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If you were noticing (as I am) the lack of advertising for the political campaign, I noted today that US Senator John Thune is beginning some advertising for the November election. However, you may se it rolling out primarily via on-line news sources, as evidenced from this Ad at the Pierre Capitol Journal at the top of the page:

This ad leads readers to a his campaign website, and specifically this video for the campaign:

Clocking in at 30 seconds, don’t be surprised to see the on-line ad exposure complement the same ad appearing on television.

Has anyone else noticed that the Argus Leader political show “100 Eyes on Politics” has been off the air for the past 3 or 4 weeks – which is pretty unusual for a political show, given there’s a severe bout of politics going on.  Has the Argus decided to change the name to “100 blinded eyes on politics?”  The show talking about politics hasn’t been seen since much web time since September.

Just today, I’m starting to hear rumors floating about of another major newsroom upheaval. And we haven’t seen much of Argus “Content Strategist” Patrick Lalley in the paper since early October.

And there’s also this profile page for Lalley which doesn’t seem to be there anymore.

Given all the chaos at the state’s flagship newspaper, maybe they need to open a few of their eyes… and clue the public into what’s going on.

And the GOP brings us week #3 of “Heidelberger’s biggest hits.” This week’s golden oldie refers back to his recent diatribe (in July) against people saying “Blue Lives Matter.”

If you recall his anti-police rant:

If police officers constituted an aggrieved class disempowered by systematic, institutional bias, appropriating the Black Lives Matter slogan to express one’s concerns about police safety might be a valid act of protest.

It is a direct rebuke to those fighting to rectify genuine imbalances in America’s power structure.

Read that here.

 

If there was any doubt in your mind how utterly and completely partisan Slick Rick Weiland’s troika of ballot measures are, check out the latest fundraising push from Weiland’s group “Takeitback.org.”

Dear <Redacted>:

The two of us were both first elected in 1978—Tim to the South Dakota House, Tom to the U.S House—and a great deal has changed in the intervening years.

By far the biggest change, though, is the need for political reform.

“Big Money” dominates our elections at all levels, gerrymandering continues to load the election dice, and polarization and hyper-partisanship increases to new levels every year creating dysfunction and gridlock.

It’s easy to get discouraged, to just throw you hands up in the air and give up.

But that, of course, is exactly what the anti-reform forces want us to do.

Here’s the good news, however: Two of our good friends and former senior aides—Rick Weiland and Drey Samuelson—have come up with a bold and innovative plan to use state ballot initiatives to fix our broken politics, first in South Dakota, and then on to other ballot initiative states next election cycle.

Without drowning you in details, these initiatives will establish reforms of state government that include; reforming SD campaign finance rules, establishing an ethics commission; placing restrictions on gifts that lobbyists can give legislators; establishing a nonpartisan commission to fairly draw our legislative boundaries; and creating nonpartisan elections where ideas prevail, not party propaganda. Imagine the South Dakota Legislature moving from partisan governance to nonpartisan governance, the same as Nebraska has successfully had for the past 82 years.

This Trifecta of Reform linked here for you to review includes Amendment T (non-partisan redistricting), Amendment V (non-partisan elections), and Initiated Measure 22 (anti-corruption).

However, not one of these excellent proposals would have a prayer of being passed into law in Pierre, the state capital, but because they’re ballot initiatives, all they need is a majority vote this November. Best example was passing an increase in the minimum wage using a ballot measure in 2014 when the legislature refused.

And that’s why we’re writing.

Because we believe that these reforms represent virtually the last real hope – at least in our lifetimes – for real political reform.

Every one of them is polling ahead, and every one of them will make profound changes if they pass. South Dakotans – like people across our country – are hungry for change. They simply need to be informed about what these initiatives do, and they’ll do the rest.

But it takes money in order to educate folks and time is of the essence.

Because if we don’t pass these initiatives – Amendments T, V, and Initiated Measure 22 – reform in South Dakota won’t be happening anytime soon.

And that would be tragic.

So what we’re hoping you’ll do is make as large a contribution as you can afford TODAY—as there is still time for it to be effective.

The truth is this: we have a chance – a real chance – to pass reforms that will fix our broken political system and, while we can’t return to 1978, to ensure that our children will inherit a better world.

With your help, we can make it happen!

U.S. Senator Tom Daschle                                        U.S. Senator Tim Johnson

P.S. Please don’t close this email out without sending whatever you can afford, even if it’s just a few dollars. We can win these initiatives—we know it—Rick and Drey just need the resources necessary to make their final push.

