Thoughts on the race… so far
Well, as PP mentioned in his earlier post today, it sounds like he would be rather busy, so I thought I’d make a quick post to fill in. As a young South Dakotan, I thought I’d offer some thoughts on how the race is turning out so far, especially since the serious campaigning for the primary will begin (if it hasn’t already) shortly. I’ll try and be fair and impartial and present a few thoughts about each campaign; these are my thoughts, and my thoughts alone, and at this stage in the primary process, can always change.
Dennis Daugaard – So far, I believe he has got the best name recognition in the race. This is a definite advantage in the early part of the primary season, due to the fact that as we all know here in South Dakota getting out and getting known to the voters can make or break a campaign. As for handicaps, I don’t know if he’s got any so far, except for that those who take an unfavorable view of Governor Mike Rounds might shift that unfavorable view on to Daugaard in the primary. Daugaard presents himself as a fairly moderate candidate, stressing his South Dakota roots and values. Personally, I’ve only had the chance to meet the Lt. Governor once, however, he presented himself as a very amiable man who was definitely willing to talk and debate the issues. Check out his website at http://dennisdaugaard.com/, one thing that I was a little disappointed by however was the fact that his website does not have any major issue statements or platforms.
Dave Knudson- as the leader of the GOP in the State Senate, Knudson has a definable track record that could definitely be used by himself, but also by those who are running against him. He has been relatively quiet on the campaigning front so far, however, he has been active, holding a well received fundraiser in Sioux Falls where it was reported that the campaign brought in $250k. As for any handicaps, I think the major one is that he is seen as being a little too moderate for many conservative South Dakota voters, which could be seen as a definite drawback. Personally, Knudson is my home district state senator, and so I’ve gotten to know him a little bit; he presents himself as a very knowledgeable man who emphasizes his past in South Dakota politics well. He doesn’t have much of website right now, however, check out http://knudsonforgovernor.com/ in the future.
Scott Munsterman- As discussed previously, we’re going to leave most of the Munsterman coverage to PP, however, I’ll provide the insights that I’ve gotten so far. Munsterman presents himself as a very knowledgeable person, who definitely has a great interest in being in the race. He has the most complete website of all the candidates so far, which can go a long way in generating interest for those who might be interested in learning more about his campaign, and has probably the most complete platform out of all the candidates running. He has been very active in campaigning so far. One thing that I would like to see more of though as a GOP prospective voter is any quantifiable record of his past accomplishments as Mayor. Check out his website at http://munstermanforgovernor.com/
Ken Knuppe – Has been fairly quiet on campaigning for the most part, however, has made various stops at several Lincoln Day Dinners according to his campaign website. I honestly don’t know that much about him, however, I’ve taken a look at his website, and it looks fairly respectable; the site is informative and well organized, and has a platform which provides insight. Check out his website at http://www.knuppeforgovernor.com/
Check back in the weeks ahead and I’ll try to do more of a complete analysis of my thoughts on each of the candidates.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Daugaard’s issue is that the Rounds administration has not made any friends with his own party over the past four years. The party needs leadership in the governor’s office, not stewardship. Daugaard needs to show he has that. Sidebar – he’s not going to kick the “3rd Term of Rounds” label by hiring Lawrence and Schiller to run his campaign. Marketing people are not political people for reasons they’ll never understand.
Knudson “a little too moderate” for a GOP primary? Understatement of the century. His base does not expand beyond Sioux Falls. He needs to get out and find some sort of conservative message that can resonate, perhaps West River where he is a little more unknown and thus more able to define himself.
Munsterman is still a nobody with no record – something he has to fix. There is opportunity for him here, as the other top two contenders are uninspiring thus far.
On the Dem side, either the Airbrushed Forehead, Nancy TB, or my proud owner are the strongest candidates Dems could hope to field short of SHS. None look like they can get it done in November 2010, as weak as the GOP field appears to be at this point.
I’ve got a shot against munsterman, and maybe against Knudson as well. Which SF law firm do you like least, SD? PP may be able to corner the market on billboards and yard signs but munsterman will not raise as much cash before the primary vote as Knudson did from his SF Dem. buddies.
TC – Thanks for your thoughtful assessment. I think that’s a fair statement of the race so far. I’m looking forward to your commentary.
Good analysis. I like these guys, but only Dennis is conservative enough for my tastes. I know some people have been giving him grief because of his Rounds connections, but I think we’ll all be impressed with what a string fiscal conservative Dennis is. He has to watch his mouth for a few months yet, but I think sometime soon he will start to lay out more of a strong message for how he would govern different than Roundsy.
Dennis is a “string” conservative? Does that mean Daugaard’s a puppet on a string being manipulated by Rounds?
