Democrats Lost Rural America. This Former Rodeo Star Thinks He Can Win it Back.

[elleng]

*“The national party hasn’t been engaged with a good message,” Mr. Sutton said. “They haven’t been relating to people in the Midwest. It used to be fighting for the little guy.”

In a normal year, this would all be fodder for a Nice Try campaign that ended with a 20-point loss. But Democrats here are starved for a win, and a bitter Republican primary has left some conservatives angry with Ms. Noem’s campaign. A handful of Republicans who supported the South Dakota attorney general, Marty Jackley, in the Republican primary have now publicly signed on with Mr. Sutton.

The Cook Political Report recently declared the race a “toss-up” — rather than a Republican layup. Assessing the true state of the race in a thinly populated rural state like South Dakota is difficult. Partisan surveys from Democrats have showed a tight race, but there have not been any independent public polls of the race so far.

“After four decades there’s this perception that a Democrat just can’t win,” said Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader from South Dakota who lost his seat in 2004. “This year that’s changing.” . .

But some conservatives said they were giving Mr. Sutton a close look. They said that Mr. Trump’s trade policies were hurting their farms, and that Republican policies had done little to bring down their health care costs.

Hope Block, a finance officer in Groton, S.D., said she would support expanding Medicaid — a position favored by Mr. Sutton and opposed by Ms. Noem. Wayne Wasilk said his 100-cow dairy farm was struggling, and he liked what he had heard from Mr. Sutton.

“Nobody has the farmers’ and ranchers’ back right now,” Mr. Sutton said.

As much as farmers are worried, the rest of the state’s economy is humming. Overall unemployment is 3 percent, and there might not be enough discontent for voters to break with the Republican Party.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/us/south-dakota-rodeo-billie-sutton.html?

[Me.]

1. This Has Become Such A Tiresome Meme

“They haven’t been relating to people in the Midwest. It used to be fighting for the little guy.”

Who do they think fought to bring them health care and will fight to protect Medicare, Medicaid and SS? Do they seriously think the Cons, who nearly brought this nation to its knees with fiscal mismanagement are looking out for them, especially when they are in the process of doing it again?

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

2. Exactly - these "savior" figures only reenforce GOP talking points

Case in point - Richard Ojeda in my state of WV - a guy who bashed immigrants and refugees and endorsed Trump, but has been fawned over by Michael "Voting doesn't work" Moore, Krystal Ball, Cenk/TYT and Rolling Stone as "the kind of Democrat we need to win elections"

[Me.]

3. Krystal Ball

Who by the way has been very active on twitter backhanding Dems

Is Krystal Ball's PAC a fresh approach or a get-rich scheme?

“A new Democratic group — one with support from Democratic congressmen and three of the biggest names in the tech industry — is testing the boundary between a new approach to politics and a self-enriching scam.

When the People’s House Project launched last May, founder Krystal Ball billed it as an organization that would defy old conventions and show Democrats a new model for winning campaigns. The former MSNBC host said her political action committee would support longshot candidates who embraced economic populism and lacked a political background — the kind of office-seekers who normally don’t receive support from party leaders.

But thus far, nobody has benefited more financially from the group than Ball herself. Of the $445,000 Ball raised for the group, she paid herself more than a third of that — $174,000 — in salary, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission. The majority of her salary — $104,000 — came in the first three months of this year alone.”

Read more here: https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article210775574.html#storylink=cpy

[Wellstone ruled]

4. South Dakota is

a study in what will happen or go wrong when your economic stability is based on a single source item. Was their in August. Have acquaintances who are part of this single source economy and honestly,they are scared what Trump did to the Commodity Markets that were opened fifteen years ago. Example,14.95 Soybeans,now 7.00 cash price last week. Think what that does to your 200k Combine payments that are due November 15th.

Great case study in Tea-Party Economic Disaster-ism.

[elleng]

6. Thanks

[wellst0nev0ter]

5. Just say it: White People

And dems haven't made much inroads with whites because they're inclusive of minorities -- period.

If and when we can have an honest conversation, then we can move forward.

[gay texan]

7. You have to be able to overcome the GOP's message of Bible, Guns, and Fetuses

once you accomplish that, you should be good to go....