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Newquist: South Dakota Voters Fail to Recognize and Fight Corruption

David Newquist never makes for a cheerful read. But his blog posts make essential reading for anyone joining the Resistance to South Dakota's corrupt one-party rule. In his latest post, Newquist connects 9/11, Nazis, and the perversion of education into an employee-training program to support his argument that America has surrendered its conscience and critical thinking to propaganda and oppression.

And then he turns to South Dakota:

South Dakota is a prime case in point of a state that has deteriorated into intellectual dysfunction. It has been ruled by one political party which has withheld from the voter-taxpayers information about government transactions and the right to knowledge about what officials are doing. It has allowed education to be neglected in its funding and tampered with in its function. It has developed an uncurious and disinterested attitude toward government corruption. In an instance that is defined with documents and the testimony of participants, the Benda-Bollen-Rounds EB-5 scandal, it has chosen to dismiss hard evidence and embrace the mendacity of its deniers. It has lost the ability to function mentally and examine the evidence in a suspicious death, the misdealing in state funds, the vicious ripping off of foreign investors, and the incompetent, devious mismanagement of the Northern Beef Packers plant. Instead, the people endorsed the perpetrators of the fraud and overwhelming elected them to control the state. South Dakota has strongly defined itself as a corrupt state by the will of the people [David Newquist, "Why America Is Not the Greatest Nation in the World Anymore," Northern Valley Beacon, 2014.11.17].

Newquist is probably not optimistic enough to run for South Dakota Democratic Party chair. But our party leadership and we hopeful liberals in general should heed Newquist's warnings about the enormity of the regime and the political and cultural defects against which we must fight to restore effective democracy in South Dakota.

105 Comments

  1. Tim 2014.11.18

    The regular readers and contributors to this blog know what Newquist says is true, the 64 million dollar question is how to go about educating the voting public. I believe it starts with an overhaul of the SDDP leadership, but I think that is only a starting point, we need to point out all the ruling party has done to this state and all they are going to do. We also need to start playing hardball, call it tough love, but it needs to start soon, the clown show convenes in a little over a month.

  2. Thomas 2014.11.18

    Why is there is one party rule in South Dakota? Because the Democratic Party withers on the vine more and more each election cycle and it is the opposition party in theory only. If the Republican Party in South Dakota were to fracture and divide into a moderate party and a conservative party, the Democrats would be sitting outside the window as the small third party.

  3. Tim 2014.11.18

    What Thomas says is true, this is why I believe a complete overhaul is needed.

  4. larry kurtz 2014.11.18

    One more time: kill the primary, Dems and nominate candidates at convention.

  5. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.11.18

    One more time, Larry: window dressing with no comparative advantage.

  6. larry kurtz 2014.11.18

    We have nothing to lose, Cory.

  7. larry kurtz 2014.11.18

    As long as unaffiliated voters have the power to skew our races while the earth haters have a closed primary we will keep losing seats.

  8. jerry 2014.11.18

    A very good note by Mr. Newquist. As much as it pains me, so very true. We have fallen and we cannot get up, so now what? We can clearly see what the ruling class has in store for our children's children and further down the road. Will America become just another form of a mid eastern country that exists only for its minerals to be used by others? http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/International-Relations/China-to-put-Russia-on-fast-track-to-high-speed-rail

    How can we progress if we are not able to see how critical thinking works? Even our adversaries are coming to understand what makes progress in today's world, while we are stuck in how to screw one another.

  9. John Hess 2014.11.18

    When people are fearful they make conservative choices. The farther Republicans have moved to the right relative to what they see in the Democratic party they still choose Republicans. That's a clear opening for the Democratic party to move to the middle and become the most sensible choice in the eyes of the voter. It's not as dreary as Newquist says but the fault of the Democrats if they fail to seize this opportunity. The information is readily available to support this (just written on this blog even) unless the liberals also lack the ability to reason. Or are they just fanatics too?

  10. larry kurtz 2014.11.18

    Dems moving to the center are fearful of the GOP.

