By Denise Ross
One of the ususal suspects as the potential secret $750,000 donor to the 2006 Vote Yes for Life campaign has been the Catholic Church, a notion I dismissed almost out of hand. For some reason, I thought the church wouldn’t funnel its [...]
From my e-mail box:
Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., takes a break from being pummeled about the head and shoulders for her no vote on health care to file this Veteran’s Day op-ed, which provides an overview of some of the veteran-related legislation Congress is working on:
Honoring Our Veterans
-Rep. Stephanie [...]
By Denise Ross
From the files of stuff you couldn’t dream up, South Dakota’s own Larry Pressler has a post in the Obama administration. If that’s not awesome enough, it’s on a commision that I - at least - would not have imagined possible. It’s the Commission [...]
By Denise Ross
The growing rift in the Republican Party, highlighted by yesterday’s House election in New York’s District 23, reminds CBS’s Bob Schieffer of the Democrats in 1972 and the presidential defeat of South Dakota’s own George McGovern.
Here’s video from [...]
By Denise Ross
One has to look for the good news when it comes to the news business these days.
For the Associated Press, it might be that the Tribune Co. is dropping it only for a week (for now).
The Tribune papers (including the Chicago [...]
By Denise Ross
I thought of the angry, pitchfork-bearing villagers demanding that Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and Tim Johnson hold town hall meetings during the August recess when I heard about the congressman who spent a summer vacation on a deserted tropical island.
Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., sought to test ought [...]
Oft-praised bill would cost practically nothing.
By Denise Ross
Tired of the health care debate yet? If so, too bad as it’s likely to dominate Capitol Hill news throughout the end of the year. Here’s some health care news about SD’s House member that’s not been widely reported and might even become [...]
By Denise Ross
A sleeping baby is keeping me from Dennis Daugaard’s official campaign announcement, so let’s look at one of the plethora of events in the evolution of media and journalism.
Late last week, UC Berkeley’s J school hosted a summit on new [...]
By Denise Ross
In a national media moment that would make PP proud - of a Democrat, even - SD state Rep. Garry Moore, D-Yankton, stood up for Gov. Mike Rounds in his veto of a law that would have required young children to ride in booster seats. Read/listen to the [...]
By Denise Ross
“My name is Jim Abourezk, and I used to work for the government.” That was the opening line - and an applause generator - at a Friday night fundraiser in Rapid City. The local labor temple, a favorite of local Democrats, is a dimly lit cinder block cavern made cozy by [...]
By Denise Ross
State Sen. Jason Gant, R-Sioux Falls, made a swing out to the Black Hills recently in his bid to become South Dakota’s next Secretary of State. (He attended a Pennington County GOP picnic that was held during the worst picnic weather short of a blizzard, so he’s serious [...]
By Denise Ross
Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-SD, shed her usually genteel tone during a conference call with reporters Thursday when she was asked about criticism that moderate Blue Dog Dems (of which she is one) were being unduly influenced on the ongoing health care debate by campaign contributions from the [...]
By Denise Ross
I had a number of back-channel communications letting me know that Dennis Daugaard will not be the first South Dakota gubernatorial candidate to hire a Beltway media firm for his campaign.
In fact, Paul Wilson (see post below for more details) was hired by George Mickelson for both of [...]
By Denise Ross
Rounding out my interview with Lt. Gov. Dennis Daugaard, let’s look at his campaign team. He’s hired his son and his son-in-law, and he knows what you all think of that. He’s also hired a professional political media outfit and that tried-and-true Sioux Falls ad agency to GOP [...]
By Denise Ross
There’s a good explanation for the lull at the Hoghouse, untimely as the GOP gubernatorial candidates are making noise and health care is going hog wild on Capitol Hill. Hoghouse HQ now has a lovely new front deck, and Mr. Hoghouse is quite the taskmaster! (I’ll post a [...]
By Denise Ross
Lt. Gov. Dennis Daugaard has been largely absent from this summer’s fairs-and-parades circuit, and it’s been by design. The GOP gubernatorial candidate isn’t interested in starting his 2010 campaign much before 2010.
And even though he’s not been shy about his intentions to seek South Dakota’s chief executive job [...]
