Vote now in the latest Madville Times poll: Given Kristi Noem's failure in D.C., whom should South Dakota elect to Congress in 2014? I give your four options:
- Re-elect Noem: After all, maybe you like government that doesn't work.
- Elect a different Republican: Perhaps Noem isn't conservative enough for you. Consider that she's going all liberal out in West River, crying that ranchers need a "safety net" (sounds like socialist nanny-statism, right?), while U.S. Senate candidate Larry Rhoden says his true-conservative West River neighbors are solving their own troubles and not asking for government help. (Hmm... any conservatives want to convince Rhoden to switch from the Senate race to the House?)
- Elect a Democrat: You're not going to find a Republican who wants government to work... at least not one who's going to make it through the GOP primary. And as I told an eager reader last night, get South Dakotans past their Reagan-Hollywood cowboy fantasies, and they'll realize that they really are Democrats.
- Elect an Independent or third-party candidate: What's B. Thomas Marking up to? With Indy registration surging, maybe an ambitious and pragmatic non-partisan can sextuple Marking's 6% into squeaker success!
The poll remains open until Thursday breakfast time, when we'll parse the results and see whether readers think Noem's performance on the farm bill, the budget, and the debt ceiling warrant your vote in 2014. Vote now, and tell your friends!
So who's it going to be? Is the US Attorney's office still running?
"still" implies Brendan Johnson was running at some point. His public statements say he's focusing on his job (which Noem is making harder by shutting down the government and sending home his crime-busting staff), not on running for Congress.
Would not this poll be a more accurate description of what your reader's political affiliation consists of? And it probably is a more accurate description than if you outright asked them their political affiliation. Like it or not, right or wrong she is going to get a big bump out of the recent devastating blizzard. It is already showing in DC with her recent appointment in house ag........
I'm not implying that he is running for office but wondering if the US Attorney's office is still running through the shutdown or if it is one of the departments that was shutdown. If it's not running why doesn't he take this time to speak out about the dangers of a shutdown?
Rhoden switching to the House race? I suspect he'd be FAR more competitive in a primary w/ Noem.
Bret, indeed, the poll will only capture the opinion of folks who happen to drop by the blog. That's why you should share the link with all of your Republican, Democrat, and Independent friends and help me get a broader sample! I'd love to get lots of Republicans to sign in and tell me where they stand (and Republicans do read the blog!).
As for a blizzard bump, how is she going to get that? What is she saying and doing that makes ranchers think she's working hard for them?
It looks like what NOem is saying is adios to Washington! Yep, her and her com padres in the tea party are fixing to vote on their steaming pile of___________ and then leave town, that according to Politico. That is leadership for ya. I am sure that ranchers here in South Dakota will appreciate that from their only representative. Big deal that she is on the AG committee, not. There can be no deal with what they are working on with the two separate bills of confusion. We can do better than her as she is a bump on a log and not their to represent us all.
All that Rep. Noem has done is figure out how to walk the fence and go along to get along. She has molded herself into a cookie-cutter member of the House GOP caucus. She doesn't have any new ideas. She doesn't rock the boat. She doesn't lead. She's just a sound-bite spewing typical Washington politician.
Here's my minimal test to determine whether somebody is worth sending to Congress. The person must be willing to publicly criticize the craziest members of their own party. Rep. Noem fails that test. It's pretty clear she serves her party first and her country somewhere down the list below her party.
The common thought is that we should vote out everyone that is currently on office because of the gridlock in Washington. I know of only of one potential candidate that I would support that could win over anyone and he is smart enough NOT to run for office.
Vote for the person and NOT the party.
Amazing Grace is what they all sung as a group, how weird is that, a Black spiritual. And with that funeral music comes appropriately our burial by the hand of NOem. We are getting downgraded by Fitch so off we march much like Greece. Thanks NOem and the party of NO brains. http://www.cnbc.com/id/101093033
Can you start another poll Cory of possible candidates too choose? Dusty Johnson, Jason Gant (I'd like to see a poll between Noem and Gant) Brendan Johnson, Steve Jarding, Billie Sutton or Angie Buhl? I'm wondering who would be the person voters want most or second.
Time to round up some candidates or there isn't any way anything changes.
That's not a bad idea, Mike! Let this poll come to boil, then I'll see what sort of next=choice poll I can work up. It's tricky, though: I hate to put up a list of predictable names and leave out surprises that might be big in readers' minds. Any other suggestions for folks who aren't in who ought to get in?