The Crossroads…

This summer, GOP conservatives were not just exuberant – they were giddy - over their prospects coming out of the June election. Several members of the MAINstream coalition, who had divided the party by deriding party conservatives as extremists, found themselves out in the street.

A conservative surge of energy had continued and seemingly swept up the GOP at convention, culminating in a platform plank endorsing the anti-abortion measure HB 1215. While that was not entirely unexpected, another measure endorsing the teaching of creationism as an alternative theory to evolution also flew through the chamber with little opposition – a measure which I believe has not been included on the platform before (at least not since the 50's)

This wave of energy continued through much of the fall elections, and many Republicans were excited with the prospect of the shape a leadership coalition would take next session.

But it all came to a crashing halt on election day.

On election night, conservative candidates started dropping like flies. Latterell. Johnson, Earley, Arnold, Klaudt, and others who were expected to be winners came up short. Some by just a hairs’ breadth.

Shortly thereafter, you could add to that accusations of favoritism on the part of the party for some candidates over others. I’d even heard talk today of a “do not help” list that was allegedly in existence (although I can’t seem to find a copy).

And after the Senate caucus election it looks like the more conservative elements of the Senate find themselves further demoralized. The election of Senator Bob Gray to the position of President Pro Tempore was not considered a dark spot, nor was the election of Jim Lintz to whip. But some of those farther to the right see the majority leader and assistant leader election of the team of Knudson and Dempster as anything but friendly to those who identify themselves with a firm conservative label.

When I asked Senator Brock Greenfield of his reaction to the caucus elections, I got a quote which gave me pause to ask “are you sure you want to say this?” If you can't tell, Brock was not feeling excitement towards his new leadership team at the moment he gave me this:

“The caucus elections are proof that there is virtually no difference between the two parties. The leader of the Democrat Caucus is a former Republican, and the leader of the Republican Caucus is a former Democrat. For the next two years, it will be hard to tell where one caucus ends, and the other begins.”

Not mincing any words there, is he?

But it's illustrative of the hard feelings and divide that exists within the party. The conservatives are fed up with being called extremists by their own party members, and the moderates/liberals feel that they're being marginalized as well.

If we were to characterize these political battles in terms we can all relate to, I’m going to channel my inner SF geek, and pick a ‘Star Wars” analogy.

In the first act this summer, after months of initial grumblings and intra-party sniping, and being characterized as extremists who were out of touch during the legislative session, the conservative rebels struck out against more liberal elements of the party who wished to put them in their place. (al la “Star Wars: A New Hope”). They put their rebellious grassroot troops on the ground and within the party structure and made their surprise victory happen.

But in a startling turn of events, the more moderate to liberal elements within the party hunkered down and used their control over the process to rally their own efforts. Their strength came in their strong influence in money and the upper echelons of the party structure to give the rebels a good rousting, and to let them know they don’t yet control as much as they think (just like in “The Empire Strikes Back”).

And that’s probably a good analogy for where things sit today.

Where do we take things from here? Yes, the more conservative elements of the GOP might hope for a “Return of the Jedi” rout in the next two years, but I don’t think they’re going to get it.

So where does that leave Republicans? Well, consider what the two sides have going for them.

Conservatives dominate – and I mean dominate – the Republican ground game in South Dakota. The success of Yes on 6 is testament to that.

Yes, I know they lost, but you have to recognize and respect the incredible grassroots effort they had. Campaign for Healthy Families might have put forth a solid run (and won in the end), but I didn’t see them on my doorstep 2 and three times as I did Yes on 6. If that kind of effort was directed at a candidate instead of a divisive social issue, with a proper message it could yank an incumbent out of office. And it overwhelmingly consisted of conservative Republicans.

You also have to recognize that there are plenty of Republicans who might not share some of those same views. They hold many high positions within the party structure and identify with the GOP label because of a GOP laissez faire attitude towards business.

And the elephant’s strong views on personal freedom and government intrusion are good for their business. They might be socially more liberal, but they have money and vote Republican because of their pro-business orientation. They support things with their vote and pocket book.

At this point, what should South Dakota Republicans take note of? Well for starters, we need each other. And secondly we're not that much different.

Our country may have been built on religious freedom, but a business oriented ‘American Dream’ is also what made our country great. And instead of each side beating each other up, maybe it’s time for our party to get back to a point where we respect each other’s differences. And I mean that – specifically, “respect.”

It gets back to why I would give the MAINstream people a hard time on occasion. I didn't beat on them because of their views. I beat on them because the movement hurt the GOP. It said that being a Republican was less important than promoting their agenda. The exact same thing they accused their conservative counterparts of.

Because it was (and is) a divisive thing that didn’t make the GOP stronger. Instead of having these discussions in-house, it was a brass knuckle fight that spilled out into the street, and both sides went away mad. And from there it devolved into a game of one-upsmanship.

At some point, Republicans are going to have to realize that both sides of the argument are going to have to swallow their opinions and sit at the table if they want to win elections.

Moderates and liberals are going to have to stop calling conservatives “extremists,” and realize that they need the conservatives, because when they’re motivated, it’s tough to win an election without them. They are an army unto themselves, and there are plenty of times that they can just go it alone.

But conservatives are going to have to realize that they need the moderates and liberals as well. Their financial support is invaluable, because every dollar they can give is time you can devote to other tasks. And most importantly, when the dems are against you in a general election, you need their vote.

This isn’t too terribly difficult. We just need to realize that we need each other. And that mission should start with our legislative leadership.

Why? Because that’s where much of this animosity spilled out of. It’s chief architect is no longer in the Senate, and if we're lucky, might not be in the party anymore. So, this might just be a chance to start anew. A fresh opportunity. And I think there's examples that it might actually happen.

I heard early today that one conservative legislator was going to be stripped of his chairmanship after the day's elections. But by early evening, not only did it not happen, they stood together. Instead of another instance of taking revenge, the new leadership took a step. It might not be a big step, but it should be recognized as a step nonetheless.

So at this juncture, lets reciprocate, and give the new leadership a chance before we start casting dispersions. Yes, some of us may have had a person or two people we'd rather see in. But it didn't happen. So let's move forward with a tenuous truce. And we might be surprised. I hope we will be surprised, and we'll see fewer issues becoming personal vendettas.

I think our party’s New Year resolution and the task for our new leadership, whether it's at the legislative level or our state party chairman, whomever that is, should be a simple one – one of respect and tolerance for our fellow Republican.

We at least owe each other that.