South Dakota War College

What a week. Kids got sick, ran to Brookings early. Got here just in time to be deathly ill myself. Everybody gets healthy in time for Thanksgiving, but then MP gets sick, so Thanksgiving has been delayed until tonight when everybody has their appetite back. It was nice. Several weeks ago, I bought the biggest butterball turkey I could find (21.5 pounds) and it was delicious. I'm pretty particular, and it's the only kind I will eat at Thanksgiving. You don't have to inject it, fry it or anything. It's pretty foolproof. Anyway, my sister and brother-in-law, jmac (the liberal professor whom philosophically I tend to disagree with) came over and we enjoyed the fellowship of the holiday a couple days late, and went afterwards to freeze our tails off and watch the Brookings Festival of Lights. Afterwards tonight, the family and I are watching "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." (For those of you who grew up in the 70's and 80's when they'd play certain movies o...

"We are always pleased when Republicans take on Democrat ideas.” - Don Carr, SDDP Press Secretary on the SD Mainstream Coalition from Pierre Capitol Journal 11/17/05 (I'll just bet they do.) I couldn't have said it better myself.

Per Celeste Calvitto at the Rapid City Journal : Seward a candidate? State GOP chairman Randy Frederick told the crowd in Rapid City that he is frequently asked who is going to challenge Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., in next year’s election. “We have a lot of possibilities,” he said. He didn’t name names, though. But one name that is making the rounds is that of Butte County State’s Attorney Jim Seward. A member of the South Dakota National Guard 109th Engineer Group, Seward was on leave during his re-election campaign last year while serving in Afghanistan under the U.S. Army 25th Infantry Division. He was stationed at Bagram Airfield north of the Afghan capital of Kabul and returned to his Butte County post last spring after an unpaid leave of absence. Seward said he wasn’t prepared to comment on whether he is considering a race against Herseth. I consider Jim as well liked in West River Republican circles. Intellectually, he would be a good challenger for Herseth. And statewide, h...

From today's Argus Leader : When Milbank native Dana Christensen started a blog in August 2003, he used it to keep family and friends abreast of his life as a seminarian in St. Louis. Now, he is the Rev. Dana Christensen, and he continues to blog.But as his life has changed, so has his blog." It evolved into a bigger thing," said Christensen, who now serves at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Sioux Falls. "It has social commentary and a place to post jokes or stuff I find amusing, to make a religious commentary. Also, it sort of provides a way for people to engage in conversation, and once in a while we get some pretty good discussions going." Blogs are one of the ways churches are using advanced technology to reach out to others and share beliefs. Using video screens instead of hymnals, sending e-mails with verses for daily devotions and offering downloadable sermons online, religious leaders are adapting their messages to the technological delivery formats of to...

I'm just quickly posting a note before I get out of town. I WAS going to drive over tonight after work, until my wife called at 6am to announce that I had not one - not two - but fully three of my six children are ill with the flu. So I'm throwing stuff on, and trying to gather a couple things to bring over. I might get something posted later, but otherwise, it's the road for me.

From a news release today from the SDDP : Tomorrow, November 22, SDDP Chairwoman Judy Olson Duhamel will be interviewed by Chuck Beck on South Dakota Public Radio at 7:30 AM and 5:30 PM CST. It is a feature about the future of the South Dakota Democratic Party. If you miss the interview check our website for links to listen. I'm not kidding either. Today it was a program on Bladder Health . Tomorrow, it's Judy Olson with the South Dakota Democratic Party. I'm going to stop right there, because my humor will probably dip lower than it needs to be. When you get up to 18 or 19 people reading, you have to be more responsible, you know. I'll have to tune in as I get on the road to Brookings tomorrow night. I'll be curious to hear how many legislative seats they project they will have filled.

I don't usually write on National Level stuff, as I'm just a humble South Dakota boy. But did any of you see the Mercer article that appeared recently in several of South Dakota's daily newspapers? It was an interesting article with two of South Dakota's top legislators (and possible candidates for Governor in 2010) publicly coming out in favor of Judge Alito. Matt Michels and Lee Schoenbeck both stood very publicly in support of the nomination. While it also appeared in the Mitchell newspaper, this article is from the Watertown Public Opinion (Registration Required) : Support sought for Alito By Bob Mercer, Capitol Bureau Friday, November 18, 2005 11:41 AM CST Four Republican lawyers, including the South Dakota Legislature's top House and Senate members, made a public pitch Thursday on behalf of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. They asked that...

I'm excited. This weekend I made my first contact for a new candidate to work with this next election. "Candidate X" is excited about the process and wants to make a difference in South Dakota. We've just started e-mailing back and forth, and I think I can make their race, at the very least, competitive. Of course, the goal is decisive victory, but there's a lot of time between now and the election. And whether that's achievable is going to be based on the motivation of the candidate. I can flap my gums all I want and say "do this, and don't do that" but if they aren't going to do what it takes, then advice and guidance isn't going to put them over the hump. Now as far as exclusivity, this isn't to say I'm not going to work with people whom I've worked with before. There are a couple with whom I've been talking already for 2006, and I have projects here and there that I anticipate I'll be working on. But this new can...

While everyone is talking about the Sioux Falls State Dinner, nobody is saying much about the Rapid City version of the event. No, I didn't go either. I'm saving my time off to boost my Thanksgiving and Christmas vacation time in Brookings. But a few friends were in attendance, so I got a bit of a report of the happenings of the evening. The biggest thing was that during Chairman Randy Frederick's speech, he talked about how the party was looking at candidates to run against Stephanie Herseth. And during that moment, he gazed intentionally and longingly in the direction of Jeff Partridge (who I believe was emcee that evening). Only time will tell if Randy's wish comes true. Note to Jeff - I love exclusive scoop announcements about running for Congress. Other talk that night was focused on things of a legislative nature - first and foremost the anticipated McCoy/Napoli matchup and rumored Adelstein/Schwiesow rematch. Watch for both of those races to be hard fought and ...

NEWS FLASH: There's a "politically progressive" South Dakota group forming to change South Dakota politics. It's bipartisan, and was formed to counteract the political capital being wasted on issues such as abortion and gay marriage. They don't care what your political affiliation is, and several are Republican. And it's not the group you think I'm talking about. Mary Garrigan with the Rapid City Journal has an article today on the "Democracy in Action" group that's forming in a couple of places in the Black Hills. Here's a snippet from the article: After all, Democracy in Action bills itself as a group of politically progressive women working to change South Dakota politics. And South Dakota politics, at least in its current form, is overwhelmingly Republican. But Republicans Lorraine Collins of Spearfish and Judy Brothers of Rapid City believe that adjectives like moderate, centrist and, yes, even progressive, can apply to Republican...

From Dave Kranz in today's Sioux Falls Argus Leader : Schoenbeck out One of the most discussed political stories at the Republican dinner was the future of state Sen. Lee Schoenbeck. Schoenbeck has told colleagues that he will not seek re-election next year. The Watertown Republican and president pro-tem of the Senate said he wants to spend more time with his family and his job. He is not through with politics, though. He is contemplating a bid for governor in 2010. He was not available for comment. When I author stuff that is only rumor, I state that the report is unconfirmed. What would the excuse be for not doing so? "But that's what everyone is saying..." Personally, I hope Lee stays in. He's one of the best up there.