Dan Lederman used his Trumpiness last February to rally Trump supporters and unseat establishment favorite Pam Roberts as the South Dakota Republican Party chair. Since that upset, Lederman has happily associated himself and his party with the Trump clan and with vile Trump scaremongering.
But now Lederman seems nervous that “the most vocal supporter of Donald Trump in the history of Donald Trump supporters” (we’ll get to that) is vowing to do his own Trumpian end run around the SDGOP establishment. Lederman stooge Pat Powers blogs disdainfully about Senator Neal Tapio’s (R-5/Watertown) statement to Hub City Radio that he can beat Dusty Johnson and Shantel Krebs for the SDGOP U.S. House nomination by going door to door and micro-targeting the vast majority of Trumpublican voters who don’t hobnob with the poobahs at fancy Republican Party dinners. Here’s what the radio said Tapio said about the SDGOP establishment and how to win a primary:
Of the Republicans who vote in primaries Tapio says very few go to Lincoln Day Dinners and very few are involved in the Republican Party. Tapio says most often it’s the vocal minority who show up at those party directed events. He’s convinced the greater number of voters most likely don’t know who Republican candidates Shantel Krebs and Dusty Johnson are [“Tapio Still Contemplating Run for Congressional Seat,” Hub City Radio, 2017.11.30].
And here’s what the SDGOP establishment blog had to say about questioning the SDGOP establishment:
Neal’s point about a minority of Republicans attending the yearly meals may be factually correct, because you can’t fit everyone from a county in a room, but by the same token, you can’t run a campaign by yourself, either. And those that do attend such dinners are typically the ones who make donations, help do literature drops, lick envelopes, walk in parades, organize other Republicans in each county, etcetera and so on.
I don’t think I’d be so quick to infer the loyal and committed foot soldiers of the GOP aren’t important. Because it’s kind of hard to run a race without them [Pat Powers, “Tapio Down on Lincoln Day Dinners, But Says Trump Will Put Him on Top,” Dakota War College, 2017.11.30].
[Headline quibble: Trump never puts anyone else on top.]
I wouldn’t think that Tapio stands a chance of beating better known and already campaigning party fixtures like Krebs and Johnson. But then I also didn’t think Donald Trump stood a chance of beating Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich. The analogy stumbles when we consider the fact that Tapio hasn’t translated his business mojo into widespread notoriety, but Tapio can backfill his lack of brand recognition by latching onto the Trump brand more authentically and unblanchingly than still somewhat sane and scrupulous Krebs and Johnson can.
Tapio couches his Trumpism in some high-sounding bushwah:
This is going to be an election of ideas, and I’m prepared to fight a battle on ideas, not on personalities [Neal Tapio, my transcription of Hub City Radio audio, 2017.11.30].
Election of ideas? Ha! He’s talking about winning an election by playing to the cult of personality, Trump personality. He shows it with his own Trumpian exaggeration:
On Facebook, I was probably the most vocal supporter of Donald Trump in the history of Donald Trump supporters, and I was very vocal. I predicted that he was going to win, and I believe completely in what he’s doing and I can explain why he’s doing it, and other people don’t [Tapio/HCR audio, 2017.11.30].
I don’t know how we quantify Trump vocality or identify any one Trump shouter as the loudest in the rank, Russia-tainted crapcophany of the 2016 election. Tapio really didn’t post that much about Trump on Facebook on his campaign page or his personal page. But when we’re dealing with Trumpism, facts don’t matter; Der Führer matters!
Tapio still hasn’t committed to running—he has filed nothing with the Federal Election Commission—but he tells Hub City Radio that he plans to spend $350,000 to $450,000 on his House campaign, and he’s willing to spend all of that out of his own pocket, if necessary.
Another rich xenophobe with zero accountability to truth or to the people wanting to go to Washington should scare all of us. But on the good side, it also appears to scare the South Dakota Republican establishment. Get ready to reap what you have sown, Dan Lederman!