  11. John Hess 2014.11.18

    Dems moving to the center accept political realities.

  12. jerry 2014.11.18

    @ John Hess, So the answer to it all is become republicans? What a novel idea? Makes perfect sense, Sadam Hussein did that and he had about 99% of the vote in his favor. A reversal of the 1% vote that we have here for our owners.

  13. John Hess 2014.11.18

    Definition of FANATIC: marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion.

  14. larry kurtz 2014.11.18

    Today's oxymoron: political reality.

  15. John Hess 2014.11.18

    The definition applies. If you want to be irrelevant just keep doing what you're doing.

  16. John Hess 2014.11.18

    Being in the middle is not being a Republican. It's being a moderate.

  17. larry kurtz 2014.11.18

    John: i have been right throughout the entire previous cycle.

  18. Taunia 2014.11.18

    Knock on door.

    "Hi, I'm Candidate X and I am pro-life and pro-gun. Please vote for me."

    "Are you Republican or Democrat?"

    "I am a Democrat."

    "Ok. I only for Republicans." Door slams shut.

    Why vote for a Democrat who sounds like a Republican, again?

  19. jerry 2014.11.18

    Exactly how would being a moderate work in South Dakota? How would being a moderate solve something like corruption such as we are seeing with the EB-5? I see that being a moderate is like being Kathy Tyler, she is a perfect example of what happens to a moderate.

  20. John Hess 2014.11.18

    That's not true Taunia. That's what liberals will say so they don't have to accept a shift.

  21. John Hess 2014.11.18

    You have to have power to change anything. A liberal agenda won't fly in this state. What does it take to prove that?

  22. jerry 2014.11.18

    What the hell is a liberal agenda Mr. Hess?

  23. larry kurtz 2014.11.18

    "The constitutional wisdom is that Congress has the ultimate weapon: the power of the purse. But to use the appropriations power well, Congress has to craft budgets the president will sign—or get two-thirds of the votes in each House to override a veto. Neither going to happen in the present atmosphere. The new congressional leadership are not the masters; they're just players in a complex and dangerous game. Their only real alternative is genuine negotiation with the White House, but a party that has spent six years pretending Obama did not win two national elections is unlikely to want to negotiate with him now.

    So we know what probably happens next: shutdown, perhaps default, and possibly impeachment. These are the weapons of legislators too weak and divided to govern. The nation has been down this road before, and it doesn’t lead anywhere we want to go."

    http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/11/what-the-founders-couldnt-have-known/382867/?single_page=true

  24. larry kurtz 2014.11.18

    In South Dakota the governor is an autocrat who uses the legislature as puppets.

  25. Chris S. 2014.11.18

    Democrats have been chasing the mythical "center" for so long, the "center" has moved far to the right of where it was when Nixon was president. And has this "pragmatism" gained them any more votes? Have the Archie Bunker voters seen the light and started voting for Democrats instead of Republicans? Nope.

    Currently, for a lot of people, voting is either a mark of group identity ("I'm a Republican, and I only vote for Republicans, no matter what the issues"), or it's a kind of self-indulgent therapy -- you go to the voting booth and vote your Id to express your anger and fear at change and the modern world. You could run nothing but "centrist" Democrats like Joe Lieberman, Joe Manchin, and Mary Landrieu, and they still won't win. Heck, people turned on Republican senator Chuck Hagel when he became President Obama's Secretary of Defense.

    I don't know what the solution is, or if there even is a solution right now. However, I do know that moving further and further to the right in a quixotic, delusional attempt to be "centrist" is going to yield you precisely nothing.

  26. Taunia 2014.11.18

    It's exactly true. When big money infiltrated down to school boards and city council seats, and state legislatures pass bills giving school board candidates the opportunity to get into the gun debate through arming teachers, or giving school board candidates the ability to get into the abortion debate with mandatory parental notification of reproductive services requests, the politics shifts to the extreme right in red states like South Dakota.

    Those are two readily obvious and real examples how the (at least) 250 year old gun debate and the generational abortion debate suddenly become political footballs for the most base public offices that never had to deal with those issues.

