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Quirky Ex-Senator Stomps on Democrats’ S.D. Hopes
rollcall.com ^ | 7/24/14 | Colin Diersing

Posted on 07/24/2014 12:36:55 PM PDT by cotton1706

South Dakota Democrats are playing a tough hand in the Senate race, but they thought they could count on a wild card — former Sen. Larry Pressler — to help the contest break their way.

Pressler seems to have other plans.

Democrats already faced long odds to hold retiring Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson’s seat. Obama lost South Dakota by 18 points last cycle, and the state marks the GOP’s best pick-up opportunity in its 6-seat quest to win the majority.

The front-runner, popular former GOP Gov. Mike Rounds, faces several foes: Democrat Rick Weiland; state Sen. Gordon Howie, a conservative Republican running as an independent; and Pressler, who served three terms as a Republican but is running as an independent.

Democrats held out hope the race would become competitive if Pressler splintered GOP votes from Rounds. But so far, Pressler is doing the opposite — splitting Democrats and extinguishing the party’s remaining hopes of keeping the seat.

“He seems to be veering to the left,” said Ben Nesselhuf, former South Dakota Democratic Party chairman, in an interview with Roll Call. “I like this Larry Pressler a lot more than I liked the one in the mid 1990s. … His message and Rick Weiland’s message seem to kind of overlap.”

According to a Rounds campaign memo obtained by Roll Call, a mid-June internal poll of 500 likely voters found Pressler’s supporters were more than twice as likely to be Democrats as Republicans, 48 percent to 22 percent. Also in the survey, a hypothetical head-to-head race showed Rounds with 49 percent, Weiland with 24 percent and Pressler with 15 percent.

(Excerpt) Read more at atr.rollcall.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Politics/Elections; US: South Dakota
KEYWORDS: 2014midterms; elections; pressler; sd2014

1 posted on 07/24/2014 12:36:55 PM PDT by cotton1706
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To: cotton1706

Pressler is effectively a Dem.

Supported BHO.


2 posted on 07/24/2014 12:39:05 PM PDT by Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
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To: Trapped Behind Enemy Lines

Pressler sounds like a textbook case of the DC disease. Initially sent there to fight big government and became addicted to power. DemonRATS love big centralized top-down command economies.


3 posted on 07/24/2014 12:46:34 PM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: Trapped Behind Enemy Lines

Looks like he’s hurting the D’s more than the R’s.


4 posted on 07/24/2014 12:47:51 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: cotton1706
We have a Pressler down here in Florida, a former GOP governor who has come out of the closet as a full blown Rat ... ... running for governor again.
5 posted on 07/24/2014 1:06:09 PM PDT by shove_it (Directive 10-289 lives)
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To: cotton1706

Hope this RINO loses.
As I said, if the GOP establishment looses because RINOs are defeated, it will send them a stark message.

If I lived in a district where a RINO was running for re-election, I would vote for the thrid party conservative and hope the Democrat won.


6 posted on 07/24/2014 1:16:54 PM PDT by ZULU (Go REDSKINS!!! Impeach Obama!!!)
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To: shove_it

Crist has a really nice tan just like john Boehner.
That’s about the only nice thing I can say about either.
Crist is about as slimy as a remora.


7 posted on 07/24/2014 1:17:15 PM PDT by Joe Boucher ((FUBO) obammy lied and lied and lied)
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To: Trapped Behind Enemy Lines

dear larry.
were you really innocent of corruption during the abscam scandal?
larry is from my home town.
my dad hauled him to school as a bus driver


8 posted on 07/24/2014 1:31:48 PM PDT by South Dakota (shut up and build a bakken pipe line)
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To: Clintonfatigued; Impy; randita; AuH2ORepublican; BillyBoy

Pressler taking support from Dems in SD.


9 posted on 07/24/2014 4:08:20 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Resist We Much)
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To: fieldmarshaldj

The dem chairman’s comments are interesting, I bet he’s wishing he recruited him to run as a rat.


10 posted on 07/24/2014 4:50:06 PM PDT by Impy (Think for yourself)
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To: All

Larry Pressler was a great conservative senator when Reagan was president, just like Thad Cochran and Orrin Hatch. These guys joined Jesse Helms as absolute warriors for our side.

It amazes me how quickly they became leftist scum after the Gipper departed.


11 posted on 07/25/2014 5:28:47 AM PDT by Luke21
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To: Luke21
It amazes me how quickly they became leftist scum after the Gipper departed.

That's a good lesson for all in how a strong leader who actually believes in what he says can reshape the political landscape on his own terms. Even the so-called powerful are really sheep looking for such a leader - when one is absent they get led by the power-vacuum-filling MSM.

12 posted on 07/25/2014 5:36:33 AM PDT by Mr. Jeeves ([CTRL-GALT-DELETE])
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