I used to post these, and I am going to start again. It’s the weekly state of politics according to Sheldon, enjoy!
In politics: Nationally: Per polling to date, Trump’s felony conviction has had only a small effect on the Presidential election in November. It is hard to believe that only a small portion of the electorate is bothered by the thought of having a President with a finger on the nuclear button who is ineligible to purchase a firearm in most States.
In South Dakota: The main stream wing of the Republican Party suffered a solid defeat in the primary elections held last week. Fourteen incumbent Republican legislators were replaced by insurgent and, generally speaking, more conservative (MAGA-like) candidates. The South Dakota Democratic Party (SDDP) might have been able to take advantage of this rightward drift of the GOP if they had fielded a full slate of candidates. Unfortunately, the SDDP handicapped itself by running Legislative candidates in only 52 of South Dakota’s 105 legislative races, one of the SDDP’s poorer candidate recruitment efforts in recent memory. They will have to wait until next year as they say in sports, or the next election cycle, as they say in politics.
The SDDP will hold its State Convention next week and it is long past time form it to reflect on its current direction. Democratic registration continues to decline, breaking the support level of 144,000 as of June 4th, ending with 143,993 registered Democrats, down 250 since May 1st against a Republican registration gain of 1239. The is the 10th consecutive month Democratic voter registration has declined. Over this time period, which just happens to coincide with the current SDDP leadership’s recall of their State Chair, Jennifer Slaight-Hansen, the Republican plurality over Democratic registration in South Dakota increase by 10,096. As I often repeat, the voting public in South Dakota is not buying what the SDDP’s current leadership is selling.
I wish I had better news.