    The religious right has driven that wedge into our lives, stoked fears and continue to use "religious freedom at all costs" as a war cry.

    My canvassing example stands.

  27. John Hess 2014.11.18

    Newquist also doesn't want to accept the realities, he wants everyone to learn something new so they think like he does. Stop, learn who the South Dakota voter is and find candidates that can be elected.

  28. larry kurtz 2014.11.18

    Voters want choices and the PPs of South Dakota want cannon fodder.

  29. Taunia 2014.11.18

    Raise your hand if you think John Hess would be happy for POTUS to be impeached, per Kurtz's link at 8:34.

    *hand raised*

  30. John Hess 2014.11.18

    Then why did Sen. Johnson stay elected?

  31. larry kurtz 2014.11.18

    South Dakotans should boycott Sanford Health.

  32. Taunia 2014.11.18

    Did you vote for Senator Johnson, Hess?

  33. John Hess 2014.11.18

    Have you heard of Tim Johnson? He was a successful Democrat who retired recently.

  34. Taunia 2014.11.18

    No, you did not vote for Senator Johnson.

    Your partisanship is showing.

    Why are you here, telling Democrats what to do when you wouldn't ever vote for even a moderate Democrat?

    My canvassing example more than stands.

  35. larry kurtz 2014.11.18

    Senator Johnson has brought money to South Dakota and John Thune has brought nothing but despair, obstruction and hopelessness for all but the bankers and Sanford.

  36. John Hess 2014.11.18

    I could probably out lib most of you, but I'm tired of the sympathy votes. If you want to be relevant it takes electable candidates. Unless you prefer to lose. If you want to win it takes the majority vote.

  37. jerry 2014.11.18

    ad lib maybe

  38. jerry 2014.11.18

    I think Johnson stayed in office with a sympathy vote because of his stroke.

  39. John Hess 2014.11.18

    Stay in denial and continue to lose. You're proving what Newquist said, that people can't think critically.

  40. jerry 2014.11.18

    He also brought projects here to help the people, all people. I liked that, I did not particularly like the banking end of where he stood, but I voted for him.

  41. jerry 2014.11.18

    A dirty river in Egypt, don't care too much for it. I prefer the Big Mo, right here in South Dakota..Oh, sorry, I thought you said the Nile.

  42. jerry 2014.11.18

    What is your view of critical thinking then? Rolling over and not standing for anything?

  43. Taunia 2014.11.18

    Hess, you brought up moderate Democrat Tim Johnson as an example of an electable Dem in South Dakota.

    You did not vote for him.

    How do you believe you know what it takes to elect a Democrat when you obviously will not vote for an electable moderate Democrat?

    Are you here to see your name in print?

  44. John Hess 2014.11.18

    The point I'm making really has nothing to do with who I've voted for, but I have generally voted for every Democrat and always Johnson.

    It's time to win which means changing the strategy. Live in your liberal bubble if you want to, or accept the real world.

  45. jerry 2014.11.18

    What was Rick Weiland's liberal agenda Mr. Hess?

  46. jerry 2014.11.18

    How about Susan Wismer, or Corrina Robinson or Robin Page for that matter. What dangerous kind of liberalism were these ladies bringing to the table of your mind?

  47. Bill Fleming 2014.11.18

    Perhaps Mr. Hess needs to take a longer view of what's going to be going on in the next political cycle. The next round of senate races are brutally stacked against the R's. The Dems will only be defending one seat? Further, in terms of garnering electoral college votes, the democrats are already either there or within one state of being there! depending on how you read what's happening in Virginia. Let's not waste time navel gazing about what happened this election cycle, it was an anti-incumbent wave that always happens in presidential off years, and was reasonably well contained. two years from now, the tsunami that crashes on Republican shores will make this years losses look like a warm rain on a summer day. Now is the time for Democrats to rediscover and perhaps even redefine what being a Democrat means and to promote those values. As Cory has already noted with Thune's new rhetoric, the R's are now going to start sounding more and more like Democrats, not vice versa. It's going to be a very interesting next two years.

