I'm phoning it in tonight. Here's another poll to chew on.

I'm back in Pierre early this weekend for an on-site "audition" for a job that would let me spend much more time in Brookings. After working all day, I'm tired, and I'm thinking of going to see Spider Man 3, so I'm not going to do much for blogging tonight.

So, to fill space, I'm going to throw up another poll for the readers to generate some chatter about the ghost of elections to come. Earlier today, I asked who the GOP is going to put up for congress in 2008 (based on report, rumors and gossip circulating). For those of you grumbling "why I didn't include and west river people," when the chatter starts that they might be interested, I'll include them. Until then, I'll include what I hear.

For this poll, I note there's lots of chatter who the GOP is going to run for Gov in 2010, but very few Democratic names are popping up. So let me have it - what do you think the Dems are going to put up in 2010?

Who are the Dems going to put up for Governor in 2010?
Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin
Senate Minority Leader Scott Heidepreim
Former School and Lands Commissioner Bryce Healy
SDDP Chairman Jack Billion
State Senator Frank Kloucek
Lt. Governor Candidate Eric Abrahamson
State Senator Ben Nesselhuf
pollcode.com free polls


And yes, west river is represented here.

I might chime in again after seeing what you have to say. It also depends on how late Spider man 3 goes tonight.
(From the collection of Spider-man comics I'm building for my son.
He'll probably sell them for beer money when he's in college)

Comments

Anonymous said…
Bill Walsh, RC - formerly Deadwood.
Anonymous said…
Scott Heidepriem is wetting himself everyday he wants to run for higher office so bad. Fellow progressives, please don't support this complete phony
Anonymous said…
I'm a District 19 voter - every election I hope that Kloucek will run for statewide office SO WE CAN BE RID OF HIM!
Anonymous said…
Don't undercut Frank. He's The Man. If he runs, he wins. A lock.
Anonymous said…
8:46 must be Todd E.
Anonymous said…
"He'll probably sell them for beer money when he's in college."

Weed, more likely. Cheaper, not as bad for him. I'm sure, with his genes, he'll be a yong man of good sense.
Anonymous said…
Newland
You can leave your "weed" comments on my husband's site all you want - but don't you ever talk about my son again.
Anonymous said…
Bob, I have no idea what was said and that is fine but, come on leave the kids alone for petes sake!
Anonymous said…
Takes a real big man to go after someones kids!
Anonymous said…
Well, that sound just like someone of Bob's character.

Pushing unhealthy things (in this case, his views on illegal drugs) on those who are young and impressionable.

Why with a moral core like that, I can't imagine why he isn't one of our state's leading citizens.

Instead, we're just left to pity him as this fringe character on the edge of society who begs for attention and legitimacy, and who lashes out when he receives neither.

Poor Bob.
Anonymous said…
Oh, WOW.

Is it possible that anyone might have overreacted to the comment about weed?

Every man is someone's son. Every woman is someone's daughter.

Jokes are jokes.

Quit whining.
PP said…
Great. I make a lighthearted joke, and when I return from the movie, I find that Bob not only turns it into a drug reference, but it involves one of my kids, and he manages to get my wife's goat.

Aside from the fact I thought I banned him once, a couple things are really, really evident.

First and foremost, the medical marijuana issue is getting far more play on this weblog than it deserves. Far more in proportion to its importance in comparison to real issues such as economic development, teacher pay, taxes, or just about any other political issue that we deal with in South Dakota.

In fact, I'm sure if you did a poll, it would be somewhere below local curb and gutter concerns.

It would be like an aunt that comes over to your house, and all she talks about is the boil she has. You try to be polite, and ask her about her family, her house, even the weather. But all she does is talk about her boil, and how much it festers.

It reaches the point that you just get tired of hearing about it, and have no interest in feeding into her festering boil-mania. So you stop inviting her.

Up until the point where he hoped my kid would use illegal drugs, I was generally ok with Bob rambling on about his boil.... er, his issue.

But now, he really can take it somewhere else. I've even killed the index where the blogs devoted to that issue come up in my web feeds.

Why? Because in the big scheme of things, all it gets is lip service, and a failed legislative or ballot measure every once in a blue moon.

I'd rather discuss campaigning, current political issues, or even political buttons. Because all of those matter an infinite amount more than Bob's boil.

