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Pressler Sees Good South Dakota Blogs as Centrist Force

By caheidelberger on 2015.01.06

Last updated on 2015.01.05

A couple of friends have noted that, over the Monday noon hour, Larry Pressler may have said the funniest thing uttered this month on South Dakota Public Broadcasting. The former Senator and unsuccessful 2014 Independent candidate for Senate was chatting with Karl Gehrke about his involvement with the Centrist Project and the declining state of quality journalism when, at timestamp 5:45, he said this:

We do have some great bloggers in South Dakota who are basically centrists. One of them is Cory Heidelberger, who is a Democrat, but he does some very responsible blogging [Larry Pressler, interview with Karl Gehrke, SDPB: Dakota Midday, 2015.01.05].

Me, a centrist? Mr. Pressler, you're going to mess up my branding!

Pressler singled out another South Dakota blogger for praise:

Another is John Tsitrian, the Constant Commoner. Blogs are coming along, and maybe they will... get us away from lots of other blogs that are just one side or the other [Pressler, 2015.01.05].

John! Wow! You've been banging away for less than a year and a half on your own blog, and already an intelligent, experienced politico can recognize the value of your blogging! Well done!

caheidelberger

17 Comments

  1. Wayne Pauli 2015.01.06

    ...very responsible blogging...
    Yes, you do Cory. You do not always stay on one side of the issues you bring up, and you always provide research data so your positions are more than just opinion based. That is being responsible...Brand or not....

  2. larry kurtz 2015.01.06

    Cory, liberals are centrists and you are clearly not a progressive.

  3. South DaCola 2015.01.06

    He didn't mention me, because he knows I am an anarchist, or is it a-hole, I get confused.

  4. john tsitrian 2015.01.06

    Being mentioned alongside you is gratifying indeed, Cory. As tough as I was on LP during the campaign, I gotta say that his comment shows a lot of class. I wish him well with the Centrist project. The endeavor will most definitely have a good friend at TCC.

  5. larry kurtz 2015.01.06

    He didn't mention me because he was a Wadhams plant.

  6. Les 2015.01.06

    So that'd be just one plant to another if he had, Petunia.

  7. Dave Baumeister 2015.01.06

    Cory, anyone who considers both sides of a question is a centerist. You may be on one side more than the other, but you are never on any side until you consider all sides. That is very obvious from your writing. (And it is even more obvious for people who know you.)

  8. Jaka 2015.01.06

    I really enjoyed listening to Gerke's interview of Pressler. I have to hand it to Larry--he hit a lot of nails square on the head during it. His constant mention of blogs like above mentioned with the need of enjoining the people (esp (younger set) to educate on politics instead of accepting soundbites and cliches. Many of your readers and commenters, Cory, are deep thinking people and help to educate us all. Again, my congrats on a job well done--all.

  9. caheidelberger Post author | 2015.01.06

    John T., that could be another characteristic of a centrist: not wedded to some party agenda, and apparently not completely absorbed in his own ego, Pressler is able to acknowledge the merits of those who criticize him.

    Then again, that could be a characteristic of any conscientious Democrat, Republican, or other passionate partisan.

  10. caheidelberger Post author | 2015.01.06

    Thanks, Jaka! You're right, Jaka: contrary to the insults thrown by Pat Powers, Pressler doesn't sound out of touch; he sounds every bit the elder statesman, with a pretty sharp understanding of the current political climate. I wonder what Pressler will be able to do to promote that problem-solving discourse and influence the direction of politics in the state.

  11. Lynn 2015.01.06

    That was a good invterview with Larry Pressler and he made so many good points that made sense to me. What really impressed me was his work with the Jericho Project and when he talked about Vietnam Vets, how they were treated, vets that are or have been homeless and dealing being open about dealing with PTSD. It sounds like this is an area he would really like to focus on in the future.

  12. larry kurtz 2015.01.06

    If Larry Pressler had really wanted to return to the US Senate he'd have run in the earth hater primary.

  13. JeniW 2015.01.06

    Larry, if Pressler had campaigned as a Republican he would have been associate with all those corrupt Republicans who are now in office.

    Larry P. was wise to run as an Independent, IMO.

  14. larry kurtz 2015.01.06

    Jeni, anyone believing Larry Pressler was not a willing participant in getting Tike Mike Rounds elected is delusional.

  15. caheidelberger Post author | 2015.01.06

    Pressler calls me a centrist; I say he was his own man and not a plant. Call us both delusional. ;-)

Comments are closed.