  48. Bill Dithmer 2014.11.18

    Money talks and bullshit walks. Unless I'm way way off its going to take $250,000 a year in an off year and as much as $500,000 in an election year for the SDDP to become revelent. Here, some are looking for donated office space when they should be looking for someone with "deep " pockets. Its a shame that it has to be this way but, it is what it is.

    It wont matter a damned bit what your message is if you dont have people that can preach to the uninformed that are registered Rs, and throw the switch that changes their lives. You cant force anyone to change the way they think, that seems to be the SD legislators job, but you can present your ideas in such a way that it doesn't sound like us versus them.

    You need staffed offices in Rapid, Sioux Falls, and Pierre. You need at the very least 15 minute infomercials on all the tv outlets four times a year explaining why you are there and what you have in mind to help the people of SD. They have to be taylored to the communities they are shown, and they have to be different every time. There has to be a director for the Dem youth organization, thats free advertising, use it!

    Somethig else here. I dont know how many times I've seen national political figures on the campaign trail trying to help get someone elected. I have never known these people to change one single mind close to election. On the other hand if it was an off year, or early enough in the election year, those same people could actually have time to exchange ideas with their audiences. The other way is juat preaching to the choir.

    There, I've done my damage for the day.

    The Blindman

  49. Anne 2014.11.18

    SHS tried to move to the middle.

    From an outsider's perspective, the people of South Dakota have claimed ownership of the corruption.

  50. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.11.18

    Bill Dithmer, your damage is always welcome.

    Among other things, you make a good point that the national figures don't seem to reliably move the needle. If someone drafts me into a position of influence, remind me not to spend too much of my day trying to get Hillary Clinton and Al Franken to visit.

  51. Douglas Wiken 2014.11.18

    Democrats will never get elected running as Republican Light. Voters will pick the really most worthless Republican in that case. Democrats need to make persuasive cases for their positions instead of running away from them. The GOP will fill the vacuum with their retrograde crap if there is no continuous voice demonstrating the absurdity of it.

  52. o 2014.11.18

    There have been many comments about Democrats "moving toward the middle." In the new American political landscape, the right has move the political discussion so much to the right, that many Democrats who are moderate, who are already at "the middle" are redefined as lunatic fringe by the ultra-right. The demand is that even these moderates move to the right to appease the newly defined "middle" of America n politics.

    I blame the Democrats/liberals for allowing that shift. We on the left have been defined as radicals by a new, skewed standard of "moderate" that allows ultra-right radicals to self-identify as "middle." Then that is entrenched through the right-wing media's propaganda and misinformation.

  53. o 2014.11.18

    The other thing I am noticing in this discussion is the labeling language,"liberal agenda."

    What exactly are the issues? What are the beliefs that we liberal/Democrats hold that are wrong for SD? Is the rejection of the "liberal agenda" the rejection of ideals or the rejection of labels? Did Rick Weiland lose because people thought his message of taking Washington back from big money interests or expansion of health care coverage to more Americans was not something we Sough Dakotans saw of value, or was it some hastily generalized attachment to a "liberal agenda" that sank him?

    I am reminded of the piece that talked about people's reaction being approving when told elements of the Affordable Care Act, then saying how opposed they were when it was referred to as "Obama Care." The title - not the content - is what got the negative reaction. It was a Pavlovian reaction to the name and how it has been packaged.

  54. Roger Cornelius 2014.11.18

    Gary Peters of Michigan is the only newly elected senator in this past election cycle. He asked for and received President Obama help in his successful campaign.
    He proudly posted pictures of himself and the president in his campaign literature and ran in part on the president's long list of achievements.
    He bucked the Democratic trend of running from the president, just as Rick Weiland ran from Harry Reid, and won his senate seat.
    So, once again we comeback to why were Democrats so shamed by their President's success that they betrayed him? The simple answer is that the Republicans told them to and we believed them and got our butts kicked.
    As Joe Lowe stated on another thread, when we quit allowing Republicans to write the narrative, we have a good chance of winning.
    As to Dr. Newquist well articulated thread, why do South Dakota Republicans chose to believe lies and fantasies and so fearful of the corruption truth? Are ALL South Dakota Republicans on the take?

