unthinkable. The most vulnerable state-wide office is currently held by Denny Daugaard and the most likely to be taken by a Dem if Tim Johnson really announces he's stepping down (unlikely, in my view).
Brendan Johnson and SHS opposed in a primary seems equally unlikely as we seem to have no bench. Noem will play hell defending a House seat especially after the next session after earth haters will be marginalized because we won't get fooled again.
If Noem really intends to save her marriage DC is hardly the place to do it: a run for gov makes far more sense for her next move.
Unless the GOP does some serious soul searching and reform, Cory, they're not going to even come close to the Whitehouse again for a long, long time. Thune should probably set his sights on becoming SD's Senior Senator and get really, really good at it.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/09/opinion/carville-buckwalter-poza-election/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Colorado and Minnesota are attracting Democrats of all ages: unless we start recruiting, we're done in the chemical toilet.
Good point, Bill! Thune seems to have done that math last year when he decided to stay out of the 2012 race. Maybe he realizes his demographic is all right here in South Dakota, and that he's got little to offer those beyond our borders.
Larry, much as Daugaard has screwed up his first term, I can't see unseating the a GOP incumbent as being easier than keeping a Senate seat left open by a retiring Tim Johnson.
Agreed, Cory: the voices in Stace Nelson's head might force him to run against DD in a primary and how SHS could stand to live in a toilet full-time is beyond me.
I think we're screwed.
Randazzo is Exhibit A: if South Dakota accepts his hatred as common sense Democrats ain't got a snowball's chance in Ed's pants.
Stace Nelson could win twice as many votes as Gordon Howie in a 2014 primary challenge against Daugaard. But might he do even better in a primary challenge against Noem? The mainstream GOP might be more amenable to throwing Noem overboard than unseating Daugaard.
Noem is already in way over her head: the seat she amply occupies with largessima might be vulnerable to a Dem and Stace seems happy living in his own bizarre kingdom with young kids.
I was just thinking about the meeting of the best minds of the GOP after the last election and their #1 goal was to make President Obama a one term President.
Wonder what they are talking about this time out?
Funny that the guy who will ascend to the #2 job in the Senate was the guy in charge of getting Republicans elected to the Senate. Talk about failing forward.
It's important to remember that we are our own little echo chamber here with only fractional impact on politics in South Dakota: the real power can only be wielded when tribes are fully engaged.
Something I noticed about races out here on the Great Plains is you don't want to be out "home boyed/girled". Noem beat up Varilek because he was insufficiently South Dakotan, the same with the Fiegen/McGovern race. Two years ago Noem used the same tactic successfully against Herseth, who had after all gone to college at Georgetown and worked for awhile in DC. Thune and his Daschle "mansion" ads successfully planted the idea that Tom had gone DC.
Heitkamp won in part by portraying herself as a good old North Dakota girl.
Meanwhile in Montana Jon Tester and Denny Rehberg took part in a contest to see who could out cowboy the other guy.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/jon-tester-montana-denny-rehberg
She says she's done running...I don't believe her: Hillary Clinton. That's my next prediction: Hillary runs for the Presidency in 2016 and wins. 2014 could shape up to be a huge year for the Democrats and just not nationwide, but, here in South Dakota if the backlash continues against Governor Daugaard and SOS Jason Gant. If I were the Democrats, I would be fielding them strong candidates right now because I've never seen so many voters in SD so tuned in, not fooled, and angry at Daugaard's Administration. 2014 will be a midterm, so, the President will not be on the ballot and with the anger over Daugaard and Gant, Stephanie Herseth has her best opportunity for a comeback. In 2014, SD voters will not be looking at President Obama, but, they will firmly be watching Governor Daugaard with hawk eyes.
Call me crazy, but, I wonder if President Obama has Bill Clinton in mind to replace Bi-Ki Moon at the United Nations. Clinton would be at the top of his list for nominees to put forth I have no doubt. Clinton really helped the President out this election and I can't help, but, think something is in the works for a reward and Bi-Ki Moon's tenure will be over in a year or two;) It would make perfect sense since Bill Clinton has a lot of global political capital, including his world organization: The Clinton Global Iniative...
NDSU beat SDSU: that is all.
Where is Herseth living now? If she's not living in SD, then I agree with Nick. Cons would jump on that. I do think in the future, Herseth should contemplate running again.
And Nick, that "home-girl" image seems to trump everything else, including the basic expectation that one show up, work hard, and get things done.
Jenny, I think SHS is living in Sioux Falls. She's working for Raven Industries. Of course, that won't matter to the spin machine. She's been to Georgetown. She's lived in Washington D.C. She's obviously not one of us, and whatever Republican she runs against in 2014 will scream that message non-stop.