I’m not sure it gets much more partisan than Tom Daschle and Tim Johnson.

The unabashedly left-leaning SD-EPIC – the political wing of SDEA has now issued their voters guide for the 2016 election.  And while they have a few token Republicans who they are sucking up to, predictably, at the state level, they went heavily Democrat. In their voter guide, they offered an endorsement of Paula Hawks.

And then they walked back from the precipice of ridiculousness, by going neutral in the US Senate Race Yes, despite being a former School Board member, they could not bring themselves force their membership to swallow an endorsement of Jay Williams, choosing instead to take a pass.

You can read all about it here.

And in case you’re wondering who they endorsed at the State Legislative level:

I can’t help but wonder if the mainstream media is spending an inordinate amount of time promoting election related ballot issues such as Amendment V and Initiated Measure 22.  In most normal years, they would have paid them little to no mind. Now, we see a couple stories a week.

This seems to be coinciding with another phenomenon I’ve noticed. We’re literally at two weeks before the election, and what haven’t we seen? Any significant ad buys from statewide candidates. I’ve been looking at some of the public files available to review, and there’s a definite lack of state candidates spending money with media outlets this year.

Chris Nelson has some cable TV ad time purchased on Midco cable systems. But have you seen John Thune ads around KELO-TV News? Or any significant number of Kristi Noem ads? We know Jay Williams doesn’t have any money, and while she might have a couple of youtube videos up on social media, Paula Hawks doesn’t have anything noticeable either.

What are you seeing locally? Are candidates running tight this year, or is this just a state race phenomena?

From tonight’s KELOLAND broadcast on how they conducted the poll they are going to be releasing this week:

My wife’s comment was this poll must have been formulated by a man.

Did Sterling Cooper help KELO arrange this?

I love the pic with the Jacks mascot!  We have good taste in politics up here in Brookings.

A Monumental Milestone
By Sen. John Thune 

Few monuments or landmarks in the United States are more iconic or offer greater patriotic symbolism than does Mount Rushmore. Beginning in 1927, Gutzon Borglum helped transform a seemingly innocuous rock face in the Black Hills into the stoic and easily recognizable faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln, which millions of visitors travel each year to see. Over 14 years of hot summers and cold winters, and with the help of 400 workers using chisels, jackhammers, and dynamite, Mount Rushmore was completed 75 years ago on October 31, 1941.

More than 2.1 million people from around the world visited Mount Rushmore in 2014. And over the last 75 years, U.S. presidents, celebrities, families on spring or summer vacation – people from all backgrounds and all corners of the globe – have flocked to the Black Hills to see firsthand the six-story granite faces of some of America’s greatest leaders. That diversity is emblematic of just how important Mount Rushmore is to South Dakota and to the rest of the United States. 

The monument is symbolic for obvious reasons, but also because of the time period over which it was carved. Using both public and some privately raised funds during the Great Depression, the monument was completed by hard-working Americans who scaled hundreds of steps every day to clock in, put in a hard and dangerous day’s work, and clock out. While some workers put their lives on the line every day – dangling from the mountain’s edge – not a single person lost their life over the 14-year project. 

I have a lot of memories at Mount Rushmore. I can remember traveling through the Black Hills and to Mount Rushmore as a kid. There’s nothing quite like taking that curve on Highway 244 at which point the stone faces start coming into view. Once I became a parent, Kimberley and I took that same drive with our girls and have returned time and again for lighting ceremonies, firework shows, and other events. I still return when I get the chance, because visiting Mount Rushmore never gets old. Earlier this month, I stopped by with Bill Nelson, Florida’s senior senator and my Democrat counterpart on the Senate Commerce Committee, during a recent trip through the Black Hills. And thanks to the decades-long public-private partnership with the Mount Rushmore Society, the monument has been and will continue to be a top destination in the United States.

Borglum did more than create a national treasure for the American people. He created a lasting tourist attraction that continues to be a boon for the local economy. Thanks in large part to state and national parks and memorials like Mount Rushmore, of which South Dakota is home to dozens, tourism is one of the state’s top industries. Tourism supports more than 50,000 jobs in the state, generates billions of dollars in economic activity, and accounted for $270 million in state and local tax revenue in 2015 alone. South Dakotans are proud of their state parks and the national park system, now in its 100^th year, and they go above and beyond to provide a world-class experience for anyone who passes through.

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