South Dakota Democrats are wasting no time to slime Republicans, even before they’ve moved off of their 2018 losses, as they attack Mike Rounds before they’ve even started discussions to come up with a candidate to take one for the team.
This e-mail blast went out yesterday:
They don’t know who their candidate is going to be… They don’t know what their candidates views will be… But they want your money. Now.
Which isn’t much different then any Democrats in Washington.
Can we get through December and the holidays before revving up the 2020 madness? Guess not. Glad I kept a few Dusty Johnson yard signs in my shed…
It’s a shame. He’s a good senator.
I’ve heard the rumors of Tapio/Shad Olson looking to run… yawn… and Billie Sutton.
Agree. I’ll happily vote for Rounds until he wants to hang it up. Thune also.
rounds is excellent in this office.
It would be interesting to know who is starting rumors about Tapio/Olson. Especially since is bunk.
Stace Nelson (D) rematch this time formally as a Dem
I see Stacie Nelson getting beat down again. He has accomplished nothing from the last time he was spanked. Two of the individuals that ran against him went on to better things while Stacie just continues to steal oxygen.
The Democrats, even in South Dakota, have no class. They have no good ideas (despite Billie-boy Sutton’s opinion), and they can only go negative.
Trump’s policies are working, even though the tariffs are hurting right now. The Dems are not honorable enough to credit someone on the other side with getting good things done. They will take their lead from Queen B(ee) Pelosi and call it crumbs.
What have the Democrats accomplished but the erosion of freedom, the acceptance of shirking of personal resposilbity, and the acceptance of immorality. Great job, Dems!
Make America White Again! Right bud?
pelosi should be speaker again. history should witness whether she can be more dishonest, elitist, dictatorial and actually destructive than she was the first time. i believe she can be.
Thank you for this vague, meandering response that never really got anywhere close to saying anything of substance. Well done, even for this site.
and in addition,,,, the comment about him raising a lot of money for the last four years may be contradicted by his checking account balance. I think he’s wasted little of the people’s time raising money.
Parties need candidates to be…parties, and so I assume there will be one. But if history is any guide, even without a lot of resources raised to date, Sen Rounds will be taking another oath of office in 2021
He is a bit lighter in the wallet than JT.
Hopefully donors aren’t tired of giving after 2018.
So you’re ok with reimbursing his travel on his private plane every week from Minneapolis to South Dakota? Rather than him flying commercially like most every other member?
I’m not- that’s not a luxury every South Dakotan can afford. Yes, he can say that it helps him perform his job and get to places easier- but we’re paying to reimburse jet fuel? Airport hanger fees? That can’t be cheaper than flying commercially.
Also, he has weekly fundraisers and will reap massive money from defense contractors due to his committee assignment on the Senate Armed Service Committee.
He’s not a great Senator, he’s rank and file at best, go along to get along. Where is the bacon he’s bringing home to South Dakota? Tim Johnson got more done- disappointed to say the least.
On the up side, hearing 2020 will be his last election.
Do you just spout out and say stuff all the time?
1) From Minneapolis to South Dakota, it doesn’t cost the taxpayer a single dime more whether he walks, drives, flies commercial, or flies private. Senators get a fixed budget and they allocate it however they want.
2) Unlike Members who can’t fly, they can’t visit as many places a day as he can (and he doesn’t have to pay a pilot to get him around). See #1. There are trade-offs
3) He is a very effective first term Senator. If we end up getting immigration reform, it will be because of Rounds as he is in the center of the debate working with both sides. Not to mention his work on reducing spending.
4) The old days of bringing home the bacon with earmarks like Johnson did are gone. Federal expenditures at home now have to be openly in the public interest and Mike Rounds has been an effective advocate of our interests.
5) What your are hearing is as reliable as everything else you said. Mike Rounds is running for re-election. And, as Lee said, he will win by a comfortable margin because he is a good effective Senator connected to the people and understands teh issues of our people.
You’re 100% wrong –
I have far better insight than you do about what’s actually going on in DC- stay turned to Fox News, Breitbart, or whatever magic show you watch.
Rounds is rank and file. And if he was playing such a pivotal role in any discussions- why are his staffers leaving to work for people like Dusty Johnson in the House which is largely regarded as the lower chamber in DC.
Reducing spending? We’ve added how many hundreds of millions of dollars to the deficit? He’s help explode the deficit by lower taxes without actually reducing spending in any meaningful ways.
Republicans had the House, Senate, and Oval Office for 2 years and didn’t really do much to reduce spending or the deficit. Actually, we ended up spending more than we ever have, including defense and immigration.