By Denise Ross
No doubt you’ve seen the ads running on SoDak news and blog sites, and they sound pretty good. South Dakota’s own John Thune wants you to help him ”Stop the bailouts.”
Personally, I would like to have a direct hand in reversing the Wall Street bonuses, but I digress. Here’s one [...]
By Denise RossState Senate Majority Leader Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, was in Rapid City this week, and he dialed up the Hoghouse for a chat. Knudson says he’s spending the last week of each month “out west” in preparation for the June 2010 GOP gubernatorial primary.While he’s getting more comfortable [...]
By Denise RossIf you’re growing weary of screaming about health care reform, there’s another song on the political season of discontent’s hit parade: climate legislation, known by various names depending on the political leanings of who’s talking.South Dakota’s congressional delegation has as diverse a set of views as possible, considering [...]
By Denise Ross
As Sen. John Thune, R-SD, adds town hall meetings on health care to his August recess schedule, I offer the newspaper column I wrote recently about his position on the pending reform.
Thune has long been for some specific flavors of health care reform, but at the moment and [...]
By Denise Ross
Of course when the crowd heard it, it seemed obvious. Tom Hennies wanted his final farewell, the last hymn sung at his funeral, to be God Bless America. And so it was.
Besides the size of the crowd - the [...]
By Denise Ross
When Sen. Tim Johnson penned a column earlier this week touting the good things the “climate change legislation” would mean for South Dakota, one might have gotten the impression he was referring to what’s come to be known as the cap-and-trade bill that’s been passed by the US [...]
By Denise Ross
Tom Hennies had an infectious personality. I don’t know any reporter who covered him who didn’t appreciate his straightforward answers to questions and his penchant for corny jokes. Apparently his no-nonsense approach was popular among constituents, too, as he routinely won election to the Legislature by wide margins.
And [...]
By Denise Ross
From my e-mail box, this column by Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., says that the cap-and-trade bill would mean more jobs in South Dakota. This after the Argus Leader reported a week or more ago that our electric bills would go up. (Read his entire column on the jump.)
Writes Johnson:
Soon the Senate will [...]
By Denise Ross
It’s a blue, blue, blue, blue world on Capitol Hill these days, and I’m not talking about Democrats. Or at least not most of them. It’s the Blue Dogs, a group that’s most likely crossed into overexposure as some sort of health care reform careens through a tension-filled [...]
By Denise Ross
Reliably red? Not any more, according to Gallup, which last year had South Dakota as “competitive.” Now, we’re blue. (I swear it’s true.)
There’s nary a red state left, with our neighbor Wyoming holding fast. After polling from [...]
By Denise Ross
From my e-mail box, a press release from Sen. Tim Johnson’s office about his work on the Senate Banking Committee, specifically ongoing work to try to infuse some sense of common courtesy into the Wall Street culture. (Read the entire release on the jump.)
Says Johnson:
The regulatory structure overseeing [...]
By Denise Ross
Since I panned the Health Freedom Blog recently launched by Sen. John Thune’s campaign staff, I ought to point out where there is some actual information about how Thune stands on health care. It’s his official Senate website:
We need [...]
By Denise Ross
South Dakota’s own John Thune has launched the Health Freedom blog, and, frankly, it’s killing me.
C’mon guys, you can do better than giving in to the reflexive GOP urge to name everything “freedom.” You know how some things become [...]
By Denise Ross
South Dakota’s congresswoman, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, told reporters Thursday that she can’t support any of the various versions of health care reform legislation now being worked on in the US House.
I’m not able to support the bill in its current form, she said on a conference call.
SHS said [...]
By Denise Ross
As one political observer put it to me, The Blue Dogs have never been so en vogue. I’m guessing they’re not so popular around 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, however.
The US House’s Blue Dog coalition of moderate/conservative Dems is now mentioned in most stories about the ongoing Capitol Hill healthcare [...]
By Denise Ross
I won’t be redundant, but the fracas that’s erupted over Dem Scott Heidepriem’s entry into the 2010 gubernatorial race is getting good - and it’s only been a day.
First, the SD War College has the state GOP’s, um, missive titled The phoniest man [...]
