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Bosworth, Nelson, Rhoden Court Both Sides of National Republican Squabble

By twuecker on 2013.10.16

Last updated on 2013.10.15

The trio of U.S. Senate hopefuls working to keep South Dakota Republicans from anointing everyone's favorite insurance salesman, M. Michael Rounds, as the party's nominee must be watching with a little bit of anxiety as two of their most important big city friends get in a little dust-up over party strategy in the wake of the government shutdown.

As Sioux Falls physician Annette Bosworth, State Senator Larry Rhoden (R-29/Union Center), and State Representative Stace Nelson (R-19/Fulton) all work to stake out rhetorical territory to the political right of the moderate Rounds, they've each hitched their wagon to the once-(and-possibly-still-)rising star of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX).

Bosworth sends a Twitterverse "Bravo" Cruz's way for his not-quite-a-filibuster last month after retweeting his call for "truth-telling" in the Capitol.

Nelson, likewise, tosses plenty of Twitter love and blessings toward the junior Senator from Texas and likens himself to a version of Cruz.

Rhoden, also on Twitter, "stands with" Cruz in his strategy to use shutting down the government as a ploy to defund the Affordable Care Act, even after Rhoden took a verbal lashing from the Capital Journal in Pierre for supporting a previous "potentially disastrous" Cruz anti-Obama stratagem.

But you know who's not a fan of Ted Cruz? Grover Norquist, tax-policy puppetmaster for the Bosworth, Nelson, and Rhoden campaigns through the Taxpayer Protection Pledge each candidate has endorsed.

Norquist initially told the Washington Post that Cruz "crashed and burned" in a failed attempt to delay implementation of the Affordable Care Act through a 21-hour speech on the Senate floor. He had even harsher words in a later interview on Newsmax TV. RINO-hunter Norquist doesn't say Cruz fails to live up to conservative philosophy; Norquist just says Cruz is pretty stupid about how he has tried to enact that philosophy:

"No one's questioning [Cruz's] conservative credentials. It's his wisdom and his judgment and the name-calling that he has thrown at every Republican in the House and the Senate," [Norquist] said.

"[Cruz] promised he was going to magically … get five or 15 Democrats to agree to abolish Obamacare and … get the president to sign it. And if the president won't sign it, you need 67 senators and you need two-thirds of the House.

"Arithmetic told you this strategy that Ted had was never going to work [Bill Hoffman, "Grover Norquist: Ted Cruz Dragged GOP 'Across Broken Glass' in Obamacare Fight," Newsmax, 2013.10.11]."

Norquist also says Cruz has hurt Republicans and needs to make amends:

"So Ted Cruz needs to explain to Republicans why he just spent several months and then several weeks dragging them across broken glass for no purpose [Grover Norquist, quoted in Newsmax, 2013.10.11]."

So, if we South Dakotans are to judge our non-Rounds Republican trio by the people they associate with, we get a confusing picture. One associate, Cruz, stands firm in a filibustering, frustrating, and failing crusade that's shutting down the government. The other associate says it's time to do the math and accept the practical reality of defeat in this particular crusade (yes, I recognize that it's strange for Norquist to come out of any comparison looking like the less dogmatic one).

Annette, Stace, Larry, who's got it right? Is it your friend the first-term Senator from Texas with his sights set solely on tanking the President's policy—and maybe on taking the President's job? Or is it your other friend the wonk-y one-man Republican litmus test who thinks your first friend is either stupid, dangerous, or both?

Published in national and South Dakota

twuecker

If one’s home is defined exclusively by physical location, then I’m only about half South Dakotan. I was born in Kansas and lived there until my family moved to South Dakota when I was six. I spent the last 9 years living as a Mount Rushmore State expatriate, first in Minnesota and then in Ohio. However, for as long as I’ve been able to answer for myself when asked the question “Where are you from?”, the answer has always been “I’m from South Dakota.” To my way of thinking, home is more than where you reside. Home is where you long to be in the quiet moments when nothing else is on your mind; it’s who you care about and why you pay attention to a particular news item or milestone; it’s how you view the vast array of environments you encounter and what lens you use to see the world around you. Within that broader interpretation, South Dakota is—and always will be—my home. At this particular point in time and for the foreseeable future, South Dakota is also my physical home. I live in Brookings, where I work as a higher education administrator. My family still lives just down the road in Madison, and I’m fortunate to spend as much free time as possible on a family acreage in the Black Hills. I earned my bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from SDSU, and this blog gives me a chance to more fully incorporate that interest and experience into my life. Coursework in state and local government or newswriting and reporting doesn’t inherently make me a more valuable contributor to the blogosphere than anyone who reads, writes for, or comments on these pages. I do hope, however, that this background gives me an eye for what might make an interesting topic and an ability to present the topic in a way that encourages thought and conversation. I readily associate myself with the identity of the Madville Times as “liberal media” for this great state. I am a registered Democrat and have campaigned for more than my fair share of progressive candidates in local, statewide, and national races. I don’t agree with everything said by individuals using the same “liberal,” “Democrat,” or “progressive” labels I use, but I find that my own views align more often than not with such folks and are more likely to align with them than with individuals who label themselves as “conservative,” “Republican,” or “traditional.” It’s important for all readers to understand that the labels I choose to use and the opinions I choose to express as a Madville Times author are solely reflective of me as an individual. Nothing I write here should be interpreted as the opinion of my employer (the South Dakota Board of Regents acting through the Administration of South Dakota State University) or of any group with which I affiliate myself personally or professionally. Likewise, my contributions carry only my personal authority and reputation as a private citizen and member of the greater South Dakota community—the same authority available to any Madville Times contributor. Nothing I write, unless explicitly stated, carries any added authority or reputation from individuals or organizations willing to associate themselves with me. All that said, I think it’s time for you, Dear Reader, to stop reading about me and start reading about the countless topics of greater importance contained within this site. I look forward to our discussions, debates, and discoveries!

7 Comments

  1. owen reitzel 2013.10.16

    Canadian Cruz only cares about one thing-promoting Canadian Cruz.

  3. owen reitzel 2013.10.16

    is that the crickets I hear......

  5. Roger Cornelius 2013.10.16

    With an eminent deal ending the government shutdown and raising the debt ceiling, I see Castro wannabe Cruz humbling licking his wounds as he's led to wood shed by John McCain.

  6. caheidelberger 2013.10.16

    Owen, Think Progress overtags that Cruz quote. He doesn't say it was all about fundraising. We can make that conclusion, because you can bet that's what he'll use those petition names for. But there's no "admission".

    Still, Toby's and Grover's (!) point stands: a larger mailing list won't make up for the harm Cruz's otherwise futile kamikaze budget grandstanding has done to the country and his own party.

  7. FireBreathingDragon 2013.10.16

    I don't think a Republican will be elected if the shutdown continues and the debt ceiling isn't addressed. People will see through it when they have no money and the people they have to blame are the Republicans that created this monster.

Comments are closed.