Video of the congressional hopefuls from the Clark County Lincoln Day Dinner

Dykstra and Costello better put together a decent 2-minute stump speech pronto if they want to move their campaigns forward. Isn’t that one of the first things you learn in campaign school?

Dykstra has been doing this for awhile already, but the content and delivery of his message is mediocre even for a state house race. If “rape and incest are buzzwords” so is “values”.

Costello introduced himself, which is necessary for him. But he needs to hit some points. He has to say why he’s running and what he wants to accomplish. The bit about being a “lifelong resident of Sioux Falls (except for that 5 years in Arizona)” is a turnoff to most audiences around the state.

Russell has the most well developed 2-minute stump speech. And his delivery is good. He passes the first test. Whether he can sell himself as the agent of change for Washington DC in 2008 remains to be seen.

None of these candidates can beat Tim Johnson or Stephanie Herseth in 2008. But if there is an open house seat all is possible.

None of these guys inspired me in the least. But you can bet I’ll vote for any of them over Herseth or Johnson. The problem is, this GOP trio doesn’t have a chance.

Just a couple comments:

1. You’ve got to at least give Joel Dykstra credit for announcing for the Senate whether Tim Johnson runs or doesn’t. He’s not waiting on the sidelines waiting to make the call.

2. Pat Costello seems fairly new to politics. It’s not a bad thing that he went to college in University – I believe his point was that he saw the potential in SD and returned. Yes, he needs to develop more of a message, but right now, because he’s a fairly unknown quantity, people are interested in who he is and what his background is. At some point he will need to work on his speaking skills if he wants to be taken seriously.

3. Larry is a career politician, so he should be able to give a good speach. But don’t look for him to stick around for long if Johnson decides to run for the Senate and Herseth for the House. Larry is looking for an easy win.

In 1985, I worked for Senator Abdnor. We went to the Coddington County Lincoln Day dinner. While Jim worked the crowd as only he could do, there was a tall man from just down the road. He talked to nobody who didn’t initiate a conversation. After observing him alone in a corner of the room nursing his beverage for a few minutes, I went over to visit with him. We visited for 15 minutes with nobody interrupting us. He later gave a non-descript speech. That night as Jim and I drove to Sioux Falls, I told Jim “I have no idea why he is running. He is wasting his time and will besmirch his good name.” Jim, in his Socratic style, asked me, “What makes you think he didn’t accomplish what he wanted?” At the time, I thought “was it his goal to be a stump on a log?” I had known this man for my entire life and thought very fondly of him and had observed him in the legislature as an intern. I knew he was very capable. But, that night I reached the perception that he didn’t have what it takes to win an election.

That man was George Mickelson. In the Primary election, George placed 2nd in the four person field in Coddington County losing by only 20 votes to Clint Roberts who gave a stirring speech that evening.

Upon reflection, I looked back to that evening many times to remind myself to not jump to conclusions. And, I came to see the wisdom in Jim’s words. In retrospect, George showed everyone in the room that that this tall, physically impressive man was at heart a thoughtful man. During my years of working for Governor Mickelson, I saw that his quiet resolve and thoughtfulness made him a good candidate and a great Governor.

And don’t forget the example of Mike Rounds who just allowed his solidness as a person do his speaking for him. Or Jim Abdnor and his speech impediment which made us look harder to find the genious of his character, thought and words.

While I have never met Pat Costello, I’ve observed him as MY City Counselor. He is a quiet humble man who has not only been very successful in business but is gaining great repute in Sioux Falls for his performance as City Counselor.

My point: Success in politics is first to be true to who you are. People at Lincoln Day Dinners are those who we depend on to make personal assessments of internal character and they can see a phony a mile away. While a good stump speech can be helpful, it won’t hide a lack of character or capabilities.

In my lifetime, I’ve known scores of solid people.

Mike Rounds ranks right up there with Bill Janklow.

Why do you keep taking off the posts?

I’m taking down stuff that’s either off topic or libelous.