As we count the hours until the impending collapse of the South Dakota Democrat Party this weekend, I thought it would be interesting to look at what Democrat Party Chair was promising to do as chairwoman of the Democrat Party, as she came in with hopes and dreams…. only to find out that South Dakota is not a liberal democrat state:
As reported by WNAX:
Tornberg says she wants to rebuild their financial base from the grassroots.
and…
Tornberg says they will also be hiring more staff for their offices.
As reported by the Rapid City Journal:
Tornberg said she’ll focus on building the party’s county-level organization and fundraising rather than trying to influence policy positions. Nevertheless, she does not think her position on abortion conflicts with the party’s platform, which she said is broad enough to include a spectrum of views on abortion.
and..Joe Lowe of Piedmont was elected vice chairman of the party and said he’ll focus on beefing up Democrats’ West River operations, possibly including the opening of a West River office.
and..
“You are electing an administrator, not a policymaker,” Heidelberger wrote. “You are electing someone to raise money, organize volunteers, and win elections. Delegates in 2016, not the chair, will determine whether ‘reproductive rights’ remain in the party platform.”
From Ann herself…
“Our state party has made a lot of progress over the last four years, but we’re still not seeing results at the ballot box. I want to help change that.
I’m running for South Dakota Democratic Party Chair because we need to rebuild our county parties, raise money to expand our outreach, recruit a full slate of candidates at the local, state and federal level, and register new voters among diverse constituencies.
Working together from the bottom up, Democrats across the state can build on the progress we’ve made and fulfill the promise George McGovern instilled in our party to win elections up and down the ballot.
If we were to summarize the promises Team Tornberg made in December of 2014 alongside the results…
| Tornberg Promise | Tornberg Results |
| Rebuild Financial base from the grassroots. | Failed. No evidence of change. |
| Hire more staff for offices | Yes. Hired several staff members. |
| Build County-level organizations | Failed. Did anything happen here? |
| Beef Up West River Operations (Via Joe Lowe) | Failed. (Where’s Joe Lowe in this coup, anyway?) |
| Recruit a full slate of candidates | Failed. And failed again. Back to using placeholders. |
| Register new voters among diverse constituencies | Failed. Voter registration has dropped. |
| Win Elections. |
Failed. Democrat office holder numbers are at historic lows. |
If I’m reading this correctly, Ann promised to hire more staff, and was able to deliver on that. Yes, she did hire a pile of staff. For all the good that did them.
Well, maybe her staff will get to vote, and she’ll be able to hang on to her job this weekend.
Why are you posting so much about Tornberg’s inadequacy as chair of SDDP? Shouldn’t we want her to stay? She’s made GOP wins all the easier!
Excellent thought. Tornberg should stay, she’s done a fabulous job!!
We just can’t turn away from a train wreck.
Plus, they have Todd Epp essentially calling for the chair to come from the phonebook (do they even have phonebooks any more) and Cory Heidelberger essentially calling for the chair to be the one with the best essay.
You just can’t make this stuff up.
I’m expecting the 2018 SDDP season to be funnier than the Big Bang Theory’s next season.