Brookings, South Dakota - A great place to swing!
I've been noodling on what topic to delve into tonight, and have had a tough time getting started.
I was thinking about what factions have developed in the GOP party since 2004, but then I got sidetracked. I was also thinking on discussing Sibby's hatred for Tony Dean, but that would take way too long to analyze (Tony's actually a close family friend). So I went to something a little more timely in my life...
Dear Penthouse, I never believed those stories about swinging until it happened to me in Brookings, SD. (Okay, that's not what I meant.)
I'm in the process of setting up residence in Brookings. My wife just got a nice job there, and now I have to figure out what I'm going to do (Either "Would you like fries with that", or "Thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart"). Actually, I'm looking at a couple of things, or I could go into business for myself and give at least 33% off the top to the Federal Government.
Thanks for punishing someone trying to make their own way, jerks. As you can see, I'm not a big fan of welfare and the exceedingly high business taxes that go to support it. It's primarily why I'm a Republican. The whole give someone a fishing pole and they will learn to fish thing. For the past 15 years I've also worked in the auction business as an independent contractor on the side, typically doing back breaking hauling of furniture, etc. And my reward on Tax Day? A big bite out of my income. One year, when both my wife and I were making a little over 20k each, with 2 kids, I had a tax bil of almost $2600. For working an extra job.
ANYWAY, back to the Brookings thing. What does Brookings have do do with swinging? Not the kind you read about in magazines. It's why Stephanie Herseth REALLY declares it as her residence. Not because she favors it over her home area of Aberdeen - Brookings traditionally has the largest amount of swing voters. And Stephanie, like any other smart politician knows she needs those Brookings votes to go to her and not a GOP opponent.
Swing Voters - you know, the ones who will go either way... Er, either way as in Republican or Democrat (you gutter minds). While mainly being a conservative town, Brookings is known to elect several Democrats to office - typically to city races. It shows that they sometimes like their politicians flavored with a bit of liberal.
Dick Negstad who was in the Senate from Brookings was a Republican - but he was also big on an income tax during his tenure, and somewhat liberal in general. I tried to tell him that wanting an income tax was not a smart issue to run on as a Republican when I was working with the party as legislative director. Dick disagreed. His wife would call the office and complain to my boss about my assertion. Sorry, the truth hurts, and the income tax thing was in the platform, so I wasn't the only one who thought that way.
So, ultra-conservative Brookings which only recently allowed Beer sales in town on Sunday, has a bit of a liberal attitude. Aren't sure whether to trust me or not? Watch the vote tallies between winning GOP and DEM candidates. Brookings residents are not afraid to cross from party to party as they make their choices - which makes it a dangerous county to ignore in a statewide election.
In a close race, you're going to need as many of those swing voters as possible. And when you have such a large concentration of them in Brookings County, best to pay attention to them. I know I will.
I was thinking about what factions have developed in the GOP party since 2004, but then I got sidetracked. I was also thinking on discussing Sibby's hatred for Tony Dean, but that would take way too long to analyze (Tony's actually a close family friend). So I went to something a little more timely in my life...
Dear Penthouse, I never believed those stories about swinging until it happened to me in Brookings, SD. (Okay, that's not what I meant.)
I'm in the process of setting up residence in Brookings. My wife just got a nice job there, and now I have to figure out what I'm going to do (Either "Would you like fries with that", or "Thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart"). Actually, I'm looking at a couple of things, or I could go into business for myself and give at least 33% off the top to the Federal Government.
Thanks for punishing someone trying to make their own way, jerks. As you can see, I'm not a big fan of welfare and the exceedingly high business taxes that go to support it. It's primarily why I'm a Republican. The whole give someone a fishing pole and they will learn to fish thing. For the past 15 years I've also worked in the auction business as an independent contractor on the side, typically doing back breaking hauling of furniture, etc. And my reward on Tax Day? A big bite out of my income. One year, when both my wife and I were making a little over 20k each, with 2 kids, I had a tax bil of almost $2600. For working an extra job.
ANYWAY, back to the Brookings thing. What does Brookings have do do with swinging? Not the kind you read about in magazines. It's why Stephanie Herseth REALLY declares it as her residence. Not because she favors it over her home area of Aberdeen - Brookings traditionally has the largest amount of swing voters. And Stephanie, like any other smart politician knows she needs those Brookings votes to go to her and not a GOP opponent.
Swing Voters - you know, the ones who will go either way... Er, either way as in Republican or Democrat (you gutter minds). While mainly being a conservative town, Brookings is known to elect several Democrats to office - typically to city races. It shows that they sometimes like their politicians flavored with a bit of liberal.
Dick Negstad who was in the Senate from Brookings was a Republican - but he was also big on an income tax during his tenure, and somewhat liberal in general. I tried to tell him that wanting an income tax was not a smart issue to run on as a Republican when I was working with the party as legislative director. Dick disagreed. His wife would call the office and complain to my boss about my assertion. Sorry, the truth hurts, and the income tax thing was in the platform, so I wasn't the only one who thought that way.
So, ultra-conservative Brookings which only recently allowed Beer sales in town on Sunday, has a bit of a liberal attitude. Aren't sure whether to trust me or not? Watch the vote tallies between winning GOP and DEM candidates. Brookings residents are not afraid to cross from party to party as they make their choices - which makes it a dangerous county to ignore in a statewide election.
In a close race, you're going to need as many of those swing voters as possible. And when you have such a large concentration of them in Brookings County, best to pay attention to them. I know I will.
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