Last updated on 2014.05.05
The new Nielsen Brothers poll says that one month after he announced his Senate bid, Rick Weiland remained unknown to half of South Dakota's likely voters. Time to build some name recognition. Rick! Rick! Rick!
Sixteen months of that ought to get that name to stick!
Maybe we should look at the full half of the glass: with just a month of low-profile, low-budget campaigning, and after eleven years mostly out of the South Dakota political arena, a Democratic challenger has half of South Dakotans recognizing him, with a year-plus before the election. And he's able to pull supposedly über-popular M. Michael Rounds down to a 54–27 lead. (It's a beautiful morning; I'm feeling optimistic!) Imagine what Weiland will be able to do when he hits Rounds's 92% name recognition and builds a decent website (tell me again, when are we replacing Tumblr?)
Speaking Rounds's popularity, check this out: the former governor has 52–29 favorable/unfavorable marks. Congresswoman Kristi Noem has 56–43 f/u. More people like her than like Rounds, but more people dislike her than dislike Rounds. NBP asked Republicans who they'd pick for Senate in a head-to-head match-up between Rounds and Noem (NBP polled from June 10 to June 14; Noem announced she's running again for House, not Senate, on June 11) and found Rounds trouncing Noem 56–29. Perhaps Noem's internal polling was showing her the same numbers.
Back to Rick: Weiland has a 22–17 f/u rating. That 17% is probably made of two groups: Republicans who are going to dislike any Democrat, and timid Dems who don't like Weiland's ragging on Blue Dogs:
Republicans think they have a lock on the red states, but we are going to give them a surprise in South Dakota this year. They beat all our Blue Dogs, so we’re going to show them a new kind of dog, one that bites instead of whimpers.
Red State voters are mad as hell. But when you ask them whether they’re really mad as hell at the democracy Thomas Jefferson gave them— the one their sons and daughters have given their lives to protect for over 200 years— or whether what they’re really mad at is the rich and powerful people who have stolen that government away from them, and turned it against them, they start signing up in droves for our fight to take it back [Rick Weiland, "Why I'm Running," Down with Tyranny, 2013.06.20].
Keep after it, Rick! Pick up 3% recognition and 2% of voters a month, and by November, 2014, you beat Rounds! Rick! Rick! Rick!
I'm actually pretty surprised he has such high numbers without any real campaigning yet.
If poeple will listen to him they'll change their minds. Especially after we pin down the Republicans on what they want to cut to create smaller government
I'd start by cutting salaries of IRS workers, 20% of whom think the Tea Party is a greater terror threat than radical Muslims.
Uh, BS? Radical teabaggers are christofascists stripping women of civil rights.
Bree S. and her tea bs. There got that out of my system. But Bree will just continue to spew and foment.
I love how some liberals pretend to be so intellectual and tolerant. Explain logically how a political movement that has never committed an act of terror could possibly be more dangerous than radical Muslims that preach death to Americans and eat their enemies. These are the same people that believe throwing homosexuals off a cliff is a method of death acceptable to Allah.
I constantly lose more respect for the intelligence of liberals. I certainly don't consider the Occupy movement to be a dangerous terrorist threat. Of course, my brain cells fire without the help of Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow.
Brain cells? Respect for intelligence requires at least a modicum of (ahem).... intelligence. Something you will never be accused of displaying.
Once again Vincent Gormley explain logically how a political movement that has never committed an act of terror could possibly be more dangerous than radical Muslims that preach death to Americans and eat their enemies.
BS, you are ignoring the fact that teabaggers are deploying and conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction against their government.
It's hardly surprising that you are making apologies for domestic terrorists like Monsanto and the National Rifle Assholeciation.
Yes, I'm very concerned about the uranium enrichment going on in Kansas, Larry. And I'm tired of the Tea Party marching in the street chanting "Death to Americans." And the stoning of women and honor killings among the Liberty Movement has become a problem. It's time that the Tea Party stopped burning lesbians and throwing gay men off cliffs. And I wish the Tea Party would stop blowing up innocents and eating the hearts of people they murder in the streets.
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/06/27/tea-party-officials-montana-call-natives-non-american-150165
Bree has made mashed potatoes out of the apples and oranges she added to the GOP's irrelevant IRS follies.
News today is that Issa demanded that the IRS official omit all discussion of scrutiny of liberal groups and discuss only the scrutiny of right wing groups.
I sure never heard radical Muslim groups being given a pass compared to liberal and conservative groups. Perhaps Bree can enlighten us with salient details.
We are very concerned about your propensity for the use of Tea party talking points and the inability to stay on topic. A little too much Gordon Howie in your life? Therapy might help along with leaving the liquor in the bottle back at the store.
Ken, I want to be optimistic about that number as well. But Rick's 27% could include a number of people who will vote Dem no matter what, just as Rounds's 54%, as well as the 17% who say they have an unfavorable opinion of Weiland, includes a lot of folks who will vote GOP no matter what. But yeah, Rounds's 54% likely includes a good chunk of folks who don't know Weiland yet. As Owen says, once Rick starts getting the word out, he can cut into that margin.
Weiland needs to ask if South Dakota really needs two Republican representatives, both representing the insurance industry.
Trends are telling us that reproductive rights define the two major parties suggesting that any Republican shouting murder will win in the state.