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

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?
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.
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.
Anonymous said…
8:51am - Remember this name in 2010: Mike Huether
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.
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.
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.
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.

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