  55. o 2014.11.18

    John, your link doesn't prove what you hope it does. It shows that Liberals have a few media outlets the prefer BUT those outlets are not leftist media mouthpieces; whereas much of the Right is dedicated to Fox for all their news. The Right's media bubble is a self-created, self-serving media mouthpiece for the rights own positions. Both ma have "bubbles" or preferences, but quality and partisanship of those "bubbles" is highly dissimilar.

  56. larry kurtz 2014.11.18

    curious how capitalizing liberal is such a tell.

  57. Bill Fleming 2014.11.18

    John, Hess did you even read the pew article? It is totally misrepresented by the headline, and if that's all you read, you totally missed the point. It's the media itself that perpetuates the myth that those on the left and those on the right are essentially the same type of brainless radical. I guess I don't understand why you would want to help them do it.

    I would like you to reread this, or perhaps read it for the first time if you haven't already, and then get back to us with your speech about how "extreme" you think we are. Thanks.

    http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/annotated_letter_from_birmingham/

    Here's an excerpt:

    "But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God." And John Bunyan: "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." And Abraham Lincoln: "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." And Thomas Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ..." So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?"

    p.s. John, I know where I stand on this. Do you?

  58. jerry 2014.11.18

    Not to pick on Mr. Hess, but he fails miserable to answer direct questions. So I will ask again. What was Rick Weiland's "liberal agenda"? Susan Wismer, Corrina Robinson and Robin Page and while I am bringing the women into the picture, Kathy Tyler, tell me Mr. Hess, the agenda these women brought into the fracas as well.

  59. John Hess 2014.11.18

    I'll read it, but both ends go to media outlets and make friends with those like themselves so they can hear what they like to hear and reinforce their beliefs. The people in the middle are less active but most of them are very reasonable people that are tired of the extremism they see in politics and are the swing voters that could become the base of a more moderate party that can win elections in this state.

  60. Bill Fleming 2014.11.18

    I'd also like everyone to take a look at this video essay:

    http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/dear-republican-uncle--re--2014-gop-victories-360070723849

    Logistically, our task here will be to translate this coming wave into meat and potatoes terms our fellow South Dakotans will understand. We have two years. We don't have to figure it out today. In fact, it might be best to just sit back, breath deep, and watch things all unfold for a few months. Come next February, the narrative will start shaping up.

  61. jerry 2014.11.18

    Stumped I guess, oh well.

  62. o 2014.11.18

    Larry, "curious how capitalizing liberal is such a tell."

    I believe you will also notice I capitalize Right and Left as well. I made the attempt (I may have missed a few) to capitalize each time I referred to a specific political view - to give the same weight to philosophy as party affiliation gets when we capitalize "Republican" or "Democrat."

    So, now that your rhetorical dodge didn't work to distract from the point; now that your article doesn't prove what you claimed it does; how about addressing the issues?

  63. larry kurtz 2014.11.18

    My manifesto is thirteen hundred pages and my agenda couldn't be more clear: Democrats are not members of the Liberal Party.

  64. jerry 2014.11.18

    I like that video very much Bill Fleming and it is particularly spot on by the author of the narrative summary. Lets go to work, time to get excited about the future as the past is so yesterday and yesterday is gone.

  65. bearcreekbat 2014.11.18

    Bill, that was one of the more fascinating articles from someone purportedly on the right that I have seen. The author sounds a bit like John Huntsman, a rare Republican who recognizes reality.

    While there seems to be a valid optimism for national politics, the same doesn't really hold true for South Dakota. We continue the drift backwards, and nothing from the article provides any basis to think SD can stop the drift and begin to move forward. The best news is that on a national level SD will be totally irrelevant after 2016 if our voters continue to vote for candidates with agendas contrary to the interest of South Dakotans. The bad news is that our SD leadership will continue to ignore the needs of the state for infrastructure repair, education, the sick and the indigent, government transparency and honesty.

