This seems appropriate tonight. The World Turned Upside Down

From The World Turned Upside Down:
Tradition has it that when Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown (1781) the British played this tune. There is some debate as to whether that is myth or fact.

If buttercups buzz'd after the bee,
If boats were on land, churches on sea,
If ponies rode men and if grass ate the cows,
And cats should be chased into holes by the mouse,
If the mamas sold their babies
To the gypsies for half a crown;
If summer were spring and the other way round,
Then all the world would be upside down.

Listen here to the MIDI file.
Nobody expected it. It's happening was inconcievable. Yet it happened, and all they could do was express their astonishment at their world being turned upside down.

And in South Dakota tonight, it seems that the political world has been turned completely upside down. For months, we've been told how that it's a bad thing to be a conservative, and that we should compromise our values and become more moderate.

A group of Republicans openly rejected their fellow party members and forged allegiances with top Democrats to form a Mainstream Coalition. And how did Republican voters reward those who formed the group? Any of them who had a primary were summarily removed from office.

Moderate challengers to conservative candidates? The best example would be that of Jim Holbeck who openly ran as a moderate Republican alternative to conservative Brock Greenfield. According to tonight's results, he was defeated 71 to 29%.

For months conservatives have been disavowed, criticized, kicked around, and generally treated like red-headed step-children. But in tonight's races, it wasn't the night of the incumbent. It wasn't the night of the challenger. The common thread running between nearly all of the major races was that one candidate was considered the more conservative choice, and the other a moderate or less conservative selection.

And on the GOP side of things, in literally every case when one candidate was viewed as more conservative, the conservative choice won. Check out the Senate Results:

     DIST 03 REP STATE SENATE
(R) LATTERELL ISAAC 613 52 13 13
(R) SUTTON DUANE 566 48 13 13

DIST 05 REP STATE SENATE
(R) ARNOLD DENNIS 632 56 22 22
(R) KONOLD CLAIRE 504 44 22 22

DIST 06 REP STATE SENATE
(R) GREENFIELD BROCK 1769 71 40 40
(R) HOLBECK JAMES 730 29 40 40

DIST 10 REP STATE SENATE
(R) ABDALLAH GENE 981 58 14 14
(R) ALVINE FRANK 724 42 14 14

DIST 25 REP STATE SENATE
(R) HAUGE ARLEN (ARNI 656 61 20 20
(R) KOOISTRA CLARENCE 426 39 20 20

DIST 28 REP STATE SENATE
(R) HECK GERRY 367 17 66 66
(R) KLAUDT TED 1048 48 66 66
(R) WETZ KENNETH 746 35 66 66

DIST 32 REP STATE SENATE
(R) ADELSTEIN STANFORD 1971 48 7 7
(R) SCHWIESOW ELLI 2145 52 7 7

DIST 33 REP STATE SENATE
(R) DUNIPHAN J.P. 779 39 14 14
(R) SCHMIDT DENNIS 1236 61 14 14

DIST 35 REP STATE SENATE
(R) MCCOY ALICE 556 35 10 10
(R) NAPOLI WILLIAM "BI 1025 65 10 10
Tonight is the night when conservative Republicans are feeling like doing some dancing in the street because it comes across as such a decisive and energized victory. Not only did conservative Republicans win close races, they won races that no one had expected. In some cases, long time and popular incumbents were just flat turned out.

Personally, as I think I mentioned in an earlier post, this elation is tinged with a lot of regret on my part for one of my candidates who tonight narrowly lost their race (where all were reasonably equal in ideology). I don't think I've had anyone work harder or deserve to win more in 18 years of doing this. Door to door once? Nope, twice, in addition to all the signs, collateral items, campaigning, and just plain hard work. I'm just sick about it. But mark my words, they'll be back.

Anyway, on other races, there were some indicators of spill over from the conservative bent of the legislative races (from http://www.votepennco.com) for example:
          ALDERMAN RAPID CITY WARD 2
you may vote for 1
Thomas Hennies. . . . . . . . . 674 36.16
Sam Kooiker. . . . . . . . . . 1,190 63.84
Sam Kooiker absolutely destroyed Tom Hennies in the alderman race which was closely tied to the fortunes of State Senator Stan Adelstein. Through his PACs, the Senator had dumped $13,000 into the campaign fund for Hennies first race after being termed out in the legislature. And it's almost as if it acted as an anchor on the campaign instead of propelling it. Kooiker won with authority.

Aside from anecdotal examples of why Republican Conservatives kicked butt tonight, What's the biggest challenge now that conservative candidates have prevailed today? I believe these new and returning candidates need to work together to promote a unified Republican agenda to propel all who are running under the banner of our party forward. It's going to be a tough battle this fall, and we need to meet these challenges and battles head on.

But I'm pretty confident this crop of candidates is up for it. Because these guys know how to win.

Comments

Anonymous said…
That's kind of what happens when there's 15% voter turnout. The people who turn out are the hardcore conservatives. In November, they have to figure out a way to appeal to everyone. Good luck.
Anonymous said…
Anon 311 is right. The extremes tend to have more sway in a primary because there is no need to court the middle. I hope these winners continue to run to the right because that leaves the voters in the middle wide open.
Anonymous said…
I hadn't thought about the issues raised by the 1st 2 posts but I agree.I think in the Nov. the real SD people will be voting. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Dem pickup seats in both houses.
Anonymous said…
The Dems can pick up a lot of seats in Nov. and still not come close to taking over the majority. Last night showed that for now, the moderate wing, and its king stan, of the republican party have no clothes.
Anonymous said…
Great, more extreme right-wing hopefuls in Pierre.

Just what we need...more dang moral, God-fearing conservatives.
Anonymous said…
I think there may be a higher power working here. Think about it!

Look out you remaining "mainstream coalition" members. Your going downstream!
Anonymous said…
Just look at them chatter...
Anonymous said…
As a democrat, I’m downright giddy with these results. If anyone had any doubt about who controls the republican party, last night cleared it up. If you are a moderate and still in the GOP, you just got kicked out. God bless the conservatives, they just put 4 safe seats into play.
Anonymous said…
It is interesting to me how liberals will label those who do not support abortion as "extremists." Anybody who does not agree with liberal philosophy is an extremist in their view. So much for "tolerance." Liberals only tolerate those who have views that mirrow their own. Instead of presenting the facts about HB1215, they spread propaganda instead. HB1215 allows for an abortion if the pregnancy will endanger the life of the mother. It is also legal to take the "morning after" pill. Rape and incest make up less than 2% of all abortions performed. The real agenda of the left is to have abortion on demand. There is no room for reasonable restrictions in the culture of death. Liberals aren't really pro-choice, if they were they would support school vouchers and the rights of gun owners to choose to own a gun. They are in reality pro-death. Thankfully, conservatives won primaries on June 6. I am confident that they will do well in November. By the way, since extremists have more sway in primaries, does this make Jack Billion an extremist?

A proud Conservative Republican.
Anonymous said…
I need to make a correction to my earlier post. HB 1215 does not allow for the taking of the morning after pill. My point is still the same. 2% of abortions are performed due to rape or incest. If you do not want to get pregnant, there are means to ensure that you do not get pregnant.

My posting is the 10:22 AM.

We should do all we can to promote a culture of life and protect the rights of those who cannot speak for themselves. This would include the unborn.

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