If you meant to say strong conservative, I’ve got to argue with you. Daugaard has shown NO conservative tendencies that I can see. He has done nothing to separate himself from the liberal tax-and-spend policies of Smilin’ Mike.
We sure don’t need another Rounds clone in Pierre, especially one that has done so much damage to the west river ag community.
Ranger — Give Dennis a little bit more time before making final judgment. We are a year out, after all. He’s had to walk a bit of a tight rope this last year. Now that we are closer to e-day, I agree that he needs to spell out what his version of state government would be, and I think he will soon. Trust me, Dennis is no Rounds clone.
Daugaard will distinguish himself in due time, and the voters will see what a stand-up fiscal conservative he is. He’ll only go up from here.
Great comments so far, notice who has not commented yet? The 4 candidates are all nice. This is going to be a fun race to watch.
I give the edge to Dennis, today. But in politics, one year is a very long time. I am looking for a Conservative, who will make the tough decisions. The first Candidate who gets Kristi Noem to sign on as their Lt Gov will pick up 20 points, could be the deal maker.
Tyler:
Completely unrelated to your post. Don’t you ref soccer too? If I have you confused with someone else, my apologies.
Todd Epp (Grade 
Middle Border Sun
http://www.middlebordersun.com
Circumstances decide the issues of a campaign. Issues create opportunities and problems for candidates. Elections are won by the candidates who proact and react best to the issues in those circumstances. Tell me the circumstances and issues that will be relevant at election time and how the candidates react and I’ll tell you who will win.
The GOP primary is a wide-open race with no discernable favorite because there is insufficient knowledge/grasp of what will be the defining issues. We also don’t know things like how hard the candidates will work at basic grass roots activities, how well the candidates are recieved outside their base and who will have the strongest organization. In the GOP primary, money is the least important factor.
In my opinion, nobody will be inevitable or out of the race until the legislative session is over and the voters begin to focus on the race. All that can be done is build organization and meet people. The leader on March 1 will be the one who has done the best with regard to these factors.
Frankly, I think there is a realistic scenario where nobody gets 35% and there is a run-off that could include Knuppe. I also think there is a scenario that any of the top three could get over 50%. Finally, I think it still possible that another candidate could get in the race and win the primary or at least change the dynamics greatly.
Troy, I think you are close to being right on. I agree with the feasant, Kristi Noem would be an awesome Lt Gov. To whatever extent spouses contribute, Mrs. Daugaard is a gem!
Good Luck to all!
feasant, I agree that Noem would be a good Lt. Gov., but I will only vote for a conservative candidate for governor that will stop the Rounds’ tax and spend spree and his vendetta against western South Dakota. Kristi’s voting record is better than most, but even she doesn’t understand the west river ag issues good enough to suit me.
DM, Dennis is rapidly running out of time. Unless he makes a clear, strong stand for conservative rural South Dakota soon, he won’t get any of our votes.
Daugaard is a nice guy, but there’s no leadership there. He isn’t a conservative either. Otherwise, you’d seen it in some of the Rounds administration decisions.
Kristi did not stand up to the tax and spend. She’s there for her ego and that’s it!
Well I’ll tell you what I am hearing from some of the low life Republicans that I hang with……. I hear Munsterman. Yup, I would say vast majority had positive things to say about him. They just want a break from the old Republican Party way of thinking and they think this Munsterman guy might be the answer.
But understand it was an unscientific poll. All of us had a plenty to drink while at the street dance in Volga BEFORE the subject turned to state politics. So take it for what it’s worth!
Why’d you give it up?Good analysis. I tend to believe that this will be a real primary & Munsterman has potential to get traction, if PP can raise him some $. Outside Blogworld – nobody knows him.
Daugaard is bound & gagged by Rounds. That’s pretty clear. IF Daugaard can formulate an opinion on anything remains to be seen. Conservative? Come on. He runs an organization funded by government $.
Knudson, well…the guy’s brilliant. Let’s see if he’s brilliant enough to figure out the state’s electorate is bigger than his home district.
@fishing
Volga *is* kind of in Mr. Munsty’s backyard, so that seems like reason enough to take your informal survey with a grain of salt to me. Not the drinking, though. I’ve found that political analysis only gets sharper on a beer-by-beer basis!
All of the world’s problems have been solved many times in bars across the world. Unfortunately, those involved typically don’t remember in the morning…
These four guys are all good people. This is my spin on it, Duagaard vs Munsterman, with Knudson being like the Vikings, has ability to win but you never know. If Dennis splits from Rounds on some spending issues he wins, if he ties himself closely to Rounds it will be close.
Then the real race starts, can any of these guys beat Sandlin? I think Heidepreim, with his gambling conection and manbag is a 44% contender.