Good article on the National Conference of State Legislature’s Website featuring Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck, and discussing what he’s learned over his many years of service in the South Dakota State Legislature:
You’ve had several stints in the South Dakota Legislature going back to the late ’70s. What is it about legislative life that keeps you coming back?
I like trying to solve problems, and when I first served, I thought it was about strident advocacy for things you were passionate about. It’s about how do you fix the roads, patch the potholes, make the trains run on time. I think I have a certain knack for getting people together to solve problems. But I’m not going to run again after this time. We don’t lose as many people to term limits as we lose to spouse limits.
and..
Any advice for new legislators who won their elections last month?
The new senators that’ll be coming in, I’ve told them all, “When you take the oath of office, make sure your families come, too.”
I would also say that on issues, keep your powder dry. That was what the majority leader told me when I showed up in the Senate in 1995. Good advice because you hear one side right away. They make sense and then you commit and the next thing you know, that’s the dumbest idea ever. So keep your powder dry. Relationships matter. Go out and get to know on a personal level the people you’re going to serve with because every one of them has a story and most of them are great stories. If you understand them and they get to understand you, you’re going to solve more problems.
Be disciplined. It doesn’t matter if you can sleep in when you’re at the Capitol. That’s time you wasted that you could have got something done. It’s also true that while you can stay up late at night, that’s generally not good. Don’t forget where you came from. I’m a mechanic’s kid, and I know that I need to get back and talk to regular blue-collar folks.
Elections are like balloons filled with helium, and the election brings you back down to the ground. So you’re talking to people and people are telling you how great you are and filling it up with more helium. Every two years, here in South Dakota, you get brought back down. So you can understand where you’re supposed to be at.
Lee has always been willing to mentor young candidates and new legislators in both elections and getting a solid foundation on being a good legislator. Check it out. It’s a good article.
Lee Schoenbeck is one of the least Conservative Senators! We must remember that he was one who helped recruit registered Democrats to change parties and run against the GOP Senators and Representatives whose votes are based on the Constitution and the GOP Platform. Thank God most of those recruited lost in the GOP Primary.
Hey you kids! Get offa my lawn. And tell those robots to quit stealing my medications!
“They make sense and then you commit and the next thing you know, that’s the dumbest idea ever.”
This applies to suppressing evidence and speech about election fraud in 2020. Like Thune and Pence not sending it back to states .. that was a monumentally dumb idea assuming continuity of the republic is the goal. Not speaking the truth bravely about our elections is like allowing a slit throat to bleed out and hoping it will scab-up. Now, we need heroic trauma surgery to save the patient. I get what Lee is saying here, but to deify Lee beyond reproach is not the correct approach.
Out of the context of Thune and Pence’s befuddling failure on a global stage with the world watching, Lee’s observation is a very good one. Being conservative and waiting and contemplating the evidence is always a good idea. At some point this principle must subside because decisions must be made with incomplete evidence.
“I’m a mechanic’s kid.”
Me too, Lee. Dad was a machinist for factory shutdowns in NC and is a Vietnam Vet. Stepdad was the best flat rate mechanic in town and can still turn a wrench as far as I know. Growing up poor as dirt in a single wide gave me some perspective as I achieved the unachievable for my demographic.
All the hemming and hawing on issues and political barbs aside, I would like to wish Lee the best. I know I would have a lot to learn from his successes, but maybe more from his mistakes. I appreciate the humble tone of his responses.
“Lee has always been willing to mentor young candidates and new legislators in both elections and getting a solid foundation on being a good legislator.”
Truth be told, when I first heard about Senator Schoenbeck, the opinions of others landed somewhere between knee and ground level. But as often happens when others share their opinions of other people, those opinions proved to differ from my own.
“While we don’t agree on everything” (an overused introduction), I’ve learned Senator Schoenbeck is quick to share his wisdom and experience, patient with questions from new (and old) legislators and a master tactician of the political process. He has an inquisitive mind and is predisposed to self-improvement, always reading and learning something. While it’s true he doesn’t suffer fools gladly, he also loves his family (and dogs) and makes time for what matters.
Though I enjoy reminding him he supported my opponent, it has been a pleasant surprise to get to know Lee Schoenbeck. We remind one another to show grace, be kind and doubt what you hear from other people about other people. It’s a good way to start a relationship, and I’m proud to count him as a friend. Until it’s time to vote. 🙂
“be kind and doubt what you hear from other people about other people”
Well said. Good principle.
I enjoyed reading your post, B.R.
Thanks.
Very kind of you to say, bless you.
Lee is top notch. I don’t always agree with him but I don’t always agree with myself either.
I like that he thinks for himself and isn’t in a cult.
He calls ’em as he sees ’em, be they pond scum or whackadoodles.
His greatest achievement this year will be sitting pischke next to frau mueller
No. His greatest achievement is being the most powerful legislator since the 1980’s.
He took out Hansen and Odenbach. (All I heard was a whimper or a whine. They didn’t even fight back)
That will be his legacy. He put a watertown guy in charge of the house.
Because Noem is all over the country He will dictate much of the agenda.
He is essentially a governor.
Yet he was too scared to debate the great Mark Levin on TV.
Governor? No.
We did one of those Capitol internships together: in Janklow’s office. I can’t help but wonder how, with what, or how often Wild Bill would have crushed the life out of the malcontent wannabes.
the malcontents were surly but much more circumspect about it in janklow’s day that’s for sure.