Last updated on 2014.10.13
U.S. Senate candidate M. Michael Rounds has skipped two public forums in three days. Custer Republicans invited their party's four U.S. Senate candidates to a public forum Monday evening. State Rep. Stace Nelson and State Senator Larry Rhoden showed up.
Then Wednesday night, the University of Sioux Falls (a hotbed of conservative Christian dominionism, right?) and Allen Unruh's oddly lethargic Sioux Falls branch of the Tea Party hosted a GOP Senate candidates' forum. They had cameras and reporters and even Glenn Beck's pal Doc Thompson as emcee! Who'd want to miss that?
Not Rep. Nelson, Sen. Rhoden, or Annette Bosworth—they were all there to mix it up in the state's best media market.
But Mike Rounds? Hello, Mike? Where are you?
Of the four Republican candidates, Mike Rounds has the most money and easiest travel from one side of the state to another. He has an airplane, for Pete's sake, and he loves to fly.
Maybe Smiling Mike is already in the witness protection program. Or maybe he's hunkering down, practicing taking the Fifth.
Sure, it's only November. The primary is months away. But that's not stopping Nelson and Rhoden from criss-crossing the state in snowy, foggy weather to talk to the voters. It's not stopping Rick Weiland from driving all the heck over the place (yesterday: Canistota, Bridgewater, Monroe, Marion, Utica, Mission Hill, and Volin!) to talk issues with South Dakotans.
Remember this, voters: Nelson, Rhoden, and Weiland think you're worth driving around to see this week. Mike Rounds does not.
Did MMR's campaign issue any statement why he would not attend?
Hey folks, remember the first time MMR ran for governor and won?!!!!!!! He set back and let his primary opponents
destroy themselves and then moved in for the kill!!!! Is this a repeat of his winning way?
Mark, I've heard no explanation. Their Twitter and Facebook accounts have been relatively quiet this week, just a couple of propaganda bits.
Rollin, Team Rounds maybe stuck in that narrative and trying to refabricate it this year. It shouldn't work, because this time, he's the frontrunner with more of a record (a dismal one) to answer for. It will only work if his challengers fall for it, which to some extent, they are. Nelson jabs at Rounds, but he spends at least as much time attacking Rhoden. Rhoden gets all huffy with Nelson but seems afraid to really challenge Rounds. Bosworth is off in la-la-land, not understanding whom or what she's really up against. Nelson, Rhoden, and Bosworth all have the same greatest enemy to winning the nomination: Rounds. They need to combine, blast that wall down, then fight with each other to race over the rubble to the finish line.
Have you checked the Ft. Pierre building permits, Cory? Maybe Rounds is hiding in his own bunker.
...or maybe Joop Bollen's storm shelter?
Mike, Mike, Come Out From Wherever You Are?
Free Pat & Mike!
Smilin Mike, Where's the Beef?
I would suspect Ol Smiling Mike is in a holding pattern above central SD while dick wadams and the boys try and find a nice grove for him to put down near.
"...mike, this is the tower, and we have a possible situation. Please stay aloft, and pretend you didn't know jack shit about this massive amount of money of which you transferred control without oversight..."
...and please fasten your seatbelt.
I was just reading the Terry Woster story on Annette Bosworth joining Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Steve King in Iowa for a pheasant hunt. Woster writes, "Back to Bosworth, who says “I didn’t actually carry a gun” when she joined Cruz and King at a hunting lodge in Iowa."
I guess that raises the question whether Dr. Bosworth's photos of her wearing blaze orange out in a field in SD are just more of the phony baloney her campaign is becoming known for. What candidate who's a real hunter goes to a hunting lodge for a pheasant hunt and doesn't even bring a shotgun? Is there anything real about this candidate?
Just saw that the Dakota War College put up a post about Dr. Bosworth's trip to the pheasant hunt. Except PP didn't mention the part about her not bringing a shotgun.
Those are only for pictures, Rorschach.
Kevin Woster? Was Terry there?
The last three words of Jim's comment are the phrase of the week at Rounds HQ.
