Posted on 08/21/2003 5:27:01 AM PDT by tdadams
See post #39, it actually isn't. Aside from the federal offices, to which I explained why the 'Rats hold them, every statewide office save Lands/Public Schools Commissioner, are GOP-held and there are heavy GOP legislative majorities. The apex of 'Rat control was in the early '70s, and no new 'Rat Governor has been elected since 1970 (the late Richard Kneip, who saw the writing on the wall in his final year in office, 1978, and took an Ambassadorship to Singapore (SINGAPORE ?!?) offered by Jimmuh). The GOP has easily won every Governor's race since 1978 (and almost knocked off Kneip in '74).
That doesn't matter, they hold special elections for vacancies in SD.
Yes, but we also hold Republicans to a different standard here at Free Republic. When Condit was suspected of being involved in the death / disapearance of his intern, we had threads each day on how he should resign. Here we have a Congressman who actually did cause a death. I would say the reaction here on FR is somewhat muted (no calls for resignation), probably because he's a Republican.
The bulk of the statewide (non-Fed) offices since the late '70s have been held by the GOP. Going into the 1970 elections, the GOP held all but the McGovern seat. Until 1983, SD had 2 House seats, divided east and west. Republicans Ben Reifel (an American Indian) and E.Y. Berry both decided to retire in 1970, and embarrassingly, we lost both seats to 'Rats Jim Abourezk and Frank Denholm. The badly incapacitated GOP Sen. Karl Mundt was unable to run for reelection in '72 and Abourezk took his seat. The former Lieutenant-Governor, Jim Abdnor, took back the Berry (Abourezk) seat that year. Denholm lost for a 3rd term in '74 to Larry Pressler (which actually was a good year for the GOP in SD, we almost knocked off McGovern with POW Leo Thorsness and a 35-year old Bill Janklow won the 'Rat held Attorney-General's office and we came close to knocking off Dick Kneip for his 3rd term). Abdnor deferred to Pressler as Abourezk embarrassingly (for him) was forced to retire (as I mentioned Kneip did early) in '78, but remained a thorn in his side for the next 20 years spreading all sorts of obscene rumors about Pressler (including the infamous gay rumors). Alas, Pressler's seat went to Tom Daschle who beat Leo Thorsness by a very questionable margin (around 100 votes, if I remember) and when Abdnor vacated and the seat went to GOP newbie Clint Roberts in '80, Roberts and Daschle had to run statewide against each other when the state went to one House seat. Had it been '80, Roberts might've beaten him, but '82 was a bad GOP year, and Daschle prevailed. From 1983-97, Daschle and his successor, Tim Johnson, held the lone House seat. When Thune won in '96, he had been the first GOPer since '80 with Clint Roberts to win a House seat. So from 1971-97, aside from '75-'79, the 'Rats have occupied either one of the old two seats or the At-Large one.
There is general agreement here that he should be held accountable, though.
There were also many Freepers who argued against the expulsion of Democrat Jim Traficant from Congress. I think it's hard to accurately generalize about these things.
Whoops ... might have known he was a Republican, after all he was speeding in a large automobile ... wasting our vital petroleum resources. No doubt there's a direct connection to Cheney and his former career as a chief exec with Haliburton, a major supplier to the oil industry.
Because the Governor is a Republican, I predict that Janklow will not be convicted of anything, and will not give up his seat. The Power Elite of America are not subject to same laws as the rest of us.
Thanks for the info. I didn’t know that. Here in Maryland, run by Democrats for years, “another election to choose a successor” was merely a formality; “appointed to serve” was the actuality.
The Cadillac which Rep. Bill Janklow, R-S.D., was driving when he was involved in an crash that killed motorcyclist Randy Scott of Hardwick, Minn., sits outside the South Dakota Highway Patrol district headquarters in Sioux Falls, S.D., Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2003. (AP Photo/Doug Dreyer)
The Harley-Davidson which Randy Scott of Hardwick, Minn., was driving when he was killed in a crash Saturday with a car driven by Rep. Bill Janklow, R-S.D., sits in a garage at the South Dakota Highway Patrol district headquarters Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2003, in Sioux Falls, S.D. (AP Photo/Doug Dreyer)
A pickup waits for traffic at a stop sign Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2003, near Trent, S.D., where U.S. Rep. Bill Janklow, R-S.D., was involved in accident Saturday which resulted in the death of another motorist. Randy Scott of Hardwick, Minn., was killed when his motorcycle collided with Janklow's car. Moody County State's Attorney William Ellingson said preliminary reports indicate Janklow went through the intersection without stopping, setting up the possibility that criminal charges could be brought against the South Dakota political icon. (AP Photo/Carson Walker)
A funeral home employee adjusts the windblown flag as ourners gather at the gravesite of Randolph E. Scott during burial at Maplewood Cemetery in Luverne, Minn., Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2003. Scott, 55, died Saturday when his motorcycle collided with a car driven by South Dakota Rep. Bill Janklow near Trent, S.D., about 25 miles northwest of Hardwick, Minn., where Scott lived. Preliminary reports indicate that Janklow, South Dakota's only U.S. House member, failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection where Scott died, according to the prosecutor. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Rep. Bill Janklow, shown in this file photo taken Sept. 11, 2001, at Pierre, S.D., while he was governor, said in a statement Sunday, Aug. 17, 2003, he feels 'anguish' over the death of a motorcyclist who collided with a car he was driving. Authorities said the intersection had a stop sign only for Janklow, and an investigation was continuing. Janklow, 63, a former four-term South Dakota governor in his first congressional term, suffered minor injuries in Saturday's crash but didn't require medical attention, said Col. Dan Mosteller, the head of the state Highway Patrol. (AP Photo/Joe Kafka, File)
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