  66. Bill Dithmer 2014.11.18

    "Rqepublicans in 2014 were the most popular girl at a party no one attended."

    My favoite quote.

    The Blindman

  67. jerry 2014.11.18

    That was a very interesting read Bill Fleming, thanks

  68. Thomas 2014.11.18

    I find it interesting that a post about the party turns into personal attacks on the commenters. Could a lack of creative thought, planning, or ideas be one of the many reasons that the SDDP is in shambles? Or is the politics of personal attacks the only thing members of the SDDP can do?

  69. larry kurtz 2014.11.18

    Thomas: your solution for saving the SDDP is?

  70. grudznick 2014.11.18

    I'm with you, lar. They should boycott the legislatures except those newly elected won't be able to stay away from all the glory and adulation and free food they'll get in Pierre. But if they boycotted, that would show everybody how badly the Democratic party is needed and make other libbies and quasi-libs sign up, saving the party. Otherwise our legislatures may fracture into 3 or 4 tribes that all cack in different corners of the building. It is the nature of the legislatures to throw spears at others and if there is nobody to throw spears at they will turn their attentions to even more crazy thing.

  71. Thomas 2014.11.18

    Larry, I am not going to tell you or the SDDP what it should do. I switched registration to independent last week. I know that I cannot help shape the party in the primaries anymore, but the party doesn't represent my core beliefs anymore. I could get excited about SHS type candidates, but not empty tickets and third rate candidates. Not my problem any longer. Good luck to you! We'll see if the party can bring me back; but I know I'm not the only former democrat walking this road.

  72. jerry 2014.11.18

    Hope it all works out for you Thomas. As an independent, you can vote your conscience as well. So maybe you will see something you like, or maybe not. Life is funny.

  73. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.11.19

    Thomas, I hate losing supporters. I know you want to pull back and let the SDDP fix its own darn problems (and yes, personal sniping appears to be one of them).

    So let me ask you this. Suppose I take over the Democratic Party and can rule by fiat: whatever I say goes. If I'm reading you right, the actions I need to take to win you back are...

    (1) Recruit outstanding candidates for every ballot slot (SHS-type: meaning winning smiles, big fundraising capacity? meaning Blue Dog politics?).

    (2) Stop the bickering and focus on the mission of winning elections.

    (3) Reflect your core beliefs (are we talking a party shift toward the left or toward the center? Are we talking a simple rewrite of the platform or a purity test for every candidate? May we keep a big tent?).

    (4) Think creatively and do some strategic planning (I'll review the documents in the SDDP files to see if they haven't already done that.

    Will those actions get you back, Thomas?

  74. Jenny 2014.11.19

    I don't blame Thomas for feeling that way. I'm certain my depression would be a lot worse if I was in SD and seeing my party lose election after election, and working at a much lower wage.
    Having said that, I like what I'm seeing here with my fellow Madvillers ready to stand up and fight.
    Cory, you were wondering the other day about people that have won elections after going to Camp Wellstone. Rep Tim Walz -DFL MN went to a Camp Wellstone (I always thought he sounded Wellstonian!)

  75. mike from iowa 2014.11.19

    Thomas-if being a winner is all that matters,join whitey wingnut's party. The end justifies the means for the self-professed christian,family values party.

    If integrity means something to you and you want to win the right way you could hang around and help strategize. Won't be easy and it will take much time,but ultimately it is my belief that it can be done.

    Sooner or later whitey wingnuts will evolve a conscience and throw up their grimy paws in disgust at all the festering corruption in their own ranks. And they are rank!!
    !!

  76. Jenny 2014.11.19

    I know Rick Weiland is a good man, but he's lost three elections now and needs to let someone else run. He doesn't have 'it'. I hope someone tells him this.

  77. mike from iowa 2014.11.19

    Well Bill. the vote on KXL got Sinator Pat Roberts of Kasass to accuse Dems of obstructionism,so that is a good start.

