The media doesn't get it again....

By -
Dave Kranz was writing yesterday in the Argus Leader regarding some coffeehouse chatter about political consultant David Bokorney, and the value of his house. Supposedly, because David has a nice house, he's been rendered unelectable:

First, consultants, aides and any behind-the-scenes players generally don't run for anything. Significant in public assessments of possible candidates: their real estate holdings.

Memory is fresh about how former Sen. Tom Daschle was pounded in advertising by John Thune's campaign for his $1.9 million home in Washington. That home was prominent in the message that he was out of touch with South Dakota voters.

and...

His residences in Sioux Falls and elsewhere would make Daschle's home look like a small house in Goodwin. His $3 million house on a Sioux Falls hill for starters would likely be fodder for any Republican primary opponent or a Democrat in a general election.

Read all of that (plus a report of Ron Volesky's application for a judgeship) here.

Why am I saying that they don't get it? Because the issue was not over the value of Daschle's house. It was over his application for a homestead exemption (where you sign a statement noting that DC is your residence) and his televised statement "I am a DC resident."

South Dakotans didn't want to hear that. If there was one factor in his housing, it was that he'd clearly set up a permanent residence there and made no bones about it.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Who are the best future Democratic Congressional Candidates that no one is talking about?
8:51 AM
Anonymous said…
PP,
I disagree. If the issue was only about the homestead exemption, why list the value of the house? This is South Dakota. It is about the size and value of the house. We scorn success in SD.
10:35 AM
David Newquist said…
10:35 has it right. The Press Project collected every advertisement and comment on the Daschle house available and analyzed the emphasis. While the homestead exemption was mentioned, it was also pointed out that most people apply for those things that qualify them to reduce their taxes, and most long-term members of Congress buy homes in the D.C. area. The information was used openly and clearly as evidence that Daschle was, in effect, snubbing South Dakota, although his history of service and work in the state showed differently.

Over the years, I had hundreds and hundreds of freshman compositions about home towns in which students found that when they returned home for visits, their former friends were peevish and resentful because they left town to go to college. This is an attitude, and it has been played to the hilt in politics. It is even being used against Stephanie Herseth as her opponents play up her alliances with representatives from other states and the fact that she is engaged to a "foreigner" as demerits of character. This is characteristic of the provinces.
11:14 AM
Anonymous said…
8:51am - Remember this name in 2010: Mike Huether
4:48 PM
Anonymous said…
I somewhat agree with 10:35 - there was a reason they mentioned the value of the house. It was about the size/value also. I do think it was a dual message though. Not only did he become a "DC resident," but he also did so in highfalutin fashion. It's the implication that he'd gone DC - lived there and was made of money - and therefore couldn't relate to the average South Dakotan. Both the residency and the success combine into the message of disconnectedness.
6:14 PM
Anonymous said…
Anti-Daschle people created a website called www.daschlemansion.com. We, although not all, of us Republicans did attack the value of Daschle's home. PP, I really have to disagree with you on this one. If it wasn't about the price of Daschle's home the website would've been www.daschlehome.com or daschlehouse.com not mansion.
7:55 PM
Anonymous said…
PP is right, Kranz is wrong. Daschle was way out of touch with South Dakotans, no matter what his mansion was worth. All you had to do was look at the way he acted, talked, and voted.
By the way, I've been to Goodwin, a small house there is worth about 1.9 thousand, not million.
12:03 AM
Anonymous said…
I'm glad you mentioned Goodwin. There are no small houses in Goodwin. Most of the folks there are prolife and have large families and need a large home.
9:10 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A note from Benedict Ar... Sorry. A note from Stan Adelstein why he thinks you should vote Democrat this year.

By -
Image
(Click on letter to enlarge) And while it may not be printed at taxpayer expense, I don't see a disclaimer, either. When they hold the special session (supposedly at the end of November) , since he's left them already, I think his colleagues should expel him from the caucus. Sure. At that point it's only going to be symbolic. But since he's already said he's running again in the near future, sometimes symbolism is enough.
Read more

Corson County information on Klaudt Rape Charges

By -
Here's some of the information on the Corson County Charges: COUNT I That on or about December of 2005, in the County of Corson, State of South Dakota, Ted Alvin Klaudt did commit the public offense of SECOND DEGREE RAPE (SDCL 22-22-1(2)) in that he did accomplish an act of sexual penetration with his foster daughter, A.M., through the use of force or coercion; and as to COUNT II That on or about July or August of 2006, in the County of Corson, State of South Dakota, Ted Alvin Klaudt did commit the public offense of SECOND DEGREE RAPE (SDCL 22-22-1(2)) in that he did accomplish an act of sexual penetration with his foster daughter, A.M., through the use of force or coercion; and as to COUNT III That on or about July or August of 2006, in the County of Corson, State of South Dakota, Ted Alvin Klaudt did commit the public offense of SECOND DEGREE RAPE (SDCL 22-22-1(2)) in that he did accomplish an act of sexual penetration, separate and distinct from the act alleged in Count II, with...
Read more

It's about health, not potential promiscuity.

By -
As the only South Dakota blogger out with 5 daughters, I feel I need to weigh in on the whole discussion that's occurring with regards to the HPV vaccine, and Governor Rounds' proposal to make it available. My family (including my three oldest girls) watched my mom, their grandmother, succumb slowly and painfully to cancer which spread throughout her body. If a similar fate from a different type of cancer was preventable through a simple shot, why wouldn't anyone advocate for it? At the age most of my kids are going to be getting it, they're still playing with barbies, and negative influences such as most of the programming on MTV, and other assorted trashy television is verboten in my house. All they're going to know about this vaccination is that it's a shot, just like for teatnus or measles. They'll go "Ow, I don't want a shot," and that will be it. Just another mark on their vaccination record. One check box for DPT, one for HPV, and so on...
Read more