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6/8/2010
Imagine what Neumann and Walker could learn from these guys
Civility in a GOP primary. Can Wisconsinites imagine that?
Few races on today’s primary ballots are as competitive as the three-candidate Republican race in South Dakota’s at-large district. But none may be more civil.
South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson and state Reps. Kristi Noem and Blake Curd are keeping it clean, eschewing personal and political attacks in favor of emphasizing their personal and professional backgrounds and very similar conservative views on fiscal and cultural issues.
One reason the campaign is positive, say the candidates and party officials, is that the contenders respect one another and don’t want internecine squabbling to complicate what they see as a golden opportunity to unseat Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, who is serving her fourth term in a state that leans Republican.
Much of the GOP electorate still remembers a fractious gubernatorial primary in 2002, when Mike Rounds, then a little-known state Senator, ran a positive campaign and scored an impressive come-from-behind landslide win over Attorney General Mark Barnett and former Lt. Gov. Steve Kirby, who frequently attacked one another and soured their image with voters.
Let this be a lesson unto us.
P.S.: Of course, this comes at the same time as a plea from former campaign adviser James Klauser to Mr. Neumann:
Today I write to you as I am aghast at where your campaign has gone. You are violating the Reagan commandment.
....It is time for you to leave th efield before your integrity is permanently besmirched.
Wow. Read it all.
Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
COMMENTS
I've certainly not seen anything in the Wis GOP governor primary race (from the candidates) that I'd consider "personal", and the "policy" arguments seem to be what one would expect as candidates try to differentiate themselves to get the upper hand. If anything about the race seems inappropriate, it's letters like Klauser's. I fully understand the frontrunner -- seeking advantage -- will use the "Reagan 11th commandment" ploy to suggest the challenger should simply sit idle, but Klauser's letter defines what "getting personal" is all about (calls Neuman "phony, shallow, contrived, staged" and asserts lack of integrity). I hope Walker's campaign is not behind Klauser's letter.
In any event, the "lesson" that needs to be learned is one for GOP primary voters ... commit to supporting whichever candidate wins the primary, and understand that during the campaign candidates are going to, well, campaign!
Tom Sladek (Wed Jun 09 08:25:08 2010)
Just a little frivolity here. Those gentlemen from South Dakota are probably of Norwegian descent. That's why they are so "nice" to each other and probably Lutheran to boot. Gee, and its not "politics as usual". How refreshing. Blame it on the coffee, not the koolaid! I read the Klauser letter and following comments. The letter sounds credible. Its his opinion, and he is entitled to it. Neuman is running a very nasty campaign, no dobut about that. I talked to a man waiting outside of convention that was part of the Neuman group and asked him why they were outside. He really didn't have an answer. "they were just told to be outside the hotel with signs". Not a very good reason for sure. That is a small sampling of the kind of people that will vote for Mark Neuman.
Babs (Wed Jun 09 08:37:20 2010)
What a great example to point out the risk involved in practicing negative campaigns in primary elections. Just when I think the Neumann campaign is experiencing its last dying embers, someone adds fuel to the fire.
AGK (Thu Jun 10 09:42:46 2010)
It's very simple:
A two-person race is zero-sum. Anything that hurts one candidate benefits the other. Therefore it makes a lot of sense to go negative if you're behind in a two-person race.
A three-person race is not zero-sum. If you look like a jerk attacking Opponent A, Opponent B will often benefit. This is how Russ Feingold came from nowhere to win his three-way primary for US Senate in 1992 when his two opponents decapitated each other. Candidates are much less likely to go negative in multi-person primaries.
I don't agree with Neumann (or Walker) on this issues, but he's simply acting like a rational politician who wants to win. Pretending he's uniquely evil because of that is a little disingenuous.
Marcus (Tue Jun 15 18:20:45 2010)
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