South Dakota gave Donald Trump a landslide victory in 2016, as did almost all the counties and rural areas across the United States. But is our Republican president getting the support he needs?
Once armed with an R following their names, incumbents are guaranteed of victories in elections. Sadly, they can vote as “they damn well please,” accountable only to the handful who run the party machine. Forget about grassroots voters. Allegiance is to the elite inner circle.
Re-election war chests are bulging, as described in an earlier article on this site: “Establishment politicians rely upon local machines to keep incumbents in office. Fundraising is taken care of by a few well-placed calls to those who want a piece of the power-and-influence pie. It always feels nice to be able to pick up the clout phone to get your way, thus bypassing the voting masses.”
Donald Trump was a unique populist force in an America that had had enough of corrupt inner dealings and fake public posturing. His billionaire ranking made him exempt from having to keep a wary eye on unsavory political contributors, including the mainstream media with their “free” coverage and endorsements: “On the national level, Donald Trump’s status as a billionaire caught everyone’s attention right away. He could be as independent and ideological (that is principle-driven) as he wants to be. No phone calls would come in demanding this or that in repayment for donations.”
Harlan Hansen’s The Political Outsider faithfully captures some of dynamics of such a candidate in Wyoming: “In this political novel, a man with a unique background and unusual politics runs for a seat in the US Senate and finds himself taking on the political establishment from the outside.” This candidate “makes the decision to run as an independent for Wyoming’s soon-to-be-open US Senate seat. He finds himself running against a well-known conservative state senator and an equally well-known liberal state representative.”
In South Dakota, primaries are always coming right up, very quickly. Dates and deadlines are clearly identified on the Secretary of State’s website. Candidates who are super-protected by Establishment party machines can easily become vulnerable if exemplary and principled conservatives can be recruited from elsewhere in America. Some might be celebrities like Ronald Reagan, others might be religious leaders like Franklin Graham, or journalists like Tucker Carlson.
As was pointed out in yet another article on this site, “South Dakota’s US senate vote is the equal of that from New York. Only two from each state regardless of the population. So what about all those capable conservatives in New York and other states who might be light years ahead of our ‘local’ candidates? Could some be ‘invited’ to set up shop in South Dakota so as to get on the ballot? Yes, a few rules apply, but establishing residency is easy.” Same goes for our US House seat. Might someone like Wyoming’s Foster Friess still be available?
