If I were Governor, and if members of my own party in the Legislature were stirring up concerns that the single biggest campaign promise I made to get reëlected might not be affordable or passable, I’d march down to the first big weekly press conference of the Session with my elbows linked with the sponsors of my big promised bill (who would also just happen to be politicos who just got elected chair and vice-chair of my party thanks to my personal endorsement) and I’d say, “Hey, everybody! Let’s talk about my campaign promise and how my friends here are going to make sure it passes.” I’d also bring as many of the bill sponsors, from both parties, who could get away from committee meetings and squeeze into the conference room, and I’d urge the local reporters present to ask each on of those legislators why they support this bill.
But I’m not Governor; a woman running for national office is, and lingering about the Capitol talking to South Dakota reporters adds zero value to her national profile. She thus ignores the local press entirely and skips a prime opportunity to get on camera and make sure everyone is talking about her big promise bill, the food-tax repeal:
Thursday, Noem did not attend the regularly scheduled weekly press conference, after leadership from both political parties spoke.Typically, governors follow up on remarks from Republican and Democratic leaders each Thursday during the legislative session.
…The tradition of the weekly press conference during session has existed since well before Noem took office initially in 2019. Governors Dennis Daugaard and Mike Rounds regularly attended weekly press conferences during the legislative session.
…Noem’s office did not respond to an inquiry about why she did not attend Thursday, and to ask whether or not she intended to have a weekly press conference for the rest of the legislative session [Austin Goss, “Noem Misses Weekly Legislative Press Conference,” KOTA-TV, 2023.01.19].
Noem had time today to tweet about abortion, Mount Rushmore, and Jackrabbits and Coyotes. If Twitter was consuming her attention, couldn’t she at least have sent her brand spanking-new press secretary out for an inaugural visit with the local media to spotlight the Governor’s biggest campaign promise and practical policy priority?
If I Were King Of The Forest not queen, not duke, not prince
My regal robes of the forest would be satin, not cotton, not chintz
I’d command each thing, be it fish or fowl, with a woof and a woof, and a royal
growl
As I’d click my heel all the trees would kneel and the mountains bow and the
bulls kowtow
And the sparrows would take wing, if I were king.
My good friend Lar does indeed click his heel, and all the sparrows quiver. He woofs at the fish and birds, too, but none respond.
Mr. H, I don’t think you are eligible to be Governor.
I wish Noem would just announce she was running. Then she would see she is polling poorly; the money would dry up and she could come back and be our governor, a job she abandoned back in May 2020.
She ought to consider how being “America’s Mayor” turned out for one Rudy Giuliani, the mayor in drag adored as such and given the kiss of…… death? by one DJ Trump.
i think the gop’s renewed hatred of, and discrimination against, folks in drag make it highly unlikely noem will ever be on the national stage again. ayyoo!
Weekly (or nearly weekly) press conferences during session have been held since the 1980s. I can’t speak for earlier than that. It was a given that the governor would be in-state and tending to business in Pierre during session. I had a lot of problems with Janklow’s tendency to shade the truth, but he was man enough to take all the questions the press could fire at him. Clearly, Noem doesn’t have what it takes to lead the state, and if she can’t lead South Dakota, she can’t lead the nation in any capacity, President, VP, cabinet or sub-cabinet. She ought to resign.
While Mrs. Noem is an attractive study shouldn’t South Dakota Democrats be focused on the 2024 US House race instead of breathless coverage of an entrenched governor?
Donald is right as far as my memory serves…Janklow held wide open, literally free swinging press conferences with an antagonistic press corps. (As I recall, Terry Woster, with AP and Tim Schriener, who later went on to USA Today, were the most respectful…The Argus had several aggressive reporters during that time, and UPI was represented along with occasionally the Rapid City Journal and Mitchell Daily Republic.) the most disrespectful, or blunt, was John Austin of KSFY and later KDLT, who after a hypervague and “shaded” answer from Janklow, threw his pencil away, over his shoulder, closed his notebook, leaned back in his chair, and said, “We’re done for the day.”
South Dakota truly is the Land of the Flee and the Home of the Knave.
Kristi Lynn is too mired in stupidity, cluelessness, Xanax, and boinking The Lew to care about governing.
But, by golly, her lips are sure plump and inviting.
It’s pretty obvious she doesn’t want this to pass, it was just political games she was playing before the election. Jamie Smith should hold a press conference calling her out on her bluff.