If you say Rounds worked to lower spending- show me. Sources? GAO? Stand alone bills? Provisions included in other bills?
Until then, put down the koolaid and come to back to reality.
I bet I watch more MSNBC than you watch Fox. I watch equal. More important, I read articles of depth from multiple sources with various perspectives. You are projecting your own limited perspectives.
Second, your anonymity gives you no credibility to just make blanket statements. For a first term Senator, his influence is larger than most.
Third, your statement about moves to Dusty and “largely regarded” shows how little you know. For some, a bigger fish in a smaller pond (office) is a way to expand your experiences and future opportunities.
Finally, your statement about GAO, stand-alone bills, etc. show you don’t know Jack on how things work. It is day-to-day blocking and tackling on the issues of the day, just like his work in committees and on immigration. It is the difference of a work horse and a show horse. You have to be informed to know the difference.
Good thing you are better at being a keyboard warrior than getting involved in the process, which is a problem with most of the people who comment on this blog. They know 100x less about what’s actually going on, than those that do.
I don’t watch the news because it’s all just clickbait now – one are the days of Cronkite – there isn’t any policy or analysis, just amped up rhetoric.
It also explains why your opinions are so lackluster on specifics and complexities of major pieces of legislation. The fact that you don’t consider standalone legislation, cost estimates, or studies clearly shows a lack of insight to process and an absence of knowledge on how things work in DC.
Remind us again Troy, what relevant experience you may have –
5 Years on a US Senate staff, 6 years for a Governor, and direct involvement in multiple national public policy entities over the past 20 years.
What is yours?
All I’ve found is a nice story about you being Sen. Abdnor’s driver and intern coordinator. Not that I’m belittling anyone’s experience, but a driver/intern coordinator isn’t really getting involved in major policy or legislative discussions.
You might be able to tell a great story, but in the positions you’re not in the room where things happen.
What was your highest title?
That’s the peculiar thing about this blogs. Without knowing the credentials, people may not know the entirety of someone’s experience or lack there of.
I was a Legislative Assistant handling Banking, Financial Services, Business, and some other minor tangential subject issues. Further, my earlier position as driver was where I really learned and saw what is going on as I was with the Senator (on the floor or in the off-chamber room where staff was allowed) during the late night sessions where bills were being voted on and the real influence was being exercised. Some of the most influential were so influential because they allowed others to get the credit, thus the workhorse vs. show horse distinction.
Marion is the biggest show pony there is.
He’s short on the legislative victories and hasn’t really produced any stand alone bills to show he’s doing things.
Stace Nelson could sit at the desk between bathroom breaks and nosh refills, and vote with the rest of the Senators.
Let’s no pretend Marion is actually there crafting bills and learning anything.
By the way, since you are anonymous, it is prudent to assume you have never even been in DC.
Troy-
Your insight to how the Hill works now is like a retired South Dakota track coach talking about how his/her star athletes have state records in yards to a current track coach who has athletes running in meters.
The Hill changes from Congress to Congress, which you cant disagree with since you were there through a few session, but you’ve missed a few since you left.
Which Rounds is going to appear in 2020? The one who shows up on FOX or the one who shows up on MSNBC?
Oh and trust me, the Democrats will have a candidate in 2020. They may have two initially…..
I’m convinced you’re correct. There may be 3 candidates (initially) for the democratic nomination, plus a libertarian. Unless you absolutely despise an incumbent senator, the better move is to re-elect him or her. Republicans control a majority in the upper house, and our 2 well-liked Senators have ascended the seniority ladder, forging valuable alliances + enhancing their ability to legislate & represent out interests in DC. That’s good for SD. I’ll vote to re-elect.
I understand that — if your personal politics diametrically oppose Senator Rounds’ — you’d prefer someone else, someone less conservative, in that powerful position. Hey, that’s democracy. I don’t expect you to swallow all your progressive ideals. Billie Sutton ran a slick gubernatorial campaign. He’s surely the favorite to contest Rounds in 2020.
A right of center Democrat, due to name ID, might beable to get the nomination, but such a candidate would lose in the fall. Only a real Democrat would have a chance.
There’s some wisdom in your words. In my opinion, come July 2020, the democrats will nominate a left-of-center candidate — meaning someone much more ‘progressive’ than the median American voter — for president. That choice will affect how senatorial candidates (on both sides) campaign.
JKC–who are these people you speak of? names?
Sutton is still raising money, so he is still running for something. As far as the other candidate…. 😉
Mike Huether and Brendan Johnson could both beat Rounds who is one of the least effective members of Congress.
The cry on cue guy who makes non-announcements or the Ashley Madison guy…I think not