U.S. House candidate Jeff Barth takes the first swing of the 2012 campaign. Joining around 75 fellow citizens at the free Dems pancake feed at Sherman Park yesterday, Commissioner Barth drew the following contrast between himself and incumbent Congresswoman Kristi Noem, who shut the public and the media out of her pancake feed with Speaker John Boehner across the street at the Minnehaha Country Club:
As a boots on the ground county commissioner I'm quite a contrast to a basically Tea Party fanatic [Jeff Barth, quoted in Ben Dunsmoor, "Boehner, Noem Hold Private Fundraiser in SF," KELOLand.com, 2011.08.18].
Tea Party fanatic—wow! Jeff, I didn't know you had it in you! You need to put that line on your website!
Barth may be wrong, since Noem herself has coyly shunned the Tea Party label. Listening to Rep. Noem's vague pronouncements throughout her freshman year in Congress, I've had a hard time reading her as "fanatic" about much beyond her own wealth and power. Various conservatives agree that she seems much more Establishment than fanatic or even authentic conservative.
But if Barth pushes this charge, he puts Noem in an awkward position. Noem can reject the label, which may keep some calm moderates in her tent but further alienate disillusioned arch-conservative believers, leaving them with no one for whom to vote. Noem can respond by embracing the label, playing for the base but giving calm moderates cause for alarm. Or Noem can try to triangulate, acknowledging the merits of some Teabagger positions, noting that we can passionately support issues without verging into reckless fanaticism, inviting partisans of all stripes to participate in a statewide conversation...
...oh, but that sounds far too complicated for the Snow Queen and her overwhelmed spin doctors. Expect her message machine to take the standard tack of ignoring what her opponent is actually saying and simply whining about negative comments.
Don't let that spin machine stop you, Jeff! Refine that message, back it up, and hammer away! Force Noem to answer the charge. Make her explain where she stands with respect to the Tea Party.
Update 09:14 CDT: Barth is clearly reading the New York Times: new public opinion research finds the Tea Party label becoming toxic:
...in data we have recently collected, the Tea Party ranks lower than any of the 23 other groups we asked about — lower than both Republicans and Democrats. It is even less popular than much maligned groups like "atheists" and "Muslims" [David E. Campbell and Robert E. Putnam, "Crashing the Tea Party," New York Times, 2011.08.17].
Wow: make that Tea Party label stick, and Noem might lose to me in a general election.
Barth is wrong, Noem voted in favor of raising the debt ceiling and brought the National Establishment GOP to our state yesterday. If you guys want to throw mud, perhaps you should stay closer to the truth.
Being called "dissillusioned" is laughable coming from an indoctrinated Educrat.
Barth is a non factor in the race. He isn't in tune with the facts.
Noem is a self serving oppurtunist. She uses people. That should be his line.
Noem first South Dakota if she gets around to us.
Noem has a lot more trouble in front of her than Barth.
We can speculate on how Noem will respond if she does. But she did not vote with the teaparty to balance the budget. She voted with Boehner who did not have a plan that would even come close to balancing the budget. She totally did not live up to her own campaign promise to balance the budget. That is far worse than if she voted with this one or that one. She did not go with the teaparty either. She did vote with Boehner and got a big fund raiser in return. She must have learned a lot from that government class she took. She seems to know the Washington way already.
You guys are trying to have it both ways. KN is a tea partier and didnt vote with them. How about centering the debate on the truth? Both cannot be true.
Roger and Troy, I do recognize a rhetorical problem here. Yes, Troy, I've certainly played it both ways, criticizing Noem directly for her Grover-Norquist votes, then putting on my tri-corner hat and teasing the Gordon Howies when she doesn't brew strong enough Tea.
I might be able to sustain both charges with a clear conscience. I can look at indy voters and say, "Noem has voted too right-wing for your tastes." I can look at Norquist conservatives and say, "She's not voting with your agenda enough."
In a way, could we say Noem is where SHS was in 2010? The GOP roasted her for voting in lock-step with Nancy Pelosi. I roasted her for not voting the McGovern-Dem line often enough. SHS stayed between those lines and likely lost votes from the middle and the party base. Is Noem's position similar (in mirror image)?
I can't speak to Barth's total stretegy (we'll likely hear more at his big campaign kickoff in Sioux Falls Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.). But perhaps more interesting than which way Barth to choose to have it is that way Noem will choose to respond. Will she morph into a Herseth-Heidepriem-style independent Republican (as her terse statement on the Boehner event suggests)? Or will she run to the base?