In the aftermath of Tuesdays’ election, Todd Epp at KELO AM Radio received a copy of Ann Tornberg’s ridiculous self-congratulatory letter to Democrats about how great of a job they did this past year. And he wasn’t buying any of it:
..don’t get me started about the South Dakota Democratic Party.
They issued a release yesterday saying how wonderful they were and their candidates were, though they got their butts handed to them. There are now fewer Democrats in the state legislature since 1954.
1954. Let that sink in. Eisenhower was President. Cars had fins. Telephones were the size of Volkswagens.
State Democratic chair Ann Tornberg and executive director Susan Jones Pranger instead should have done the honorable thing and resigned. If the state Democratic Party were an actual, functioning business or non-profit, everyone associated with this debacle would be on the street.
The state Democratic Party lost because they have no plan for voter registration. They lost because they have no plan to recruit candidates. They lost because they are beholden to the South Dakota Farmers Union, which has its own ongoing issues with its own members and transparency. They lost because they did not have a message that resonates with regular, hardworking South Dakotans.
I think that sums it up well. The Democrats lost because they really don’t have a party to support their “impressive slate of legislative candidates” as Ann called them. Instead, they recruited them and left them to twist in the wind.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m ok with that. But it does seem like a crappy thing to do to someone you talked into being a candidate.