And from here on out, unless he can discuss an issue that somehow matters, he can keep his festering opinion to himself.
Anonymous said…
Good job PP. The fact is that, despite what Newland says, your readers don't want to hear it from him.
Anonymous said…
2:50 A
No, I feel you are wrong!
Mr. "Weed Man" Bob, just doesn't let up and people are sick of his harp, and harp...
push push push.
Say good night Bob.
Hey Bob you could always take up the Anti cause of so much plastic being used.
That would be a good topic. opps of topic if this is deleted okay.
Anonymous said…
xxjInteresting parallel to a proposed ban of Steve Sibson from Mt. Blogmore. It will be instructive to see how a similar issue is handled here at SDWC.
Anonymous said…
Mrs PP -

Does it matter that you husband started it?
Anonymous said…
If Herseth runs, she's the Governor. Heidepriem would be a solid candidate. The others won't break 40%.
Anonymous said…
9:38 posters,
Okay PP made reference to his child in hummor. However i do not feel that should open the door to comments about a small child.
Those who posted comments about "the weedman" know where and how he stands on the issue and i for one feel Bob should have left it alone.
Attacking an adult is one thing but people should never attack a kid!
So i am not sure i totaly agree with your comment.
PP said…
8:53, that's a good point, because I'm not out to censor anyone.

But when the same identical argument is raised no matter the issue, when should you finally go "Aunt Mabel, quit talking about your oozing boil? We've heard about it for the last two years, and you've made your point."

I think there's a distinct difference between Newland and Sibby. Steve actively writes on his own website, and on Blogmore comments on any number of topics. All Bob talks about is marijuana.

99 times out of 100, you'd think Bob's comments are a simple cut and paste. 98 of those times, it's a stretch to consider them on topic. Sibby's discussions (while some people may not agree with them), are usually related to the topic at hand.

In other words, I think it's the difference between discussion and spam. When I get most spam posts on my website, I delete them.

When I get the same tired statements over and over, at this point, I'd consider it in the same category.
Anonymous said…
PP - it is tough to take any poll seriously when you include Kloueck.
Anonymous said…
PP 8:53

Sibby is always trying to make people feel bad about who they are and how they think.

Bob is always trying to find ways to help people who are feeling bad feel better.

I guess it all depends on what your priorities are, PP.
Anonymous said…
Forty-eight percent of the state is registered with the Republican Party but the joke is on us if Republican voters continue to stand with Democrat candidates or incumbents.

All of the complaints you have about Herseth's votes should come as no surprise since she endorsed Pelosi for House Speaker. Herseth broadcasts that she is left-wing liberal and votes her values, which shouldn't now be a surprise to us.

If Herseth wins any future statewide election it will confirm we still have leadership issues in the GOP. Leadership should not have given up Diedrich for Herseth to begin with!

There are no "top tier" Democrats in South Dakota unless "she has nice legs" or he is "a cranky old man".

What we have to look forward to in the GOP this coming year is what the new guy does.
Anonymous said…
"I make a lighthearted joke, and when I return from the movie, I find that Bob not only turns it into a drug reference..."

You're the one who made it a drug reference, PP. Unless you're going to say that alcohol isn't a drug.

And if you (and your wife) could relax for a minute, you'd see that Bob was complimenting you ("I'm sure, with his genes, he'll be a yong man of good sense.").
Anonymous said…
I agree. I don't think Bob "attacked" anybody with his post.
Anonymous said…
Exactly. PP basically (jokingly) says he expects his kid to grow up, become an alcoholic in college and squander a family heirloom on beer money. Then the Mrs. takes after Neighbor Bob with the rolling pin.

Actually, I'll bet the one she probably wanted to bonk was PP. (Who knows, maybe she did?)

Anyway, we found out today who wears the pants over at PP's house, huh? Pretty funny.

Moms. Gotta love 'em.
Anonymous said…
I am about to reveal the most fantastic example of obliviousness in the history of this already-fantastically oblivious blog...

Stay tuned...
Anonymous said…
Here's what PP had to say about banning a poster over on Blogmore:

---
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
- Voltaire.

We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still.
-John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859

We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.
-John F. Kennedy

Comment by PP at SDWC — 5/5/2007 @ 4:42 pm
Anonymous said…
Is this guy a dunce or what?

Even his wife would have to agree, no?
Anonymous said…
I bet PPs wife broke a broom across his butt.

Meanwhile Newland's jammin' down the road on his dirt bike, laughing up a storm. The old turdroller.
Anonymous said…
Oh man, this is how folk legends get started.

