Governor Kristi Noem is sure getting our money’s worth out of her private video studio in the Capitol. Just last night she did another live sit-down with Sean Hannity from her taxpayer-funded political advertising booth, pandering to Donald Trump and her national right-wing fan club. The Hannity visit follows a Monday spot (two days in a row of a South Dakota governor doing national news?!) in which she griped about not being able to do a Mike Rounds switcheroo and use the federal coronavirus relief dollars to patch up her own politically problematic budget shortfall.
Governor Noem is happily posting these Fox News spots on her official Governor Kristi Noem YouTube channel. A quick scan of her videos shows six Fox News live interviews in the last two weeks… and she hasn’t posted last night’s Hannity chat yet.
Do ignore the sixth video at the bottom right; she did a live chat with Greta Van Susteren from what appears to be the mansion over her laptop webcam, and O! the low frame rate! The lack of resolution! The tin-can audio! How terrible! Much better that our tax dollars have been used to buy Kristi a real TV studio where she can sit down with the national news-Kens and news-Barbies and look and sound absolutely Vice-Presiden—er, marvelous!
“Kristi: The Glory Days”
NOem is angling for the VP slot. trump keeps sending Pence out on suicide missions to infected places and areas without a face mask hoping that the Q tip will just keel over and give up the ghost. Speaking of ghosts, NOem looks like she might have to add some Agent Orange tinge to that pancake flour she is putting on.
I think the Gov should seek advice from the production crew at Sesame Street, sock puppets vs marionettes, the strings don’t show with sock puppets.
I don’t think Trump wants a dumb red state Governor to weigh him down. That would be repeating McCain’s mistake.
I think the political pros in the professional conservative illuminati are seeing that Trump is polling miserably with Republican suburban women, and are trying to figure out if they can put the seed into Trump’s fat skull that he will have to kick Pence off the ticket and put a woman on to have any chance at saving the Republican Party. I doubt they think Noem is the best one, but they figure she’s good to look at, and that’s what Trump cares about as he is casting for the sacrificial VP slot. There are too many far brighter women who would fit the bill better, except they probably don’t have the ability to interest Trump’s groin. So, they get a Noem to tease Trump, then pull a bait and switch later. Who the switch will be, I don’t know. Probably not Liz Cheney, because that would repeat the Cheney presidency during the Bush years.
Is Haley still a possibility?
I think it would bode well for South Dakota to have Noem as VP. Ooh, and then she could run in 2024!
Joe, I invite you to tell us what good might come to SD from making Kristi Noem VP. I will speculate that any such good will be outweighed by making Larry Rhoden our Governor.
Donald, you may think that, but Kristi doesn’t think that. And I’m not sure Trump thinks that. He fawns over her and fireworks (which rhymes with phallus jerks) every time he sees her. If Trump is considering a VP surprise, he’s not trying to win over new voters. He’s trying to firm up his base. Who better to firm up his base than another beauty queen governor who can be, for at least a few minutes at a time, not as crassly hickish as Sarah Palin and who obviously knows how to bow to her boss.
Cory,
As with most things, it is purely speculative. I have done a cursory search, and I cannot find a single study or article that talks about the benefits a state receives from having a Vice President from said state. But here goes:
1. Having a VP from SD, regardless of who it actually is, will raise awareness of the state to the Executive Branch, which would benefit the state by helping break through bureaucratic log jams at the Federal level. Not necessarily cronyism or nepotism, simply that workers usually want to please the boss, so the Executive Branch and its agencies will be a little swifter in their dealings with SD.
2. SD would forever have the claim to first female VP, and likewise potential first female POTUS. This would further cement SD in the history books. A lasting legacy, besides what SD is normally known for: a massive defacement of a beautiful mountain.
3. Potential increase of tourism, tax dollars, et cetera. Future VP/POTUS libraries would be in SD.
4. Potential increase in business investment in SD. Go economy; consume citizen!
5. Potential better federal relations and aid for the Native populations of SD.
5. With greater attention, comes greater scrutiny. The ignorant and repulsive shenanigans that happen at the State level would be on display, leading to greater accountability.
6. Seeing a prominent female Republican rise through the ranks of politics might motivate the SD Democratic Party to get their act together and provide a substantial challenge in future elections.
Of course, it would be very easy to refute these, and come up with another list of detriments of Noem becoming VP. That’s the fun of speculating.
Joe’s list seems plausible. However, I think KK would forget SD in a DC Minute. Except, of course, for funneling a steady stream of $$$$$ to the “family’s farm.”
Wouldn’t Rhoden be a step up from Kruel Kristi? Admittedly, that is a very, very low step, but still ….. If Rhoden got out of line we could send for Bill Napoli to shut him up and/or throw him out.
Of course what Joe misses is the fact that as the VP, you tend to get investigated. Remember this guy? NOem could be our Spiro, wouldn’t that be a hoot?
“As vice president, Agnew was often called upon to attack the administration’s enemies. In the years of his vice presidency, Agnew moved to the right, appealing to conservatives who were suspicious of moderate stances taken by Nixon. In the presidential election of 1972, Nixon and Agnew were re-elected for a second term, defeating Senator George McGovern and his running mate Sargent Shriver.
In 1973, Agnew was investigated by the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland on suspicion of criminal conspiracy, bribery, extortion and tax fraud. Agnew took kickbacks from contractors during his time as Baltimore County Executive and Governor of Maryland. The payments had continued into his time as vice president; they had nothing to do with the Watergate scandal, in which he was not implicated. After months of maintaining his innocence, Agnew pleaded no contest to a single felony charge of tax evasion and resigned from office. Nixon replaced him with House Republican leader Gerald Ford. Agnew spent the remainder of his life quietly, rarely making public appearances. He wrote a novel and a memoir; both defended his actions.”
On Joe’s suggestions, Indiana’s Governor Eric Holcomb, Pence’s old right hand, feels his requests for aid get handled faster, though that is cronyism. Maybe it’s foolish not to play that game when everyone else is willing to, but that’s making corn whisky from stale corn. I’d rather concentrate on electing a decent Administration that will work for all Americans, not favor its fawners and whack its perceived enemies.
I would suggest we can get greater statewide gains by electing members of Congress who believe in government’s power to do good for its citizens. Tom Daschle helped lots of South Dakotans get choice federal jobs, as surely as Thune does and as Noem would in the White House, but Daschle also got stuff done, like four lanes from Aberdeen to I-29.
Now wait: did Joe suggest that having Noem in the White House would mean more aid for our tribal neighbors? George Mickelson might have done that, but no SD Governor since has shown a similar interest in building up the reservations.