Noem: Not Gonna Get Out Dakota'd

Some may recall the story of George W. Bush and his lone run for the U.S. House of Representatives.  Running in a district centered in Midland, TX, Bush, who had just graduated from Harvard Business School, thought his family name would be enough.  But his opponent incessantly mocked Bush for his East Coast, Ivy League ties.  Bush lost.  Bush vowed that he'd never get out Texas'd again. 

This seems to be the main electoral strategy of Kristi Noem.  Over two elections we have seen that Noem is not going to get out South Dakota'd.  This election that has risen to nearly comic heights with the ridiculous ad attacking Matt Varilek because...he went to college overseas.  This web video comes at least close to celebrating being a rube over being educated.  I like the idea of being closely tied to ones place, but the line between devout localism and ignorant provincialism can be fine.

Noem seems to have little to offer as a candidate other than being "more South Dakota than thou."  As a challenger that isn't really a problem.  But cute ads and plaid shirts are not a subsitute for legislative achievement.  It is not enough that she shares the views and "values" of most South Dakotans.  She's not been elected to share our values, but to do something about them. 

This won't matter this year.  She's going to win.  But it is remarkable that a relatively poor candidate, Matt Varilek, is going to give Noem much more of a race than she counted on.  She'll probably be held to under 55%, which is a kind of moral victory for Varilek.  Unfortunately for Varilek, we call a thing a moral victory because in another more importance sense they are losses.  But someday Noem will face a quality challenger in an electoral year less favorable to her.  An incumbent will want to have more to offer than quaint stories about the farm. 

Comments

[Bob Ellis]

Well said on all points.

Rep. Noem could have been a strong incumbent this year. She could have crushed any competitor without breaking a sweat.

Unfortunately she chose to become more of a Washington insider with allegiance more closely tied to the RINO establishment leadership than with those who helped her beat an incumbent two years ago. She has some very good votes under her belt, but by playing it safe, she's effectively thrown water on the passions of the conservatives who helped get her to Washington in the first place.

Let's hope that if she does survive this election, she learns from this, and chooses to, as you so aptly put it, "do something about" the values that put her in office.

[Douglas Wiken]

Choice between a show horse and a work horse. After all the Noem horsey ads, we know she is dressage for the predatory plutocrats.

People alive only because of Affordable Health Care legislation or able to get care because of it may be wondering why Noem thought it important to vote against it 30 or 32 times.

I find it amazing that anybody who lives in South Dakota and isn't in the upper end of the upper 1%k of income votes for any Republican for anything. Noem has more in common with Grover Norquist and his Plutocrat supporters than she does with any South Dakota voter.

Her sole contribution to South Dakota is that she might have kept a few post office workers in a job with all her mailings of slanted, worthless "polls".

[larry kurtz]

Noem and Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota are running identical campaigns. The only difference is the Noem MILF factor: a trait Heitkamp lacks. White men on Viagra: the voting of the little heads.

[Joeboo22]

I think its unfair Larry to compare it to Heitkamp's campaign. First of all she (Heidi) is highly qualified, and again as mentioned a challenger. She was Attorney General of the state and has mentioned things she has done as AG. And yes she is trying to be more North Dakotan that Rick Berg. But you do make the best point. If she looked like Heitkamp or even your average person where would she be in politics? The answer isn't far. She has ran a pathetic campaign, and deserves to lose. Matt Varilek has ran a good campaign, but again a guy that has no name recognition, with a democrat by his name in South Dakota, in an election year, in a non-democrat wave year, should't get more the 35% of the vote.

[caheidelberger]

Remarkably frank assessment, Professor Schaff. Bob, if you really want to teach Kristi Noem a lesson, don't you think that lesson might be best taught by making her abandonment of your principles have consequences? The "consequences" of a slim victory are minimal compared to the instructive consequences of having to go back to the farm and think about the errors of her ways.

[Big D]

Ads that bash education, leaving the state, and partying make people who left the state to get educated less likely to return. It basically says, "if you leave the state, you're not one of us."

[Pike Hunter]

But Noem's point is correct. She is South Dakota. Varilek is not. He knows more about politics, washington D.C than he does about SD.

Varilek is using the fine people of SOuth Dakota for his own ends.

[The Dude]

Below 55% huh? That is a really bad night for team Noem.

'14 will be interesting.

I always like it when a conservative writes something they think rather than talking points. Good work Dr. Schaff! Team Noem needs to here more stuff like this before they run a campaign against Brendan Johnson.

[Anne]

But Dakotaing someone is such a great tradition:

http://southdakotapolitics.blogs.com/south_dakota_politics/2004/10/what_it_means_t.html

[larry kurtz]

RT @shantelkrebs The summer legislative task force on oil & gas is proposing 8 pieces of legislation in Jan to protect landowners and surface depredation

[caheidelberger]

Pike, what is "South Dakota"? Is there a test we take? A certain number of helpings of lutefisk or deer jerky that we have to eat instead of corndogs? What makes anyone on the ballot or in this conversation more "South Dakota" than anyone else?

[Ken Blanchard]

I agree with Jon on everything above, but I would point out that this is a very old question concerning representation. Should we choose representatives who are competent and energetic on the job, or representative who are really representative? Almost always, we do the latter. Do Obama's supporters back their man because they think he is really the best man for the job, or do they think he is the best man for the job because he is their man? The answer is B.

Kristi Noem more "South Dakota" than anyone she has yet faced in a contest. That is why she won the 2010 Republican primary and why she is in no danger this year.

[Jon S.]

Ken, I fail to see why those arguments are mutually exclusive. The old argument of the trustee vs. the delegate is not an argument over competence vs. sociological similarity. It is an argument over how much discretion and representative should have to disagree with his or her constituents. Those who hold to a delegate view of representation would still not abide a representative who is "like them" yet who is either incompetent or uninterested in turning their values into legislation or real influence.

[falcılar]

And yes she is trying to be more North Dakotan that Rick Berg. But you do make the best point. If she looked like Heitkamp or even your average person where would she be in politics? The answer isn't far. She has ran a pathetic campaign, and deserves to lose. Matt Varilek has ran a good campaign, but again a guy that has no name recognition, with a democrat by his name in South Dakota, in an election year

[Ken Blanchard]

Jon: I agree with you concerning those who "hold to a delegate view of representation". The trustee v. delegate question is about who should be in office. I only point out that voters usually choose the delegate view without considering the alternative. Jesse Jackson Jr. won reelection despite the fact that he is in the Mayo Clinic. I rest my case.