Forgot this picture. Wife and Daughter at Herseth's office

When I was doing the pictures from my wife and daughter's DC trip this last weekend, I ran out of time to post the one of them visiting Herseth's office.

I was reminded of it because as my wife and I were going to pick up Papa Murphy's pizza last night, we had to drive by Stephanie's house (a few blocks up the street from us on the way to the pizza place).

It's just a run of the mill residence, from what I've seen on the side. I've never driven by the front. It just happens to be on the main drag if you're going drop the kids off at school, to the pool, Papa Murphy's, etc.

Suprisingly she was out in the yard weeding her flower bed and doing other mundane yard work. I think it's the first time I've seen her wearing something besides a pants suit. (t-shirt and cut-offs jeans).

I think that's part of the aura we place around our high elected officials once they achieve that position. It's a sort of odd rock-star status, where it seems almost freakishly odd to see them in slob clothes, digging in their yard. A while back, an out of towner once remarked to me that they were shocked to run into the Governor in Wal-mart. Well, in Pierre, where else do you go for low prices on dog food, etc.?

I think the weirdness of associating elected officials with the mundane goes along with the belief that once people get elected to a high office, they're invincible. "They're rock stars - don't they have people that do that for them?" For the most part, well, no. I'm sure Stephanie has someone who tends her yard when she's in DC, but it's probably an all too seldom relaxing occasion for her to put flowers in.

Is there a point to all of this? No, not really. Just a reminder that elected officials are as human as the rest of us. They might actually be seen drinking a beer, wearing cut off jeans, weeding their garden, going to Wal mart, etc.

They're not invincible, they're not rock stars, etc. They're just as you or I, and they convinced a majority of us to cast a vote for them. That's it. And someone else might come along another day and convince us to cast a majority vote for someone else.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Good Post PP.

If we South Dakotans ever lose the direct contact with officeholders we enjoy, we'll be in a sad state of affairs.

BK
Anonymous said…
Herseth lives in a prison of her own making. When she was in Georgetown for those 10 years, I'd see her making the scene and living it up--she liked the Georgetown cocktail party world and could have cared less if her gay friends got married. Now she has to pretend to like flying half way across the county and go to some little town to pretend she's a Real Person who plants flowers. And she has to live their alone and not bring in Max and his 5 kids because that really wouldn't fit the image of Farm Girl Purity. How she maintains this staggering level of lies and bull and phoniness is not known. But i don't think people should vote for people who can be this successful at being a fraud. And who "believe" my marriage should be banned in the constitution.

Wishing for the Old Georgetown Stephanie,

Saul, Georgetown, Class of 1994
Anonymous said…
please tell us more about cut-offs!
PP said…
Ed -

I'll plead the 5th, as anything I say can and will be used against me by my wife. (although, she already knows I'm a pig)
Anonymous said…
Saul = OUCH.

I guess he's probably right...too bad she chose of life of having a split personality...on the other hand, at least the House Republicans don't have another vote
PP said…
mwq - I think the point Saul had was that she's voting with Republicans on the defense of marriage stuff, while her rumored boyfriend stays away because South Dakotans might view her having a boyfriend as a negative.

(I could care less, although some of my single friends may yet hold out hope).

Saul's comment is right up to that line on personal stuff where I delete stuff (and I may yet if the personal life starts), but I'll give Saul his say, as he's reasonably identifying himself, and it's somewhat issue related.

Regardless, I'd remind everyone that her personal life is her own (and my post has a little to do with that), so please don't start.

That's my policy regardless of party, so if you're going to rip into someone, do it on how they vote, as opposed to whom they choose their personal time with.
Anonymous said…
She's dating a public figure who was a congressman, is nearly twice her age, used to date Pelosi's daughter had 5? kids, how can that all be private????? Doesn't matter though, Whalen has as much chance as the libertarian candidate.
PP said…
Anon, you ask "how can that be private?" It isn't. But regardless if it's Herseth, Thune, Johnson, or none-of-the-above, I think we can give them a small break on what little of a private life they try to have.

In other words, if you couldn't use it in a political commercial in a campaign against them, don't use it to beat on them here.

No matter their political party, I respect our elected officials enough to give them that.
Anonymous said…
SAUL does get out the razor doesn't he. It is a ridiculous farce for someone with 10 years of college and law school at Georgetown to VOTE in favor of a CONSTITUTIONAL ban on gay marriage...she can admit her charade now or in 5 or 10 years...but most people know it's just a game she's playing with people's lives. Some progressives will never forget how she betrayed them.
Anonymous said…
cut her some slack....Daschle and Kerry did the same thing
Anonymous said…
I don't know if Saul from Georgetown has ever been to South Dakota or, much less, grew up there. But I did grow up in SD, and I understand that our member of Congress will never be liberal enough for some on the coasts, not just on gay marriage but on a host of issues. If you have a problem, take it out on Republican leadership who continues to call meaningless votes on social issues that have pre-determined outcomes and aren't going anywhere in the Senate. Interesting how you take offense to her vote on gay marriage by taking shots at her personal life. I guess that's some east coast college irony - very poignant. Meanwhile, Herseth is a good, common sense representative for her very conservative state. And I'm sure she plants some nice flowers as well.
Anonymous said…
About Stephanie's votes...Maybe she is just representing her constituency. Isn't that what she is supposed to do?
Anonymous said…
Aaron lorenzen: I agree her haircut looked like a lawnmower chewed it off. Looks better in this picture, but I would never recognize her now. I'm surprised the police haven't stopped her like they did Cynthia McKinney because they didn't recognize her; although if they did, I'm sure that Stephanie would deal with it with class and it wouldn't be a big deal. Haircut aside, I think she is a shoo-in for re-election no matter who ran against her. She is antagonizing both Dems and Reps with her various votes, which I guess means she is doing an OK job for this divided state!
Anonymous said…
Hey, Aaron, let's see your photo and haircut... Keanu Reeves? Brad Pitt? Or something different?
Angie said…
Anon (2:33pm): All of our elected official are suppoused to represent their constituency (or a majority of it), but not at the expense of minority rights.

By voting for the Federal Marriage Amendment on the basis of "representing her constituency," Stephanie turned her back on part of her constituency: the gay and lesbian families right here in South Dakota.
Anonymous said…
Why are we still talking about the Federal Marriage Amendment? It's a dead letter. 34 Dems voted for it. Are these strategic votes or votes based on deeply held personal beliefs? I don't know, because the Republican controlled legislature keeps pushing symbolic, irrelevant legislation that is designed to create campaign commercials, not to get something done.

I don't know who Saul from Georgetown is or how he found this website, or why he cares what Rep. Herseth does in her job as the REPRESENTATIVE of South Dakota. But I highly doubt that Stephanie Herseth enjoyed the Georgetown cocktail party world as a 20 year old college student. Maybe she went to some college parties. Maybe she even had cocktails during law school. But this guy sounds more like a troll espousing tired clichés than someone who knows anything about her life at Georgetown.

I highly doubt he knows enough about her to opine on whether she does or doesn't like being back in South Dakota. I heard a story -- don't know if its true -- that Lars asked Stephanie to think long and hard about whether she really wanted this job after being away for so long. She responded that she absolutely did want to represent the people of South Dakota. It is her home and the place that she loves. So I highly doubt Saul's account.

Saul supposedly went to Georgetown, but doesn't know the difference between "there" and "their."

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