Search Results: Staggers

Now that Huether has turned the race into a partisan affair, one wonders what is at stake for both parties.

On the Democratic side, they view Mike as a rising star in the party and the mayoral seat as a stepping stone. If he gets elected, and is successful as mayor, he could run for governor or even US Senate. Trust me, Mike may be telling you to your face that this is non-partisan, but it is pretty clear he wants this to be a win for Democrats. As Argus Leader political reporter Jonathan Ellis said the other day on his and Patrick Lalley’s web program, “(Republicans) May be looking to choke the baby in the cradle.”

And that brings us to Staggers. It is no secret that Kermit isn’t your typical Republican, and it shows in who votes for him. He has wide support amongst all parties, but how does his party feel about him? Do Republicans want a true fiscal conservative with Libertarian beliefs, such as civil liberties, representing their party as mayor of Sioux Falls? Who knows? It was clear that Pat Costello was their dog in the race. Are they willing to look past Kermit’s big ‘L’ behind his name just to pull off a win for their party, or more importantly stopping Huether?

I truly wish Mike would not have brought partisanship in this race. I support Kermit for his values, his intelligence, his transparency and his willingness to work with ALL citizens, not just the special interests. I could care less if he was a Republican or a Democrat.

I want to give a little ‘Liberal’ advice to my Republican friends, let Mike be the partisan candidate, leave Kermit out of it. That means, let’s stop talking about gay rights and the Freemasons. While these are huge political debates, they play no part in a mayoral race.

Harry Browne wrote: “We should never define Libertarian positions in terms coined by liberals or conservatives – nor as some variant of their positions.”

Cake anyone?

Some people are upset that Kermit said this yesterday at the Chamber forum;

“There seems to be some confusion,” he said. “Once again, I am the Republican, Mike’s the Democrat.”

I don’t think Kermit ever wanted to say this, but he had to. There were several rumors swirling around out there and some undecided voters were unaware of the party affiliations. Kermit just wanted to set the record straight, something he has done his whole political life.

And what was Mike’s response;

“This isn’t about politics,” Huether responded. “The last thing you wanted to hear about is politics and this is what we started with. How incredibly sad is that?”

It’s sad alright, sad that you are such a hypocrite. First off, running for office is political, it’s not a dirty word. Secondly, when you mail out a postcard with Daschle’s picture on it, you hire one of the best Democratic strategist’s in the country to run your campaign (so did Erpenbach), you donate thousands of dollars to the Democratic party, you take money from the unions and use Democratic resources and volunteers to help with your campaign, then you turnaround and are mad that ‘politics’ have been dragged into this race? You dragged them into this race. Staggers was perfectly happy with not bringing up his party affiliation, even though he knew it would help him garner votes, he avoided it. If you are not proud of your association with the Democratic party, why are you a Democrat, or better yet take full advantage of their resources?

Heck, Michelle can’t even admit to the newspaper she is a Democrat. Makes you wonder what she was telling voters before the election? Apparently she wanted them to assume she was an independent.

City councilor-elect Michelle Erpenbach, who attended the breakfast, said the mayoral election is a nonpartisan race and should stay that way.

She won the Central District council seat April 13 and was asked her party affiliation by voters on the campaign trail.

“I would always say this is a nonpartisan race and we are all in this for the betterment of Sioux Falls,” she said.

You can’t have your cake and eat it to. If you are using the Democratic party to get yourself elected, you are being partisan. Plain and simple, there are no two ways around it.

This is one of the most bizarre quotes I have heard in a very long time;

The mayor, he (Huether) added, doesn’t create the plan but provides leadership so that it gets done. “Mr. Staggers, the people of Sioux Falls are looking for leadership. They’re not looking for legislation. They’re not looking for policy,” he said.

Hey, Mike, LEADERS set policy, that is their job as elected officials. You do understand that? Don’t you? Apparently not.

I have always thought, as others have, that Staggers’ 21 years of public service experience and his extensive knowledge of taxation and law make him better prepared to be mayor on day one. It appears that Huether will have a HUGE learning curve if he becomes mayor. I have often felt that when the next mayor opens the books he will get many surprises, we need someone who can act quickly – not someone scrambling to find their handbook.

Once again, monthly blog poster, Joel Rosenthal gave his two cents worth on the mayoral campaign. His Sweet Velvet Hammer, Vernon did not win, so he is busy making excuses;

The election results in Tuesday’s Sioux Falls Mayor’s election were surprising and yet not surprising.

It was not surprising. I predicted these two would face off in the runoff, because they did something the other candidates did not. They got out of their cars and actually talked to citizens. Sioux Falls is not NY City, we are a town of 92,000 voters, it is not so hard to talk to voters in this town.

Had the election been a three or four candidate race, the results could have been much different. Keep this in mind when the ultimate winner claims a mandate for their cause.

Kinda like Munson did when he had like 7% of the citizens vote him in as mayor? I could see Mike doing this, but not Kermit. Kermit is very clear about transparent government and apathy. For godsakes, he teaches government, if anything Kermit promotes voting like a madman!

Staggers maintained his lead with his appeals and adherence to his message the city overtaxes and overspends.

Uh. They do.

Despite Staggers’ limited financial support, he had the best campaign. This really is no surprise. As I have said repeatedly he is a good campaigner and personally engaging (people like him one on one). He understands the nuts and bolts of political campaigns. Kermit blocks and tackles well. He had succinct billboards, yard signs, and television ads that delivered his message Staggers – common sense.

Jinkies Joel, seems you woke up from your long deep sleep.

While Staggers opposes government involvement in all but the most basic of city services (and he may want to change some of those as well), the election results in the four Council races refute Stagger’s view of what voters want. All four winners Rex Rolfing, Jim Entenman, Sue Aguilar and Michelle Erpenbach, are interested in quality of life issues that Staggers opposes. Entenman and Erpenbach defeated Staggers’ disciples Michael Jones and Theresa Stehly by landslide margins.

They won, because the AGENDA oriented Argus Leader endorsed them while not covering the council race at all, and the fact that most of them spent 2 to 3 times more then their opponents. In fact, in the Central District, over 700 voters DID NOT VOTE for a council candidate. Why is that? Because they did not have a clue who they were. The next council scares the shit out of me. They either have a special interest agenda, or don’t have a clue. As a reporter said to me the other day, ‘Fun Times.’ I suspect they said it sarcastically.

Common though is that the supporters of the losing candidates will coalesce for Huether. Given the poll and Staggers’ unfavorables this makes sense.

Well, Joel, considering I have been right for months about who would be in the runoff, and you have been WRONG, this prediction is laughable. That, and the fact that Kermit was the only mayoral candidate that had wide support from all parties, while Mike is clearly partisan to the Democratic party.

However, I would not completely rule Kermit out. First of all he is focused and has a plan. He will play the Republican card claiming that Huether is a Democrat and thus unworthy. I touched on Huether in March of 2009. Turnout will be important.

It doesn’t matter that Kermit is a Republican, that party crap doesn’t matter anymore, he proved that in the election and the poll. All that matters is who will listen to you when moving this city forward and it ain’t Mike Huether.