Kevin Woster is over on his KELO blog opining this afternoon that, on the basis of a discussion with one Democrat who fought against her previously, that all her moderate stances and blue-dogging will be forgiven by state Democrats if she decides to run for Governor:
The Democrats who abandoned Stephanie Herseth Sandlin during her 2010 reelection run for the U.S. House are ready to support her, probably with some vigor, if she runs for governor in 2018.
I talked to one this morning, a long-time, hard-line, difficult-to-please Democrat who turned away from Herseth Sandlin in a big way in 2010 because “I couldn’t tell the difference between her and John Boehner.”
and…
I asked the obvious: “Will the money be there, too?”
Yes. Yes, it will be.
Several Democrats who have been sailing along on the SHS Disaffected say they will come to political port if she runs. They like her chances, a lot, in a head-to-head against Kristi Noem for the governor’s chair.
Kevin may get that from one Democrat, but I don’t believe it can be applied across the board. State Democrats have purged moderates from their midst. So, there’s little chance they’re going to ask them to come back.
Remember when they went after Jim Abbot as a Democrat in Name only? That was only the beginning. They moved hard against Herseth in 2010 with a Kevin Weiland as a protest candidate who almost jumped in (and it helped to set up Herseth Sandlin’s) fall from grace.
Most recently is the end run the Daschle/Weiland people made around Herseth Sandlin. They had a very competitive challenger who could have gotten into the US Senate race against Mike Rounds. And they sunk her. They absolutely sabotaged her by getting into the race. And she walked away.
Each of these incidents is evidence that more and more, year by year, the hard-left liberal wing has taken over more and more of the state Democratic party. You have long time Democrats such as Ryan Maher, Eldon Nygaard, and most recently Dale Hargens who felt they had no place, and that they were better off leaving as their party moved farther and farther to the left.
Not to mention the fact that there has also been a corresponding dwindling of the number of Democrat elected officials, candidates, and voters.
Are there a few old timers who might welcome the Herseth name back on the ballot? Sure. There are always a few. But by and large, its doubtful that the support will be there from the liberal faction that has taken over the state Democratic party.
Their sole quest is for ideological purity. And to drive their party into the ground.
Noem v Herseth II
That would be epic.
EPIC? Really? When Noem hasn’t done anything but support the OBAMA agenda while riding on Bonehead Boehner’s coattails since she got to the big 3-ring circus? She and Stephanie are cut from the same cloth. Noem is a “pretend” conservative.
EPIC? Man it sure doesn’t take much to impress the WHIG compromisers of South Dakotavile.
“Epic” – beyond the usual.
I too think that rematch would certainly qualify. Both parties may not find a closer matchup.
huge
Would Stephanie want to take a substantial pay cut where she and her family enjoy their privacy and step back into politics and run for Governor? She would be an excellent candidate but would she be strong enough to win with a crippled political party losing members at a fairly steady rate which their defections will increase in 2016?
Did the state Democratic party ever fill those 3 full-time positions?
Each Central Committee Meetings barely has enough county party officials to have a quorum and many that do show up you wonder how many more election cycles those old faithful McGovern Democrats have left.
Many counties have zero officers to represent the party and help build ,organize and GOTV.
Besides the state party having very limited financial resources Stephanie and her campaign would have to deal with the extremists that have taken over what remains of the state party and could further sabotage her efforts.
Besides the nutcases within her own party she would go up against a deep bench and a well oiled SDGOP machine
Why bother?
The Democrats will figure it out eventually. She’s actually the key to reviving the statewide party in a lasting way, but interestingly enough the party is in the hands of those who use gasoline to put out fires.
This is so true.
“I couldn’t tell the difference between her and John Boehner.”
If sher an with Sutton they would be tough to beat.
You know who is overrated? Billie Sutton. Ever watched him in a committee hearing? You will understand that he’s not as impressive once you are observing him and thinking about him as a candidate. Frerichs is more impressive.
Imagine if Stephy pulled a Trump and ran as a RINO.. What would the establishment RINO apologists do?! How would they control the shivers that would be coursing through their legs? 😀