I’ve never run a political party, but if I did, I suspect I could do a better job of optimizing my use of free media than rookie South Dakota Republican Party chairman Jim Eschenbaum. Struggling to raise money for his party, the mustachioed Millerite gets a chance to pitch his party on public radio but makes the headline his worry that there won’t be free food at the GOP convention:
“The biggest question with the convention committee is whether the convention attendees are going to have to pay for their own meals or not,” Eschenbaum said. “If we pay for their meals, we need about $130-150,000 to make convention happen. If we make them pay for their own meals at convention, we can do convention for about $50,000 or $60,000.”
Eschenbaum said he’d like to be able to fund those meals for people in attendance. He said he doesn’t have an exact timeline for when that funding is needed but estimated at least a month out so the host venue can prepare in advance. Eschenbaum said he believes they’ll be able to reach the necessary mark to provide meals at the state convention [Jackson Dircks, “SDGOP Donations Sluggish to Close Out Year, Could Impact 2026 Convention Meals,” SDPB Radio, 2025.12.19].
There you have Eschenbaum’s fundraising pitch: Donate now to the South Dakota Republican Party, and the first $100,000 we receive will go toward free food for several hundred party elites! Not candidate support, not call and knock lists, not vigorous postcard bombings of uppity liberal Democrats, but perks for party players.
I can hear the checkbooks snapping shut… and the mice not clicking on the SDGOP Donate button.
O.K., maybe Jackson Dircks selectively edited the interview. Maybe Eschenbaum talked about a whole bunch of other priorities on top of free chicken dinners at convention.
But why did Eschenbaum even mention convention meals in the press? Such convention details don’t interest donors and they don’t flip seats (what few seats Republicans have yet to flip in South Dakota). Tell the world you’d like to spend a hundred grand on meals for your big party party, and even if that cost estimate is realistic (687 delegates, each brings a date, cater three big meals and one box lunch, an average price of $18 per plate/box would approach six figures!), and you sound like a party chair with his priorities seriously out of whack.
Snap goes the weasel.
It’s much easier to deny human rights on a full stomach. Look at their leader. He’s gettin’ kinda’ blubbery. I just read that all mention of Native American history has been removed from learning centers within National Parks. Pres is still holding a grudge because an upstate NY tribe denied him a casino license. The NFL denied his proposed purchase of a team. I suppose they’ll get theirs, too.
Bad time to be brown in Washington town …