I won’t get to vote for Scyller Borglum for U.S. Senate: she’ll be in her Republican primary against incumbent Mike Rounds, but I’ll be busy picking between Clara Hart and Dan Ahlers in the Democratic primary.
However, I can give three holiday reasons I like Scyller Borglum.
First, a casual review of Borglum’s campaign Facebook feed over the last couple months doesn’t show Borglum running any of the obvious Trumpist nonsense with which she launched her campaign in July. You’re smarter than Trumpism, Scyller—keep running toward the light!
Second, speaking of running, Borglum takes her new purple (!) shoes and runs eleven miles in Badlands slop:
Third, Borglum also runs a Mac on the road:
The only way Mike Rounds could run the Badlands would be in a quadrunner. And he probably still can’t find his own e-mail or Twitter account, Mac or PC.
It’s still too bad Borglum is running in the Republican primary, where the Rounds machine will crush her. The only way she’ll get to run in November and give everyone a chance to vote for her is to take out an independent petition next week and run under no party banner. (Think about it, Scyller!)
Borglum running on actual conservative policies, rather than GOP claptrap, might interest a lot of voters. She could do that as an independent candidate. Borglum could fashion herself as an “old-fashioned conservative” in the style of ……..? What South Dakotan would be a good example of that? Frank Farrar? Bill🤮Janklow? Peter Norbeck?
So this is a bit confusing – what was the deal with her promise to be more Trumpian than Rounds anyway? Seems rather duplicitous, although I suppose that too is standard Trumpian operation.
The pretty young lady could run as “An old fashioned conservative in the style of grudznick. Not to be intimidated by minions and henchmen.”
I will be voting for her. When you study Round’s record he has not been good for South Dakota.
The difference is she is high energy and MIke is no energy, and a career politician.
I hope you are wrong and she is able to beat low energy Mike.
~Old fashioned means out dated, obsolete, primitive, bygone, and passe’.
~Conservative means fuddy-duddy, fearful, hidebound, in a rut, inflexible, obstinate, unchangeable, unimaginative, and white bread.
~Conflate the two and you have the boor with gravy on his chin and egg yolk on his shirt.
I still don’t think Rounds is running for re-election. But I guess we will see.
If Mr. Ehrisman is correct, three likely outcomes come to mind.
First, the establishment Republicans will find a candidate who will voice support for Trump.
Second, Ms. Borglum will regain her Trumpist voice.
Third, a Trumpist from West River will enter the race, vociferously declaring himself/herself to be the only candidate to bear true fealty to the current occupant of the Oval Office.
The result of the campaign will likely produce nostalgia for things that never were, like the Dan Quayle administration.
Ambition in search of an identity.
The racist right, which is not necessarily all the right, wallows in a nostalgia Kai described.
I agree with John’s pithy assessment and so offer a suggestion to the ambitious Ms. Borglum: Rather than struggling to hang on to a swiftly degrading past, become part of the evolving future of humanity. Become a hero to South Dakotans struggling for health care, broadband connection to the world, farming that pays without a shortened life span in the bargain, excellent education for all our children, value of each human resource that we all are, and more.
Scyller Borglum, align yourself with South Dakota’s and the USA’s future, rather than miring the state further in the grifting SDGOP paws of the past. Be a HERO!
I think John Tsitrian has it nailed.
Even before I read Don Pay’s comment directly above, I had agreed with Tsitrian.
John T for Senator. Hell, why not both Senate seats? He is a Republican even I could vote for. Please don’t tell anyone I said that.
Thanks, mfi. For the record, I quit the GOP the year Trump was inaugurated and am now a registered Independent.
Humblest apologies, Sir. Independents are cool, for the most part.
Sam2, I’d like to think Borglum would be a better Senator than Rounds; she at least has shown her independence by standing up to the GOP establishment. But as her Black Hills neighbors John T and Bob (and ex-pat Black Hillser Donald) suggest, she’s no Dusty Johnson. She’s coming at this race with energy but no big policy background.
Bear, I’m wondering where her Trumpist streak went.
Imagine if Rounds doesn’t run: the last time we had an open seat, in 2014, we had five candidates in the GOP primary. It seems likely a similar melée would ensue… but it also seems likely Rounds and the establishment would pick an heir apparent (promote Dusty right away, then put Josh Haeder or another Rounds minion in for House)…
…but since we’re speculating, imagine this: the GOP picks Dusty to succeed Rounds, but then Kristi Noem, who finds governing in Pierre tiresome, embarrassing, and too far from the Beltway limelight, throws in the 2020 GOP Senate primary as the true defender of Trump. She could squeeze Dusty on that point.