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Weiland Downplays Rounds’s Holy Road Trip with Adelstein

Senator Stanford Adelstein (R-32/Rapid City) has taken M. Michael Rounds to Israel this week. Alas, Stan will probably bring Mike back to South Dakota.

Rounds said his trip would help make him a better senator, if elected.

“This will be a very interesting trip, one that will not only give us a trip to see the Holy Land for the first time, but to learn a lot about one of our major allies in the Middle East,” he said [David Montgomery, "Mike Rounds in Midst of Six-Day Trip to Israel," that Sioux Falls paper, 2013.05.29].

Rounds's challenger in the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Rick Weiland, takes the South Dakota Republican tack and criticizes Rounds for international travel and curiosity:

“As important as the Middle East is, I am much more interested in what everyday South Dakotans are thinking,” Weiland said in a statement. “While Mike is overseas, I will be working the state and listening to the citizens of South Dakota. They are my focus” [Montgomery, 2013.05.29].

Rounds says he is using some campaign funds for this trip, so clearly, this little jaunt with his wife Jean and Mr. and Mrs. Adelstein is not a vacation, since federal campaign finance law forbids using campaign funds for a vacation or other non-campaign-related trip. And according to FlightAware, Rounds did not fly his own plane.

10 Comments

  1. Rick 2013.05.31

    Did the article check into the junkets he took when he was governor?

  2. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.05.31

    No, but Adelstein said he urged Rounds to visit Israel during his governorship but that Rounds said it never fit into his schedule. He must have been busy flying everywhere else on those junkets.

  3. Douglas Wiken 2013.05.31

    I suppose Rounds and Adelstein will announce they are in favor of more military subsidies for Israel.

  4. Rick 2013.05.31

    AIPAC money. Chi-ching!
    Defense contractor money. Chi-ching!

  5. Ken Santema 2013.05.31

    Ok Cory, I'll give you points for this line: "Alas, Stan will probably bring Mike back to South Dakota". Haha, that one is worth a good chuckle.

  6. Winston 2013.05.31

    I heard that this trip caused Noem to purchase an atlas.

  7. Rorschach 2013.05.31

    I think the trip to Israel will make Rounds a better senator if he is elected. Seeing the world beyond the South Dakota border should be a plus for anyone who wants to serve in Congress. I hope Rick Weiland will rise above future hypocritical criticisms like this one. For instance, it only takes a minor modification to skewer Rick Weiland with his own sentence:

    " While Rick was living out of state, I was working the state and listening to the citizens of South Dakota. They are my focus.” Rise above the temptation to try scoring cheap points, Rick. You didn't cost Rounds a single vote with that comment, and you come off looking petty.

    Now, beyond just hearing the Israeli point of view Rounds should meet with Palestinians and tour the West Bank and Gaza Strip to see BOTH sides of that longstanding conflict. Imagine how much better a senator he would be for listening to both sides rather than just one side. I suspect that Sen. Jim Abourezk could help set him up with a Palestinian Territory tour, and it wouldn't matter to him that Rounds is a Republican. Likewise, Rick Weiland should tour both Israel and the Palestinian Territories too - if he can bring himself to ever leave the state.

  8. Rorschach 2013.05.31

    PS: Of course Rounds didn't fly his own plane because it's not suitable for intercontinental travel. Unlike John Travolta and Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden frontman), Rounds doesn't fly jets.

  9. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.05.31

    (But if he were to fly his own plane—strip out the conveniences in the cabin, add extra fuel tanks—he'd get some Lindbergh-style derring-do points, wouldn't he? :-) )

  10. Douglas Wiken 2013.06.01

    Rounds is phony as a $3 bill.

    Weiland should be out walking in the rain in Rapid City looking at the flooding, etc.

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