...and seat belts make me think of Bill Janklow. I think Janklow would have been a lot more fun in this situation. He'd've been out in front, putting out the fire, don't you think?
i do think Janklow's off-beat sense of humor would have made things interesting. Anytime I have heard rounds speak it is always the same old monotone voice.
Were Janklow's scandals to these proportions even? It's been so long since he was governor........
I was never a Janklow fan, but what do you all think? Would he have been this corrupt?
Jenny,
Would you consider homicide a larger or smaller scandal than bribery, etc.?
Jenny, I would posit that one of the differences between Janklow and this situation is that I'm not totally certain that "corrupt" is a descriptor that fits Janklow as much as it does the EB-5 debacle. What I recall of Janklow (and, as with you, I can't be certain my memory is flawless) was someone who was often criticized for being a political bully and--more recently--for concentrating an awful lot of political power in the state in a single office (his office), but I don't know that there was as much of an undercurrent of breaking/skirting laws to do. I also can't remember hearing anyone accuse Janklow of misdeeds designed for his own personal gain. This EB-5 thing has the potential to be BOTH illegal and of great personal benefit to, if not Smilin' Mike himself, certainly people with whom he affiliated. I'm not aware of Janklow dealings that fit that profile.
(I do, of course, recognize that there is vehicular manslaughter to consider when it comes to Janklow. However, I would contend that there is a distinction between misdeeds done in the name and with the power of the Governorship and a tragic--though admittedly preventable--accident in the context of a series of poor personal decisions. I'm not giving Janklow a pass on the manslaughter, but it seems a little "apples-and-oranges" to weigh that against the EB-5 Economic Development Scandal^tm.)
And, Cory, yes, I definitely think Janklow would be more interesting a character in this particular play than Rounds. We'd be live-blogging his press conferences for fun!
I agree with your above assessment of Janklow. He was very much a politlical bully, but even I can't imagine him getting the state into this much of a financial mess of this magnitude. I remember the Gina Score case, which was sad. He shut those boot camps down after that happened.
One of the observations I made about Janklow, was that he had to control everything around him, including himself. He was an extremely disciplined politician, even though he could go off on a rant, I often suspected they were planned rants.
A acquaintance of mine that grew up with Janklow, once told me that he was so obsessed with control he would never allow himself to become intoxicated and lose control.
It is most likely that if his administration became involved in a financial scandal, some heads would roll. Not because it was against the law or wrong, it would because it would mar his political aspirations. He was smart enough to know how to use a scandal to his political advantage.
Thinking along Toby's lines: in the alternative universe where Janklow is involved, we'd know he was totally running the show. In our universe, it is possible that Rounds is involved, but it is also possible that corruption broke out because Rounds was too incompetent and inattentive to catch it.
Then again, Joe offers a comment that suggest Rounds was all about control, too. Let's see which narrative comes from Team Rounds.
Team Rounds is running down the clock. They expect to do the same thing in the general election. It's his best play to win. If you like arrogant candidates who possess a unearned sense of entitlement, join the Rounds coronation dance.
There is a way to beat that. Stop playing Rounds' game and start your own game. The opponent who discovers this will defeat Rounds.
Rounds has never had a serious race in his life. He had two terms as Governor and got nothing done, except to leave a $118 million debt for his hand-picked successor. People dumb enough to think he's the same candidate in 2013 who was the unknown, cheap suit, former legislator candidate left standing after the smoke cleared after the 2002 GOP primary deserve to be beaten with sticks.
If there is any parallel to 2002 it is Rounds as the high-powered, overly ambitious politician with millions to burn. This makes him the next Steve Kirby or Mark Barnett.
If there is an unknown cheap suit former legislator candidate with little money or organization in 2014, his name is Stace Nelson. Not Mike Rounds, the multi-millionaire dollar candidate who expects to buy a Senate seat.
Run out the clock... from the opening whistle? Oh, the arrogance! That's why the challengers need to focus all their fire on Rounds, right, Rick?