So I read this yesterday. Joel makes some great points. Some are spot on. Some are way off. But I will have to admit, one of the best blog posts from a SD blogger I have read in a long time about the 2018 race.
What do you think about the speculation?
Joel is even a bigger idiot than you are, Scott.
Ok, lots of substance. I doubt Huether will make the final four. He’ll have some sort of scandal or investigation. Darin Smith can sing with Paul Simon or join the circus. Who for governor? A mystery candidate. I’m saying Lorrie Gill (mayor of Pierre). Time for an honest conservative republican woman wit no skeletins in the closet. Its way out there but right for this time. I lean toward democrat but vote for her if she runs.
Larry, I would agree, I could shoot quite a few holes in some of Joel’s predictions, but I think he is spot on for a few things.
I suspect what happens in 2018 boils down to some simple questions.
– Would Kristi Noem prefer to be governor? If so, she will be governor. No smart Democrat will challenge her. Mike Huether is not a smart Democrat. However, a Noem/Huether race would be high comedy and would likely provide MMM with the 20-point drubbing so many of you would love to see him endure.
– Would Dennis Daugaard like to be in Congress? If so, he will be a congressman. But Daugaard is older than Rounds and seems less driven politically. The real bloodbath could be the 2018 GOP congressional primary if Daugaard doesn’t run. By virtue of its small population, South Dakota doesn’t offer too many paths to ascend the political ladder and an at-large congressman is always going to be seen as a senator or governor-in-waiting.
– Democrats in South Dakota don’t have a shot at boo until 2020, a presidential year when Mike Rounds comes back on the ballot and a Republican congressman is presumably running his/her first re-election campaign should Noem leave in 2018.
Spot on at least with regards to huether and how the entire state views him after all his me, me, me, SF, SF, SF rants.
I did laugh at this;
“One trait Mike Huether has demonstrated is his ability (despite his methods) of overcoming objections (the classic trait of a great salesman). BTW the last great salesman who was Governor of South Dakota was Dick Kneip, the last Democrat to serve. Kneip was a Dairy salesman. “