Michael Sanborn takes to the RCJ to blister the backsides of Republican candidates who sign pledges. He calls the "no tax increase" pledge that Rep. Stace Nelson and Sen. Larry Rhoden have signed "dumb." Note that Senator John Thune and Rep. Kristi Noem have also signed this "dumb" pledge.
Sanborn does not mention the "repeal ObamaCare" pledge that Annette Bosworth has signed, but when Sanborn says, "Successful governance is more complicated than pledges," I can only conclude he would classify Bosworth's pledge-based campaigning as "dumb" as well.
Sanborn then indicts what he considers the Stace Nelson style of politics:
But according to Nelson, government is simple. Wave a flag. Declare yourself to be a “values” candidate. Bark about how your faith is stronger than your opponents. And promise to stubbornly refuse to negotiate or compromise with anyone who doesn’t fall lockstep in line with your views.
What that means, of course, is that if either Rhoden or Nelson should somehow manage to eek out a victory and get elected to the Senate, and they keep their “no compromise” pledges, nothing they do or say will change anything in Washington [Michael Sanborn, "GOP Field Fills Up," Rapid City Journal, 2013.08.28].
Flag, values, faith, no compromise... wait a minute—didn't Michael Sanborn just describe the majority of Republicans in Congress and the South Dakota Legislature?
Exactly!!! Mr. Sanborn hit the nail on the head. Compromise has always been a part of the legislative process. That's how things get done.
Take a Bob Dole and George McGovern as examples.
Opposite end of the political spectrum but they could "compromise" and move our country forward.
Any candidates vowing to support the interests of one man above all their own electors is worthless to those who voted for or against them. They lock themselves into a position of doing nothing or worse than nothing.
RCJ Applauds Rapid City’s Resolution Against Powertech Uranium Mine Isn't this a pledge?
Does the Rapid City Journal promise to give free ads to opponents of the project? Does the Rapid City Journal promise to deny supporters of the project news space?
The GOP candidate "pledges" are more like contracts with the GOP big money.
Nobody signs on the dotted line at the RCJ. Trying to convert a newspaper endorsement into a campaign pledge is a stretch of language and logic...of course, now you can say it was really just satire.
You've hit the bullseye, Mr. Sanborn! Neither life nor government is as simple as some wish it were. There are principles, but God gave EACH of us a brain, not just the Pope, or Grover Norquist, or the Governor or even his anointed successors. And, we are to to use that brain to apply those principles in light of the facts, not use the figurehead to excuse our ignorance of those facts.
I love Michael Sanborn, and I've never even met him!
Not really, Thad. Neither the city nor the RCJ pledged to take any specific action. The city's resolution doesn't make a blanket statement that it will oppose all mining projects no matter what. As I read it, the resolution ev en leaves the door open for Powertech to answer and allay their grave concerns and win back their support.