From the Aberdeen American News, outgoing GOP National Committeman Dana Randall offers a preview of this weekend’s GOP National Convention…. and teases us a little with regards to his future political plans:

Dana Randall, South Dakota’s national committee chairman, said the convention kicks off the start of the 2018 election season. He said he knows of two 2018 candidates for South Dakota governor who will be hosting hospitality rooms. They are state Rep. Mark Mickelson and Attorney General Marty Jackley. But Randall is confident others will be campaigning.

About 200 voting delegates are expected at convention, said Char Cornelius, chairwoman of the Brown County Republicans. Close to 300 could be in attendance at Friday’s banquet, she said.

This will be Randall’s last convention as national committeeman.

“After eight years, it’s time for someone else,” he said in a phone interview earlier this week.

In a CNN Poll released this week, Just under 50% of Republicans tell Pollster ORC International that they would like to see Trump replaced on the Republican ticket, and some notable conservatives are commenting that the Trump campaign isn’t doing so great right now:

Trump’s campaign is a disaster. He has no ground operation. He has little staff. He is trailing in polling. He is $41 million behind Hillary Clinton in cash on hand. His super PAC has only $500,000 cash on hand with more than that in debts. He just tossed his campaign manager.

Trump could raise $1 million a day every day from now to the convention and still have less than Hillary Clinton, but he doesn’t even want to do that. RNC officials are grumbling that Trump won’t raise money.

 

and..

By the way, Ted Cruz has six times more cash on hand right now than Donald Trump and Cruz dropped out at the beginning of May.

Read that here. And in a story by Politico yesterday, Trump opponents weren’t exactly shy and retiring after the series of campaign missteps by the Trump campaign, finding themselves suddenly emboldened by all the anti-Trump talk:

Throughout Tuesday, as Trump’s campaign sought to quash concerns about his anemic fundraising and decision to fire campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, anti-Trump delegates seized on glimmers of hope.

First, they snagged the endorsement of former U.S. Sen. Gordon Humphrey, who told POLITICO he’ll work full-time to help encourage New England delegates to rebel against Trump and to connect his allies with mid-level GOP fundraisers who can sustain their push through the convention. Later, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker endorsed one of their preferred methods for stopping Trump: freeing all 2,472 Republican National Convention delegates to vote their conscience, rather than abiding by rules and state laws that bind them to support Trump.

“Delegates are and should be able to vote the way they see fit,” Walker said, according to an Associated Press account.

Read that story here.

My question to you, the faithful readers, is “What do you think?”  Should Trump be given the opportunity to turn this around? Can he turn it around?

Given that the possibility of Hillary Clinton becoming president is tremendously unpalatable, should we be backing a Republican nominee apparent who needs to be doing better? Or do we need to free up delegates to vote their conscience?

The floor is yours.

My phone is blowing up about now….

Gov. Daugaard Will Not Call
Special Session To Address Medicaid Expansion Proposal

PIERRE, S.D. – Gov. Dennis Daugaard announced today that he will not call a special session of the South Dakota State Legislature to address the expansion of Medicaid.

We have a good plan that would increase healthcare access at no additional state cost and guarantee that the federal government won’t shift its responsibility to pay for Native American healthcare to the state,” said Gov. Daugaard. “Still, I have heard from legislators that they would like more time to study this plan, and in particular want to wait to consider the issue until after the presidential election. For that reason, I will not be calling a special session to take up this issue.” (Governor Audio Clips)

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…and there’s also a story up at the Argus:

Gov. Dennis Daugaard announced Wednesday that he won’t call a special session to discuss Medicaid expansion.

Daugaard said legislators have asked for additional time to digest the plan, especially given the upcoming presidential election, and he won’t call them back to Pierre to vote on expansion until after November.

Read it here.

What do you think?

Apparently, someone was a bad, bad County Commissioner.  it’s reported in the news this AM that Pennington County Commissioners have suspended Commissioner George Ferebee from the planning commission and publicly reprimanded him for using his post to gain information for his court case, as well as other actions:

Four Pennington County commissioners have publicly reprimanded a fellow board member for allegedly bullying and harassing Planning Department staff.

and…

Commissioners say Ferebee created a hostile work environment and violated the county’s code of ethics.

Ferebee is accused in court of violating county ordinance by failing to obtain a permit for his septic system. The county’s planning director says Ferebee used his position to pursue information for his court case.

Read it all here.

In the Rapid City Journal, Commissioner Deb Hadcock had to weigh in with her usual erudite manner:

The current short-term Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) extension expires on July 15, leaving just a few short weeks for Congress to pass a short-term extension or a long term reauthorization bill.

