More on the Volesky Pullout from Seth Tupper in Mitchell

The Mitchell Daily Republic has some more to add to the Volesky Gubernatorial Pullout in a pair of articles from Seth Tupper:
Volesky said he has no idea who might run for the Democratic nomination. Some former Democratic candidates said they are sure somebody will step forward, but they don’t know who.

Bernie Hunhoff, a Yankton magazine publisher who lost to Republican Bill Janklow in 1998, joked that the Democrats are in need of a professional wrestler like former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura.

“The party’s in a corner and it needs to find somebody already well known,” Hunhoff said. “And I don’t think our bench is very well stocked with those kinds of people.”

Jim Hutmacher, an Oacoma businessman who ran unsuccessfully in the 2002 Democratic primary, said money could help a Democrat overcome the odds.

“You never know

they might be independently wealthy, and they would be in good shape to help themselves then,” Hutmacher said. “There’s not many Democrats who are independently wealthy, though.”

Jim Beddow, a former Mitchell resident who lost to Janklow in 1994, said he has some possible candidates in mind but does not want to name them. Beddow gave $250 to Volesky and was one of only three individuals to donate more than $100, according to Volesky’s campaign finance report.

“He has a lot of talent,” Beddow said of Volesky. “I’m disappointed.”

Any Democrat who enters the race now will have barely more than nine months to mount a challenge against Rounds, who is ranked by SurveyUSA as the fifth-most popular governor in the nation with an approval rating of 73 percent.
And...
But it may be too late. Sean Flynn, a political science and history professor at Dakota Wesleyan University, said Volesky put the Democrats in a hole that could be difficult to climb out of.

“I would contend that he has disadvantaged his party somewhat by leading them to believe that he was a serious candidate and then relatively late in the race dropping out,” Flynn said. “That places the Democrats in a position of having to hustle to locate a candidate who has the profile and the resources to mount an effective challenge.”
Read it all here. If you have access to the dead tree version of the Mitchell Daily Republic, you need to read the companion piece to the article on the race from Seth Tupper. In it, it discusses how Volesky's fundraising was outpaced by Governor Rounds by 466 to 1, and described Ron's effort as "among the weakest efforts" in running for Governor. He also compared the effort to that of a third party candidate.

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I had it postulated to me the other day that the media have especially been pounding the drum of needed competition in political races. Why?

When there is hot competition in the major races for statewide office, who benefits? Well, for one, the companies who provide outlets for advertising - like radio, television and newspaper.

That might just be the view of one cycnic, but it's certainly food for thought.

Comments

Bob Newland said…
I'll reregister and run for guvner as a democrat, if the demos will take care of getting the signatures for me.

I'll get at least as many votes as Volesky would have.
Anonymous said…
Bob, I thought you just recently proclaimed the virtues of your party. Are the libertarians threatening to take a responsible position on pot?

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