Democratic candidate for governor Jamie Smith still hasn’t gotten any current Republican legislator to openly endorse him. But he has gotten Republican Speaker of the House Spencer Gosch (R-23/Glenham) to publicly refute Governor Kristi Noem’s main personal attack against Smith:
In numerous political ads and mailers, the Noem campaign and the state Republican Party have painted Smith as too liberal or“too extreme for South Dakota.”
…“I don’t find Jamie Smith extreme in anything … and I wouldn’t call him a liberal Democrat, I really wouldn’t,” said House Speaker Spencer Gosch, R-Glenham. “Just take a look at the talking points they are throwing out, because this is all they can find. If that’s all you can find against Jamie Smith, most of that stuff is a little weak. It’s personal and they’re not going after Smith on his record because there’s not that much they disagree with” [Bart Pfankuch, “With a Campaign Focused on Character, Jamie Smith Sees ‘Genuine’ Shot at Upsetting Gov. Kristi Noem,” South Dakota News Watch, 2022.10.19].
Speaker Gosch also signals that the Legislature might have a more productive relationship with a Governor Smith than with the current occupant of the Second Floor:
“I would tell you that between Jamie Smith and the governor, I’ve had a much more cordial relationship and conversations with Jamie than I ever have had with the governor, and she’s from my own party,” Gosch said. “Jamie Smith to me, I think he’s a great guy…as a person, I consider us really, really good friends because he’s just the kind of guy that everybody loves, he’s a guy who’s really hard not to love. When he talks to you he really listens and he really cares, and he remembers things” [Pfankuch, 2022.10.19].
The clear implication here is that Noem is not a great gal, not the kind of person everybody loves, not a person who really listens or really care, and not a person who “remembers things”.
That’s not Gosch saying, “Vote for Smith”, but that’s not Gosch saying “Vote for Noem”, either. It is the Republican Speaker of the House saying that he has a better working relationship with Democratic Representative Smith than with Republican Governor Noem. And it is Republican Speaker Gosch saying that, when Republican Governor Noem calls Democratic Representative Smith an extreme liberal, she is lying.
When you put who you vote for in a context of, lets say, you are wrongfully accused of some crime and you need to find an attorney to represent you and keep you from going to jail. You want to hire a person who is smart, for starters. You want them to put your freedom and interests in front of everything else. You want them to work hard and fight for you. You want his or her entire job to revolve around keeping you happy and comfortable and worry-free.
Mrs. Noem has never made me feel secure or important. She has not worked for me. She has never put my best interests in front of her own. She has never made me look good to the rest of the world. She has never risen early for me or rolled up her sleeves for unglamorous chores to give me reprieve. She is the worst representative for me. So why would I hire her again?
We can choose Rudy Giuliani with dementia and tipping the bottle before noon everyday and overcharging us of the wazoo. Or we can choose to hire us Johnny Cochran and the dream team and stay out of litigation and cuffs and looking squeaky clean….. The choice is so simple if you care about your own interests. Our record and very freedom depend upon who we choose to represent us.
Rue the campaign strategist who thought a woman with a history of working poorly with other women would counsel her to run against women in a South Dakota governor’s race when the Democrat is standing for women’s rights.
I don’t think your Governor Noem likes or respects men very much. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. #grins
For a veteran of the South Dakota legislature, Governor Noem seems to be consistently inept at working with Legislative leaders, including committee chairs, all Republican, to move important legislation along to passage. She seems to lack patience and persistence and is deficient in persuasive skills. I can only surmise that she either has a deficient group of advisors in the Governor’s office, or doesn’t listen to anyone but her horse.
See Steve Hickey’s Facebook post regarding Noem.
Smith needs to use those quotes and get ads on the air immediately.
Go Spence!
Easy for Spencer to say since he lost his seat. Noem did not like him because he had nothing to offer her, he was inexperienced, and she is well loved by his constituents. Bet she takes 80% of Walworth County votes.
A link to Professor Hickey’s comment would be helpful.
