In last night's post on the Republican candidates for Congress, I neglected to mention Pastor Steve Hickey. This was not intended as a judgment on his campaign, let alone as any kind of slight. I had seen his campaign announced by Cory Heidelberger, from whom I get all my news. I just forgot about the Hickey campaign.
Steve Hickey
I do not know Pastor Hickey. All I have to go on is his website, which is sharp and reasonably informative. I don't know if he drinks beer, but if so I'm buyin'. The theory of sociological representation says that people do or should vote for people just like themselves. If that were true, I ought to be voting for Steve. He confesses to a degree in political science and has a beard.
His issues list is bread and butter conservative with a strong emphasis on the "social values" thing. That and the fact that his career consists almost entirely of his work as a Pastor makes him the candidate of the religious right. Cory thinks that Hickey and Blake Curd will split the "angry conservative and fundagelical vote." "Fundagelical?" This, Cory thinks, will allow Nelson to win the nomination.
I am skeptical. Unlike Nelson, Curd, and Noem, Hickey doesn't seem to have significant political experience. If it's really an anti-establishment year, that might play to his advantage; but I am guessing that he will seem too much the religious candidate to a lot of Republicans who want to win in November. His lack of a political base means he has a lot of ground to cover in voter recognition.
Tarn Vieira
My SDP colleague Miranda Flint informs me of a fifth candidate, Tarn Vieira. Tarn has the most entertaining website, at least to a political scientist. How many candidates inform you that they have read most of Will Durant's History of Civilization. I like that bit of honesty. No living human being has read all of Durant's History. Like Scott Brown, Tarn has a pickup truck.
Tarn describes himself as a transplanted Californian. That might be a problem, but at least he can say, as I can, that he voluntarily left there for here and doesn't regret his choice. His issues page is a lot richer in personality than any of the others, and identifies him as a twenty-four karat right wing populist. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
From his website I like Tarn just fine and I suppose he might bring some refreshing breezes into what might otherwise be a stale campaign.
Just now I don't think either Steve Hickey or Tarn Vieira will be serious contenders in the campaign. To be sure, both can appeal to anti-establishment sentiment better than Nelson, Curd, and Noem; but I expect the latter three will compete for most of the political resources in the state, including party organizations, activists, and money.
Three is a magic number in a political environment like South Dakota. If the top two contenders savage each other, a third might well win by default. With Noem in the race, I just don't see any opening for Hickey or Vieira unless one or the other turns out to have some kind of prairie magic.
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