I think Kristi dumping her learship postion just shows Matt was right about her not showing up for work. Maybe she is going to try to correct that and feels like this is a way to free up time.
I was thinking that SHS would run for Senate and give Rounds a run for his money. Some one mentioned that one of the reasons SHS ran such a poor race was that she was tired of Washington politics. I am now hoping that she will run against Daugaard. He continues to shoot himself in the foot, and is making a lot of people upset. I think she would have a chance against him. I am not sure who the Dems can put up against Rounds and make it competitive other than SHS though.
My intuition nags away that Noem abruptly quitting the leadership post is hard to explain for a first-term incumbent who needs only to get her party's nomination to win her second re-election to the House. I suspect a personal issue which may be revealed in the coming few months.
As to Thune, he is soooooooo running for President in 2016. If he learned anything from 2012, it's that he could have defeated Obama by making a mild pivot to the center, compared to the Romney double pivot to the right of Rick Parry and pivot to the center in the final few weeks of the campaign. Thune is relatively young, more importantly young looking and has little baggage from his Senate record. If he can grasp a meaningful issue like immigration reform to begin latching onto non-white voters, he may become the new face of the national Republican Party.
Just sayin'.
Dougal, are you saying Noem lacks support among her caucus? Isn't the simplest explanation for that lack of support her obvious lack of basic compentence and attention to her job, rather than some unknown personal issue?
"Where is Herseth living now? If she's not living in SD, then I agree with Nick. Cons would jump on that."
That's true. Right, Les? ;)
Stef did her time in SD. She ran and got beat in 02, won against Diedrich twice in 04 due to Janklows misdeed and went on to represent SD very well until she let fear over rule the town hall meetings her constituents wanted.
She was as intelligent as you could ask for and knew our issues better than some in our own organization did when we would meet in DC?
But, yes Rick, it is true. Against a great GOP opponent, SD's would love to hear that rhetoric. ;-)
Stef wouldn't have lost this year. :-)
Cory - Incompetence and laziness are Noem's attributes, without a doubt. She makes an ideal hood ornimant to add appeal to the neanderthal right. She's done no harm to currying favors from her caucus classmates. She's used the leadership selection as a selling point with the press and constituents. Thus, I don't sense an impediment to her being selected again.
I sense it's something else. Perhaps some bad news we haven't heard about yet that causes her to now avoid the center stage spotlight in D.C.
Maybe Noem was asked to step down because of incompetence, all the missed meetings, etc. It doesn't really sound like 'limelight Kristi' to step down from a high profile leadership position.
I bet she's shirking responsibility so she's not confronted with missed meetings when she runs for US Senate in 2014.
And she won't have stepped foot on a reservation by then, either and Tim Giago will endorse her. Again.
T: you can bet it goes deeper, wetter, and spendier.
Mr Giago's endorsement of Noem and Fargen did neither much good.
kitties taste like pork
Perhaps Thune and Noem read the polls and realized that the TEA party crap wasn't sucked up in many parts of the US and South Dakotans might also finally get the news here if South Dakota papers will ever be honest about the KOCH Industries birthing of the TEA party.
The Mitch McConnell strategy has turned the national GOP into the Grand Irrelevancy Party...GIP.
Fiegen, Grudz?
So let's sum up the possibilities:
(1) Positioning for the next big race: only makes sense if we assume Thune and Noem have done the same calculus (makes sense, since when Noem bothers to do calculus, Thune's staff does it for her) and decided that the influence gained in those leadership positions is outweighed by the liabilities of being seen as a leader in a do-nothing Congress (read: GOP digging in to stop the Obama Marxist Revolution).
(2) lazy: conceivable for Noem, not as much for Thune, who's been working the leadership route for some time.
(3) lacking support from colleagues: ditto. Noem probably makes as good an impression on her D.C. colleagues as she did on her Pierre colleagues and her GOP backers here who know she's a bad Rep. who used looks and lucky timing to push a better man aside for the job. But Thune... come on, who in the D.C. GOP doesn't like Thune... unless his early backing of Romney is now seen as a bad choice?
(4) Super secret scandal coming up? Nutty business. And both at the same time? Nuttier business. That's Gordon-Howie-quality bushwah. Give me evidence, or keep it under your hat.
The liberal media created the Koch brothers. They were doddering libertarians quietly giving their money to various political causes while taking a backseat. Now that they are household names they are able fundraisers running a very effective political machine. I think its funny.
Bree, couldn't you make the same case to accuse the media of giving strength to al-Qaeda or school shooters or any other public menace? Are the media not supposed to cover threats to democracy?
Hat in place.
