And who shall lead the Dems?  Possible contenders to take over the South Dakota Democrat Party after this weekend’s vote.

With all the rumors swirling around the implosion of the South Dakota Democrat Party this weekend and the coup being staged against Ann Tornberg’s chairmanship, one of the things that keeps getting brought up is that no one really seems to be angling for the job.

That’s the problem with a revolt.  If you put the queen to the guillotine, no one wants to be the next ruler in case the peasants decide to revolt again.  And trust me. As much as they lose in South Dakota, Democrats can be pretty revolting.

So, if they are able to change the party bylaws from a 4 year term to a 2 year term accompanied by an immediate election, who do we see as possibility for taking on the chairmanship of the South Dakota Democrat Party?

Possible New Chairs of the SDDP:

Paula Hawks (Odds 3-1) If the party bylaws are changed, we give a 3-1 chance that Paula Hawks, who has been one of the Democrats most critical of Ann Tornberg’s less than benevolent rule, might emerge as the new party ruler.

The Hawks for Congress campaign arguably suffered the most from the party’s lack of fundraising, disorganization, etcetera.  Hawks has been the most vocal critic of the Party and has been calling for change.   Being the agent of change may put Hawks in a position to run for office again someday, and believe me, the Democrat party has nowhere to go but up.

Slick Rick Weiland (Odds 10-1) Slick Rick Weiland, the political snake oil salesman who tried several times this past election to sell South Dakotans on initiated measures, had washed his hands of the Democrat Party previously after his crushing loss to Mike Rounds for US Senate.

But, as any good opportunist, he may view the Democrat Party’s implosion as an opening to bamboozle the Democrats who rule the party that he can lead them to prosperity through initiated measures.  (Because that’s worked so well for them).  It might also give him some face time with the press.  But the problem here would be that he’d have to produce something besides music videos – he’d have to produce results.

Cory Heidelberger (Odds 5-1) Interestingly, while Cory has been a vociferous Tornberg supporter in the past, he’s been one of the parties most responsible in loudly publicizing the grievances of the Democrat organization mutineers, and making sure that everyone knows that they want to throw Ann Tornberg out of office for “severe lack of management ability that has led to low fundraising, dropping voter registration numbers, a nearly invisible message, and at the center, zero of anything resembling a strategic action plan for the State Party.”

In other words, if Cory had not been promoting it and making sure as many Democrats saw it as possible, there might not be much of a revolt.  Sure, others had expressed dissatisfaction in the past. But no one had really undercut Tornberg until the article Heidelberger published on his blog came out. Giving voice to the dissidents made a lot of ugly family secrets open to the world. And now, interestingly, Cory is back riding the fence trying to claim the high road while dispensing advice as to what Democrats should be doing…. Which sounds a little too much like he wants the job.

The downside for Democrats is that Cory rarely follows through, and has a tendency to turn people off, much like he’s helped Aberdeen move more strongly into the GOP Column as part of his ill-fated run for State Senate.  The more he campaigned, the more ground he lost to Al Novstrup.  If we think Ann Tornberg’s current implosion is spectacular, I imagine Cory’s would put it to shame should he get the nod.

Frank Kloucek (Odds 25-1) Frank has been critical of the chair for months, and not behind closed doors. The former Senator was openly attacking her in Democrat party “listening tour” sessions where Tornberg went across the state and tried to make excuses for the Democrat party’s dismal performance.

The problem with Frank, is well… Frank. While he’d actually be the closest leader that Democrats could come up with resembling a moderate South Dakotan as opposed to the party of liberal Social Justice Warriors which Democrats have styled themselves as, Frank also has a tendency to come off as a bit of a buffoon, and they may not have a lot of confidence in his ability to lead or raise the money that Democrats need to keep the lights on.

“Effective” Ann Tornberg. (Odds 2-1)  Let’s face it. South Dakota Democrat Party chair is an awful position, and no one wants it.  Ann claims she’s been effective, despite evidence to the contrary.   If there’s a revolution and no one wants to lead in its wake, there becomes a great question of who will fill the void.

Given that Democrats aren’t entirely convinced yet that there should be a revolution in the first place, I think there’s a 50/50 chance or better that they’ll just leave “Effective Ann” in place, and revisit the whole mess in December of 2018 like they’re scheduled to do anyway, and just cancel the revolution (at least for a while).

They’ll bumble along, lose the 2018 election, and go home to lick their wounds for the next cycle.  I’m guessing that’s probably the best bet to place if you’re playing the odds for this weekend’s Democrat meeting.

Otherwise, anyone have any suggestions as to who the next chair for the SDDP should be? Sound off in the comment section. (You might want to encourage them.)