Mr. Smith, who is and Extreme alt-lefter by almost all accounts, is a nice enough fellow, indeed. Young Mr. Gosch, who was among the insanest in the legislatures, is so far to the right that these two fellows wrap around like a bow and embrace each other. You have the most radical fringe elements defending themselves against the fat part of the moderate curve of reasonable fellows, like grudznick.
It is not surprising that Mr. H doesn’t point out the real reason for Mr. Gosch to come out with this messaging. He hates the Governor, Ms. Noem. All know this.
Grudznick, can you tell me why Mr. Gosch “hates” Mrs. Noem. While the Pierre people can have active “dslikes” related to policy, I have found it rare that these folks, especially in the same Party, have disdain or “hate” for one another on a personal level.Is this relationship between Gosch and Noem based on politics, personality, or both??
Oh, he loathes her, because she is stronger and smarter than he, and would not let him get any wins in the legislatures. Mr. Gosch, despite being the speaker in the legislatures, was almost as ineffective as Mr. Kloucek who was a minority fellow that even the other dems wouldn’t let sign on their bills, but he was a jovial dolt. It’s nearly impossible to have a body more dysfunctional than that which Mr. Haugaard led, but his stooge, Mr. Gosch, was able to exceed him.
Mr. Schoenbeck didn’t even have to break a sweat to defeat Mr. Gosch in maneuvering.
Noem’s not just the laziest governor in state history. More importantly, she is the sleaziest.
She ran for Governor purely as a launchpad to run for President/Vice President. No other agenda, and it shows. She has no vision other than a dystopian America with herself in power.
She has no signature accomplishments other than a bounty program for cutting tails off raccoons and proposals that are based on pure lies and aimed at singling out minorities for damage and hurt.
She is a coward on the issue of abortion.
She lied to save her re-election campaign with a fake and amateurish promise to eliminate the state sales tax on food. She lied again and again on her overreach to give her kid a job by firing the state’s top appraisals expert. She lied again and again on her illegal use of the state plane. Zero respect for the rule of law.
She’s been offered bi-partisan support to hold a special session immediately on the sales tax and to relieve the economic pain to families she falsely assigns to President Joe Biden. And what happened to her promise for a special session on the abortion issue? Lied again.
Kristi Noem is a fake. A phony. A cruel coward. A racist. A sleazy grifter. A lazy, entitled, spoiled rotten failure.
She works for the people of our state, not the other way around. She deserves to be fired.
Grudznick–I HATE term limits which spawn these nuts…give me Speaker Barnett, Walter Dale Miller, the Peterson fellow from Wall who was around Pierre for darn near a lifetime, Lars Herseth (a really warm and funny guy who loved a good political fight and the whiskey afterward), ..guys like that…tough as nails, but good legislators.
I agree with you muchly, Mr. Blundt. All those fellows you mention, including Mr. Gordon Pederson, who served in grudznick’s District numbered 30 for many good years. Gordie was a collector of things, you know.
GOP on GOP violence is the best kind.
Here is Mr. Hickey’s Facebook post. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0DSUdApxyz2WUNzuct9L8Ew2wgmCzo9mDy73cyZRRZmjFjSSXbgweGMGwffpVEHT6l&id=752443086&mibextid=89stFX
The best quote is “South Dakota will fare just fine under a Democratic governor.”
96 Tears, you forgot Kristi’s other “monumental” legislation she cut the Bingo tax.
Grud, Some people think they have to be mean, hard-core, pretend bad@ss to be effective. Run their life like a soap opera, push people around, everything a drama. These types are ultimately ineffective because they cannot work with others. Spencer is not like that.
sx123, I know who is like that and the sooner we vote that out, the sooner the atmosphere will change in Pierre for the better. Four years is way too long for her toxicity. It’s not who we are in South Dakota and a new Govenor will get us back on the right path to sanity to represent our interests.
That’s a tough call, Guy. Bounties on racoon tails or cutting the Bingo tax. Ah, yes. Both worthy of “Profiles in Courage.”
Any word on her goodtime buddy Corey Lewandowski? Has he found another sleazoid yet or is he still stuck with fallen party gal Kristi?
Missin’ The Lew.
Let’s not forget Gosch is buddies with Ravnsborg. That says it all.