Wednesday, June 9, 2010

State Dems hissy-slap GOP House candidate Noem... or are they trying to help her?


Kristi Noem photo by Emily Spartz / Argus Leader

While [Democratic House incumbent Stephanie] Herseth Sandlin offered her congratulations, the South Dakota Democratic Party went on the offensive Tuesday night, calling Noem an extremist and comparing her to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

"With extreme views that are outside of the mainstream, she became known as 'South Dakota's Sarah Palin,'" state party Executive Director Erin McCarrick said in a statement. "South Dakotans need real solutions, not an extremist like Kristi Noem who isn't ready to lead and has demonstrated a troubling lack of understanding of the challenges facing our state."

From the Sioux Falls Argus Leader

Sometimes, liberals get in the habit of listening to other liberals exclusively. "Sarah Palin" might be a good slam only among people who already agree that any conservative woman is "outside of the mainstream."

Meanwhile, in the real world, three out of four national candidates for whom Palin actively campaigned won or got into run-offs.

5 comments:

Scott said...

Gee, that home-wrecker Herseth-Sandlin could become presiding bishop WHEN she loses this election. Vile and nasty. Just like Pelosi and Schlamori.

caheidelberger said...

[Well, Scott, that was baselessly and needlessly vile and nasty.]

Be careful with your last line, Tim. Palin may well have chosen to campaign for candidates who looked like they were going to win. Do we have any data on Palin actually increasing support for various candidates?

TLF+ said...

cory - don't think it is relevant to the point. Even if they were frontrunners, her endorsement didn't cause their supporters to defect to someone more "mainstream."

Time describes the races in which Palin gave support as "close" - so it doesn't appear that she shopped for "done deals."

caheidelberger said...

True, Tim, I'll grant the former: she didn't hurt the people she endorsed. But Tom Jensen, Public Policy Polling, characterizes Palin's endorsements as "minimal positive impact." WaPo's Dave Weigel notes that Iowa's Branstad finished 6 points lower than polls prior to Palin's endorsement suggested. Weigel also notes Romney and Huckabee have been moer involved with candidates but get less press because they aren't as exciting/ratings-grabbing of a narrative.

TLF+ said...

In Nevada she was a big presence and the Tea Party candidate upended the GOP mainstream candidate.

So, hard to say. Interesting about Romney and Huckabee not getting any newsplay... I suppose that can be read as Palin taking over or, alternatively, as the MSM thinking that any mention of her would destroy an associated GOP candidate and keeping all focus on her with that in mind.