  78. tara volesky 2014.11.19

    How many times did Lincoln run before he won. Weiland has the correct message and he is not a party elite. That's a good thing. When people in SD learn what his message is all about he can win. SD is in a rut because people vote R instead of issues. Apparently they are happy being run by a Plutocracy.

  79. Thomas 2014.11.19

    Mike from Iowa, my Mother was Ojibwe, she died when I was 12, but she was very proud of who she was, and I am proud to be a part of her. My Dad is first generation born American from an Irish father, so to accuse me of being a "whitey wing nut" is reprehensible and furthers my point of the destructive nature of this type of discourse. Want to strengthen this party? Then rid it of the bigotry of ideals that you and so many others cast through it. Who would want to be a member of a group that refuses to listen or that castigates independent thoughts and ideas? You're from Iowa? Take a look at your former senate candidate Bruce Braley and how he characterized the senior senator, not as having different beliefs and ideals, but for being a farmer, and it hurt him bad. Elitist attitudes and people are killing the SDDP! George McGovern embodied all of our state and brought all of us to one table. Don't judge or look down on people you don't know and maybe the party can rebound. Simple as that.

  80. Bill Dithmer 2014.11.19

    "When people in SD learn what his message is all about he can win"

    Tar, I've heard the same thing said about Ralph Nader.

    The Blindman

  81. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.11.19

    Thomas, I agree that looking down on people and resorting to personal insults is reprehensible. I'm not advocating for scuh behavior. But the Republican Party does that all the time, and they win. So will the strategies I outlined above win you back?

  82. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.11.19

    Jenny, Tim Walz is an interesting example. He represents District 1, the southern counties of Minnesota. Does the Rochester-Mankato "urban" vote outweigh the rural vote? Does his Wellstonian approach play well throughout the district?

    And if Rick Weiland doesn't have "it", then we're in real trouble. Did he do anything wrong in his campaign, other than not walk around in camos with a shotgun? He's speaking up against the corruption Newquist cites; are South Dakotans that impervious to such calls?

  83. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.11.19

    That said, Thomas, I'm checking Mike's comment, and I don't think he's calling you whitey wingnut. He's saying that your options outside the Democratic Party are slim: you can be an independent without any clear leader or organization to help forward your interests, or you can call the Republicans, who do indeed harbor a lot fearful white folks and wingnuts. (And I don't think those accurate observations do anything to justify throwing the Democratic Party overboard.)

  84. tara volesky 2014.11.19

    Right now is not necessarily the candidates, it's the voters. They seem to be content voting R instead of substance. SD is a welfare state and a bunch of followers who can't think for themselves. I am not talking about everybody, but just people in general. They are co-dependent with our state rulers. Good people but naïve. Just look what happened.

  85. Troy 2014.11.19

    Amazing assessment: "It's not because of the SDDP or the candidates that we got kicked. Its because of the voters." Or, "Rick is a great candidate and ran a great campaign. Getting less than a third of the voters, doesn't mean anything."

    Rounds 50% (4% above GOP voter registration %)
    Weiland 29% (5% below Dem. voter registration %)

    Rounds/Weiland differential: 21%
    GOP/Dem registration differential: 12%

    Wismer even loses her own legislative district which is over 50% Democrat.

    Losing ground from where you start before the election starts either says a lot of good about Rounds, bad about Weiland, or both. Oh, yeah. I forgot. It says a lot about the voters, says Jonathan Gruber. Go ahead stick with that. It should work.

  86. larry kurtz 2014.11.19

    The Wadhams camp bought Larry Pressler to run as a liberal: Troy's numbers can't be viewed without knowing that.

  87. larry kurtz 2014.11.19

    Perusing the Ballotpedia data shows a massive SDGOP cash advantage over SDDP: until that pile is matched nothing will change.

  88. Bill Fleming 2014.11.19

    Well, they can be viewed, Larry, but not reasonably considered. :-)
    I'm not going to say that Wadhams had anything to do with Pressler running, because don't think he did. But I will say that I think Weiland's numbers would have been higher than his "base" had Larry not been in the race.