My eyes are watering over here.
Anonymous said…
2:40, I think PP addressed that at 11:59. Unless you were too stoned to notice it.
Anonymous said…
3:31

Laughing too hard to notice
would be more like it. (sidache)
Anonymous said…
Those who laugh first really laugh last, or is that cry.
If you are going to "bonk" not bong someone over the head in a statement i guess you had best read all the post. DUH
Anonymous said…
3:20. Bwahahaha! This just keeps better and better. Like Beverly Hillbillies meets Dumb and Dumber. Hahaha!
Anonymous said…
Check out the comic book cover. That's Spideyboy Newland on the floor and Big Mama PP in the white coat and rolling pin. Sibby's packin' heat in the right foreground and he's brought a bunch of nappy headed Anons with him from Pierre.

How was the movie by the way PP? Not nearly as excellent as this thread, I bet.
Anonymous said…
This is the best thread ever.
Anonymous said…
From now on, I only want to know what Mrs. PP thinks. Maybe she should start her own blog.
She's got way more balls than PP does.
Haggs said…
You're building a Spider-Man collection for your son? That's awesome! You're a very cool dad, PP.

And when I first read Bob Newland's post, I thought he was joking. So Mrs. PP's responce seemed surprising. But I always forget that he's the medical marijuana guy. In that context, his comment was probably not appropriate.
Anonymous said…
That doesn't make any sense, Haggs.

Do you care?

Newland can't make a joke becuse of who he is?

Baloney.

I suppose if Bill O'Riley had written it you, PP, and the Missus would all be laughing your butts off.

Right.

Let's face it. PP started it by saying he thinks his kid is gonna grow up and be a boozer in college. He even says it's ok with him if he uses the comic book collection to support his habit. And we're supposed to think that was funny, but not Bob's comeback?

It's getting more and more clear why everybody posts as anonymous around here:

So people will laugh at your jokes!
Anonymous said…
Here's the real tragedy here...

Newland's post had nothing to do with medical marijuana.

And the medical marijuana blog(s) have nothing to do with Newland.

Yet PP, who will "defend to [his] death" a person's right to speak about ideas that he "disapprove[s]" of, is unable to recognize these unsubtle distinctions, and so he removes the medical marijuana blogs from the feed. As if readers are inundated with posts from those blogs in the first place. As if Newland has anything to do with those blogs. As if Newland's comment had anything to do with medical marijuana to begin with.

So discussion about a bona fide political issue -- one which 48% of South Dakotans support, according to the last election -- gets stifled because 1) Mrs. PP got her undies all in a bunch over a harmless joke, and 2) her knight in shining armor came in to rescue her in a flamboyant overreaction.

And this is the guy who quotes Voltaire and Mill about the evils of censorship, and the value of uninhibited debate.

Par for the course at the South Dakota War College...

---
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
- Voltaire.

We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still.
-John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859
Anonymous said…
(..."Yanky Doodle" banjo music fade to distance then out, screen fade to white, roll your commercial break...)
Anonymous said…
Okay this is off topic BUT;
Newland always has some hit of pot in his post! It never fails. Joke or no joke it is there and he does it on purpose.
The fact is lots of people are sick of him always taking a post to the pot issue. He does it so face it.
PP did NOT say that his kid would be a boozer he said in a joke form his kid might sell em for beer money there is a difference...you and others are taking it to that level. So don't add extra words and this is why people need to leave the kids out of the post!
Anonymous said…
11:44 Gee, you mean Bob always brings up his main political issue on a political blog? Imagine that! How annoying. Kind of like Sibson or lexrex or some candidate running for office. There aughta be a law, don't you think?!
Haggs said…
9:50...

I think it's funny that you've lumped me together with PP and his wife. I think PP is a cool guy, but I disagree with him on a lot of issues. And I'm not a Republican, nor do I watch Fox News.

In fact, I've agreed with Newland in the past and I even voted for the medical marijuana bill last year. But that doesn't change the fact that I think his comment might have been inappropriate in this situation.
Anonymous said…
Haggs, you don't watch Fox?
Well that explains everything!
No wonder you think Newland is a jerk.
You haven't seen the genuine article!
Anonymous said…
11:51
Off track you are.
No matter the topic he has to throw in the pot line. He doesn't care if it fits or not.

Just as this is off topic i am letting you thread me into the stupid debate. As for a political blog yep it is HOWEVER, it has different postings I don't believe that i have seen one on pot for a long, long, time!

Is that you bob!
PS you don't even know how I feel on Medical Pot...
Anonymous said…
11:51 So what, it's a blog. Lighten up...
Anonymous said…
11:51
"Off track you are. No matter the topic he has to throw in the pot line." Are you Yoda, or are you drunk? Just checkin'.

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