By Denise Ross
In a word, the answer is Zachary. So the very reason I predicted Stephanie Herseth Sandlin would run for governor turns out to be the reason she won’t. (I think I’m going to start predicting that I won’t win the Powerball.)
Earlier this month, South Dakota’s lone US House member ended [...]
By Denise Ross
It’s not hard to find East Coast media - especially in NYC - taking on South Dakota’s own John Thune over his (failed) proposal to have concealed carry gun permits recognized by other states. But the New York Daily News did it in graphic form, which is great [...]
By Denise Ross
I’ve been remiss in not posting this before now. Shortly after I wrote a newspaper column about Sen. Tim Johnson staking out lonely but historic ground in trying to reform the nation’s broken system for drawing congressional districts, South Dakota’s own Stephanie [...]
By Denise Ross
CQPolitics examines an intriguing dynamic in South Dakota’s upcoming gubernatorial election process and neglects to mention a key fact. (Read it all here.)
First, the omission, in a name, is Steve Jarding. Since Jarding is' [...]
By Denise Ross
Can anyone tell me why Facebook (for me) has suddenly turned all Chinese? Or, more importantly, how to fix it?
I can’t even log in right now, since the only language I know is English. (I tried to learn French in college. It didn’t take. I can ask you [...]
By Denise Ross
It’s been far too long since I posted a photo of the little piggy. Here’s David Alexander Larson just shy of turning 6 months old.
He eats rice and vegetables.
He has two adorable teeth.
He scoots a bit.
All things that the baby lovers among [...]
By Denise Ross
South Dakota’s own John Thune might be rising fast in the GOP ranks, but today he got the cold shoulder from the Washington Post. They don’t much like his proposed amendment that would require states to honor concealed carry gun [...]
By Denise Ross
It’s not unreported news, but if I ever knew it, I’d forgotten that George McGovern dismissed the idea of asking Walter Cronkite to be his 1972 running mate, thinking the revered newsman wouldn’t risk his gravitas on a political campaign. Years later, Cronkite told him he would have [...]
By Denise Ross
An astute observer asks via back-channel communication: Does the board make-up of the new Ellsworth Development Authority make sense, geographically speaking?
Here’s the list:
Jeffory Erickson, Sioux Falls Gary Grittner, Fort Pierre Mark Johnston, Sioux Falls Glen Kane, Rapid City Stanley Porch, Wanblee Bruce Rampelberg, Rapid City (Chairman) Mark Roby, WatertownJohnston, an Iowa native, did live [...]
By Denise Ross
Following closely behind open government on my short list of issues critical to the functioning of our democracy is the breath-taking way in which congressional district boundaries are drawn. So when South Dakota’s own Tim Johnson introduced a bill to change the system, my heart skipped a little beat. And then I [...]
By Denise Ross
Marc Tobias, longtime close friend and adviser to former Gov. and US Rep. Bill Janklow, showed up on a TODAY Show segment today, talking about how most of our house locks are not really locks. (The car that Janklow was driving when he had his career-ending traffic crash [...]
By Denise Ross
John Thune’s new campaign manager doesn’t sound paranoid, but ever since I interviewed him for a recent newspaper column I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of what threats he sees. And he does see them, SHS notwithstanding. (Read the full column on the jump.)
We always said Sen. [...]
By Denise Ross
So Stephanie’s running for the House again and all the great political theater that would have been won’t be. Little chance of the Republicans quivering in fear that they’ll lose the governor’s seat for the first time in a generation. No open House seat.
Besides being a tad boring, [...]
By Denise Ross
The website Politics Daily agrees with my recent analysis that South Dakota’s own John Thune ought to be in the mix when the future of the nation’s Republican Party is discussed.
After observing that Thune is “very tan,” Politics Daily makes [...]
By Denise Ross
Even as the likes of Mark Sanford and John Ensign crash and burn well in advance of the checkered flag of the 2012 GOP presidential primary, South Dakota’s own John Thune gets nary a mention by national pundits as a worthy party leader waiting in the wings. I [...]
By Denise Ross
It takes more than just a nice guy to helm a state in the midst of economic troubles. That was Sen. Dave Knudson’s clear message as he’s wading neck-deep into a 2010 primary against the sitting lieutenant governor, Dennis Daugaard, who happens to be a very nice [...]