    I'm also curious to know if voter turnout was in direct proportion to those of registered voters in terms of party registration. i.e. was there better turnout among R's than D's? All of those factors could affect Troy's analysis, but I don't know where one would easily find those numbers.

  89. Jenny 2014.11.19

    Cory, a big factor in Walz's winning was voter outreach to minorities. The demographics of Rochester has especially changed the last decade, and this is why I keep stressing the SDDP has got to make Sioux Falls home base to rebuild their party. The demographics in Sioux Falls is very similar to Rochester. Is the Minnehaha dems even reaching out to minorities? Voter registration and educating minorities on the whole process is big in MN and the DFL has taken time to reach out to this segment of the population and it has paid off.

  90. mike from iowa 2014.11.19

    Whoa,Thomas. You are so far off base it is almost laughable. But,I applaud your anger. Just point it where it belongs-not at me. I never accused,suggested or inferred you were/are a rethuglican. Like I said,if winning is all that matters,join wingnuts who don't care a whit about ethics or morals. The'd sell their own children for a vote.

    I wish more Dems would get the fire in their belly and give back to wingnuts all the lies,BS and everything else they dump on Dems. I am a registered Independent who won't vote for any wingnut above township level. That way I can still have friends and not the damage they cause higher up.

  91. Lynn 2014.11.19

    Jenny I've seen the mobilizing of volunteers in Minnesota but does that volunteer base exist in South Dakota or Sioux Falls to reach out in between election cycles and even during an election year?

    The people I knew that cared bolted from SD and it would be hard for them to return unless they took a large pay cut and knew that coming back many of their interests/recreational opportunities they were accustomed to would not exist in SD or it would be pretty sparse

  92. Jenny 2014.11.19

    Walz has that Wellstonian energy, a lot of charisma. I never thought Weiland was that charismatic of a guy to begin with and I think that is possibly a reason why he hasn't done well. Charisma counts more than it should, but it's just the way it is.

  93. Jenny 2014.11.19

    Lynn, I think sadly enough that is one of the factors why the SDDP is so dead, a lot of the dems just up and moved. :(

  94. Lynn 2014.11.19

    Jenny have you read City Pages lately? There is a comical article about Minnesota is seeking a divorce from Wisconsin http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2014/11/dear_wisconsin_minnesota_wants_a_divorce.php

    I feel for the folks living in Wisconsin including family members who once volunteered for McGovern and other Democrats over the years.

    With the article and their opinion of the other states surprisingly they didn't mention their neighbor to the west South Dakota. I'm kind of afraid what they would say. lol

  95. Donald Pay 2014.11.19

    I think you need to be careful when making statements about voters. I found voters very open to considering different futures, but you've got to be smart about it.

    The real problem is how progressive go about things. We tend to chase the last corrupt project. Hey, the money has already been deposited in Republican coffers. The justice system won't work, because Republicans run it. The voters know this, they don't like it, but they have moved on. It's over. Meanwhile, the crooks are planning their next heist.

    I thought it was a mistake to concentrate on past corruption to the exclusion of looking toward heading off the next corrupt project coming down the pike. Voters can have a direct say in stopping that through the initiative and referendum. The nuclear waste dump Daugaard wants (these "shales studies" are just cover) is tomorrow's corrupt project. The Regents are involved. A School of Mines and Technology President, who may be indicted for her past crookedness, was supposed to be able to grease the skids for federal money. Now she appears to be a liability, because she is known to be a slimy crook by the very people she was supposed to lobby for money.

    There may be other projects, too. Start thinking about how to stop future projects the corrupt crooks who run the state want to use to make their money and rip off taxpayers. They can only be corrupt when they have some slimy scheme to push. Take a lesson from Republicans: "Hell, NO."

  96. larry kurtz 2014.11.19

    thank you for your outrage, mr. pay.

  97. leslie 2014.11.22

    don-interesting. dems clean up after repub messes. you are suggesting reading the future.

    maybe, like the "medical" model of co-dependency, dems should refuse to clean up repub messes after elections like '08 and '10, and '12.

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