Dropping out of the leadership spotlight is coincidental and I believe most likely done for very different reasons.
- Thune is positioning for the Presidency, starting from the radical right in his caucus and needing to appear open to pivoting to centrist positions. He doesn't need to waffle to get the GOP nomination as much as putting some distance between himself and the partisanship of Mitch McConnell's Senate Caucus to win the general election. He's received all the "gifts" that are needed from ascending in the leadership ladder without absorbing baggage. Thune's challenge is to quietly build his national campaign structure while staying out of trouble in Congress.
- Noem's decision remains a mystery. Her leadership position was created more for appearances than substance, which is how Republicans do a better job of spotlighting upcoming talent than Democrats. But for someone who apparently was too distracted (nobody know why) to attend meetings of committees she selected, maybe the leadship post responsibilities needed to make room for other things. Most likely reason: Laziness and/or lack of ambition.
Noem may be disappointed that she isn't being annointed to run against Tim Johnson in 2014. Mike "jobs for the family" Rounds is working the home base while Kristi "no show" Noem is stuck in D.C., forced to appear busy working for South Dakota in Congress.
Alas, we can only guess and pull down the assumptions that seem unlikely.
People don't agree with terrorists when they hear about them Cory. But libertarianism has drawing power - and its a threat to the media's control over uneducated democracy and liberal values.
I was going to grant the point, Bree, but as I think about it, I'm not convinced Libertarianism has more drawing power than terrorism. Bin Laden attracted numerous malcontented youths who thought they found meaning and purpose in their charismatic leader's calls for revolution.
Plus, terrorists have had more practical impact on world politics than have Libertarians. I don't approve of the terrorists' impacts; I simply state the fact that their actions have much more dramatically shaped our current laws than have Ron Paul or any other adherents to Libertarianism. Terrorists may have had more impact on re-electing President Obama (Obama nabbed bin Laden, and that surely firmed up some voter support) than did Gary Johnson (in not one Blue state did "Other" add up to enough votes to flip that state to Romney, not even Florida).
The Libertarians, whoever they are, pose no threat to anything but my patience.
These terrorists have been lied to, they have been misled by their leaders and told that God loves some people more than others. Many different cultures have propagated the essence of this same lie in different forms. Sometimes it seems that these lies have a lasting impact, but in reality the ripples of cause and effect fade with time. Truth, on the other hand, builds on truth as culture and civilization evolve. Libertarianism is one model of a truth in its infancy - the knowledge of the supremacy of free will, a gift of God. That truth has a drawing power that grows and evolves as the lies around it crumble and fade.
Yes, Bree, there is a clear moral difference between terrorists and Libertarians. But that paean to truth is exactly the sort of speechifying that distracts Libertarians from making a practical difference. We all think we're fighting for truth, justice, and the American way. But Libertarians pontificate about their philosophical superiority and stop there. Rather like Kristi Noem, they think that once they've said how wonderful they are, their work is done. Noem at least manages to get elected. Maybe Libertarians need to find a really pretty lady who can ride a horse and run her as their candidate. Hmm... Bree?
Many people listen while Libertarians pontificate. Some of the best ideas that are gaining traction among Americans right now had origin among a few useless Libertarians gibbering in dark corners on such unpopular topics as Austrian Economics and auditing the Fed.
You're right Bree about the terrorists being lied to.
How about the international corporate interests backed by British and US governments raping their lands and people, terrorists aren't the only ones being lied to.
Corey, walk into a cowboy bar wearing ear rings and tats with your shoulder length hair 30 years ago. That is how most Americans view the Libertarian. Not that it is right?
I don't think the Libertarian will get punched. Puzzled looks, followed by ignoring the self-aggrandizing drivel, maybe.
Ok Corey, so a conservative a libertarian and a liberal walk into a bar. Bartender says, " hi Mitt".
No, really he looks up and says is this some kind of joke?
Actually Corey, I've been told a Libertarian is a Republican on weed. He could have got punched back in the days of the ropers and the dopers.
I don't know if there are any pretty Libertarians in this state Cory. I guess the LP will have to go lookin'.
"But, yes Rick, it is true. Against a great GOP opponent, SD's would love to hear that rhetoric. ;-)"
It doesn't matter how weak or strong the GOP candidate is, the SDGOP loves to spread that propaganda. ;) So, basically, you're saying SDs will believe anything they hear. Which means you're implying they're not very smart. :)
Well, Rick, many of them obviously didn't believe the demonstably true statements about Noem's poor performance and lack of commitment to her job... or they chose to believe that such facts are not important.
Rick, worse. For the most part, they celebrate "stupid."
http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2012/11/13/jindal-gop-should-stop-being-the-stupid-party/