For those of you who think it should be easy to get things liek that done – from Politico comes a story on how South Dakota’s Senior US Senator John Thune has been pushing for long-term funding for the Federal Aviation Administration, but his committee counterparts in the House are only looking to put a band-aid… as well as a lot of other things on it:

THUNE TO POLITICO: ‘WE’RE GOING TO TAKE ONE MORE RUN.’ Even with the House seemingly decided on taking an extension, Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune isn’t ready to admit defeat on his hopes of getting a bill passed by the summer. We caught up with him on Monday night and updated him on the latest we’d heard from the House. Thune says he’s planning to have discussions with Shuster this week. “We’re going to take one more run at trying to get something done with this,” Thune told POLITICO. “I know there are a lot of different things, permutations of this that are being discussed right now, but I think we’ll have a better sense by the end of the week. But we’ve got a dialogue going with our counterparts in the House right now, and I’m hopeful that that will yield some sort of forward progress.”

and…

Final thoughts: MT asked Thune if he felt frustrated about the process. Stepping onto the Senate subway elevators, he sighed. “Yeah,” he said. “Aren’t you?”

Read it here.

And of course, it’s never as simple as passing a bill,  as the Capital Thinking blog notes…

Complicating matters, FAA reauthorization is likely the only bill with a tax title that Congress will pass this year. Because of this, Members of Congress may attempt to add contentious tax provisions to the FAA bill, making an extension into 2017 more palatable to Members who want to avoid these tax fights during the lame duck period.

Read that here.

As much as those such as Senator Thune wants to move forward, it’s in the face of working with others who want to kick the can down the road to keep from having to make tough calls.

Here’s one you won’t read about in the mainstream media. While Paula Hawks kvetches about the IHS Health crisis on South Dakota’s indian reservations, Congressowman Kristi Noem is doing more than complaining..

The fiscal year 2017 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill that was released on Tuesday includes additional funds to address what Rep. Kristi Noem (R-South Dakota) said was a “crisis” at the IHS. Some $6 million will be directed to “accreditation emergencies” like the ones affecting an unprecedented four facilities in the Great Plains.“

The added funding will not solve IHS’s deep-rooted problems, but I’m hopeful it will help as we work to put real reforms in place,” Noem said in a press release on Wednesday.S.2953 does not have a companion in the House at this point. But Noem confirmed that she is working on her own IHS reform package, an effort Thune welcomed during his conference call.

“We need to fundamentally change how this agency is run and how it delivers care” Noem said.

Read it here.

…Congresswoman Noem is acting. And Noem’s activism for the tribes in Congress has not gone unnoticed, as the Rosebud Sioux Tribe recently recognized her hard work with a resolution that points out her extensive work on behalf of South Dakota Tribes:

Exempting tribes from the Employer Mandate, Protecting Tribal Sovereignty, Suicide Prevention, Mni Wiconi, a Meth Facility for Rosebud, Health Care, fighting to create a USDA office of Tribal Relations, and even working to shepherd the National Bison Legacy Act through the House and Senate earned Congresswoman Noem the unanimous thanks and gratitude of the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council.

Whether it’s working hard for South Dakota tribes, or South Dakota Agriculture, there’s a reason we say she does a good job for South Dakota. because it’s true.

The Republican primaries are over, and this weekend, we move into what may be one of the most low-key State Republican Conventions that we’ve seen in recent years.  Devoid of controversy and races with competition, more action may potentially be in committee, with the highest level of politicking saved for candidates as they jockey for 2018.

South Dakota National Committeewoman Sandye Kading is expected to be re-elected in an uncontested contest, and while National Committeeman Dana Randall is stepping back from his duties, leaving an open seat for his position, only outgoing State Senator Ried Holien has expressed an interest in running, which may leave that office uncontested as well.

The Republican and Democrat party conventions this year will also have the responsibility of nominating their respective choices for the Public Utilities Commission to appear on the fall ballot.

Current Republican PUC Commissioner Chris Nelson is running, although Thomas Bixler of Yankton, who has unsuccessfully ran twice for the legislature in Yankton sent an e-mail trying to delegates via the internet to nominate him in absentia. Similar efforts in the past have traditionally fallen short.

Nelson will win his convention contest unopposed when it comes down to the actual delegate vote, and will handily dispatch whatever sacrificial lamb Democrats talk into running when they recruit someone to “take one for the team,” as Jay Williams is doing in the US Senate Race, and Paula Hawks is doing in the Congressional contest for the Democrats.

If there are any fireworks likely to occur, it may be in the Resolutions and Platform Committees which both meet Friday Morning. According to a postcard sent out by the SDGOP this week:

The Resolutions Committee is meeting at 1pm on Friday, and is still accepting proposed resolutions through Noon via e-mail at [email protected]. Similarly, the Platform committee is meeting at 10am, but will be accepting platform amendments through noon. Those can be mailed to the committee at [email protected].

The last convention in Rapid City enacted a controversial resolution from the floor that garnered national attention when it demanded President Obama’s impeachment for the trading of prisoners for Bowe Bergdahl:

The resolution says Obama has “violated his oath of office in numerous ways.” It specifically cites the release of five Taliban combatants in a trade for captive U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl, Obama’s statement that people could keep insurance companies, and recent EPA regulations on power plants.

“Therefore, be it resolved that the South Dakota Republican Party calls on our U.S. Representatives to initiate impeachment proceedings against the president of the United States,” the resolution reads.

Read that here.

Depending on the makeup and temperament of the delegates in attendance, we may see a bomb-throwing resolution or two, but, it’s par for the course, just like when Democrats passed one declaring themselves apologists for President Obama after the Republican one.

But, don’t take this as a hint that the entire affair is going to be low-key, due to the lack of contested races at conventions and elsewhere.

Watch for the serious politicking to take place in the hospitality suites and elsewhere as candidates appear and start their jockeying for Governor and other offices in 2018.  Marty Jackley and Mark Mickelson are expected to loom large, as well any number of others who are considered to be in the hunt.

Congresswoman Kristi Noem is always a presence at convention, and if she didn’t have that speed bump (Paula Hawks) in her run to another term, I’m sure she’s be talking more about 2018 as well.

And if (when) Noem does make the jump for Governor, that opens up a whole beachhead as every young candidate worth their salt (or who believes they can run at that level) will throw their hat in the ring.

We might see a few making noise already for constitutional offices in 2018, Jason Ravnsborg is mentioned as a 2-18 AG hopeful, as are Brian Gosch, Tom Wollman, and others. Trust me – there will be a lot of chatter about it in the hospitality rooms.

Tired of 2016 already? 2018 will be on display a-plenty this weekend!  If the GOP Convention is not on your calendar, it should be. I’ve got my room lined up, and my charging cords packed up for the biggest political event of the season.

See you there!

The next big political question coming is whether or not a special session for Medicaid expansion should take place. Tell us yes or no, and add the “why” under the comments.

A Special Father’s Day Message From John and Harold Thune

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), co-chair of the Senate Task Force on Responsible Fatherhood, and his dad Harold Thune have a special message about Father’s Day and the importance of being a good dad.

“I want to wish all dads across the state of South Dakota and across this country a happy Father’s Day and encourage them to keep on keeping on even when it gets hard – to battle through the tough times – but never forget to spend time with and connect with those kids and invest in them because that’s the most important thing that we can do,” said Thune. “That’s our greatest treasure, and that’s what really Father’s Day is all about.”

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Being a Dad is the Best Job of My Life
By Sen. John Thune

I’ve worn numerous hats, held a lot of jobs, and had many titles throughout my life. And while being your U.S. senator is one of the most humbling and fulfilling of those experiences, it pales in comparison to being a dad. It’s the most amazing blessing I’ve ever received, and I thank God each day for the privilege of having had the opportunity to raise two strong and confident daughters.

My dad taught me a lot of lessons in life, including that with faith and hard work, all things are possible. Personal responsibility, discipline, patience, and humility were qualities my dad modeled every day, and they are the qualities to which I aspire.

My dad is a very humble guy. When we were growing up, he was “dad,” the guy who always showed up to batting practice, throwing pitch after pitch for me and my teammates. He was the guy who enjoyed the simple things in life, and so loved spending time with his kids that even though he was a teacher, coach, and the athletic director, he still drove the school bus to and from sporting events.

Had it not been for my mom, my siblings and I might never have known that my dad was a fighter pilot and war hero. He flew multiple missions over the Pacific from the USS Intrepid during World War II and even earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, which is awarded for “heroism or extraordinary achievement.” I don’t know that he ever would have told us about his basketball career either – a hall of famer, nonetheless. In fact, the good people of Murdo were kind enough to name the Murdo City Auditorium after him.

Needless to say, my dad set the bar pretty high.

Being a dad to Larissa and Brittany is the most serious role I’ve undertaken, and I’ve always believed that if you don’t do your best at being a dad, nothing else really matters. My dad proved there’s no greater power than the power of example, and I’ve tried to follow his lead.

Being there for the big moments in the girls’ lives has always been important to me. I can still see Brittany breaking free of my hold for that first bike ride without training wheels. I remember like yesterday pulling Larissa out of a fast-moving creek in the Black Hills, and I will always cherish tucking in the girls each night and reciting our bedtime prayers. I relish the moments – both the good times and the bad – when I could sling my arm around them and offer congratulations or provide the comfort that things will be okay.

Being a dad is more than a job to me. It defines who I am, and it inspires me to be a better person for my family and also for the community I serve. There’s no other job I’d rather have.

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