Political Smokeout

15 Arrested Development quotes about South Dakota politicos

Early Sunday morning, Netflix will release 15 new episodes of the cult, long-canceled sitcom “Arrested Development.” The intricately written tale of the hapless Bluth clan is known for its multi-layered jokes and witty dialogue. I’ll certainly be spending much of the day Sunday binge-watching the new episodes, and in anticipation, I decided to pair up an “Arrested Development” quote from its initial three seasons with a number of prominent figures in South Dakota politics.

(Note that in the humor here I’ve done my best to tease all sides and all individuals equally, and that in many cases the target is not the individual’s actual personality but their public image. I’ve also avoided using some of the saucier lines from the show.)

The below contains some spoilers for the initial run of Arrested Development. But if you haven’t seen that, A) what are you waiting for? and B) you probably won’t get much of the humor.

Mike Rounds: “There’s always money in the banana stand.”

Rounds had some high-profile fundraising difficulties the first three months of the year. This caught people by surprise because they had assumed Rounds’ connections from his time as governor and support from national Republicans would make him a fundraising behemoth — sort of like how family patriarch George Bluth assumed the $250,000 hidden inside the family banana stand would always be there as a backstop. So long, at least, as Rounds’ banana stand doesn’t go up in the flames of a vicious primary battle.

The DSCC: “…and that’s why you always leave a note.”

The Bluth children learned the importance of good communication from their father, who used an employee’s prosthetic arm to create exaggerated consequences for their failure to leave notes. Similarly, the national Democrats suffered a communication breakdown in the past month when they focused so much on keeping Brendan Johnson out of the race that they forgot to leave a “don’t run” note to Rick Weiland or Tom Daschle.

Gordon Howie: “He’s going to be all right.”

When the Bluths suffered various injuries, they frequently got assigned the Doctor Wordsmith, an over-literal physician whose diagnoses were inevitably misinterpreted. After Tobias Funke was hit by a car, the family was told he “looks like he’s dead.” He wasn’t dead — he just looked like it. Similarly, they were told Buster Bluth would “be all right” after a run-in with a loose seal — by which he meant Buster had lost his left hand and would be all right from then on. “All right” is a good way to describe Howie, who ran for governor as a “tea party conservative” and has continually criticized right-of-center politicians like Dennis Daugaard and Mike Rounds as raging liberals.

Tim Johnson: “You can always tell a Milford man.”

The prestigious Milford Academy is a private school where children are taught to be neither seen nor heard. South Dakota’s senior senator is hardly invisible, but even his supporters describe him as a “workhorse, not a show horse” who focused on less prominent aspects of his job like constituent service. Compared to flashier politicians like John Thune, Johnson might very well be a Milford man.

Kristi Noem: “I’ve made a huge mistake.”

The hardest part of all of this was deciding which of South Dakota’s various fallible politicians got “huge mistake,” perhaps the most quotable of all “Arrested Development’s” catchphrases. Eldest son Gob Bluth would often utter this admission of folly and regret after realization set in, and his relatives soon joined in. Noem’s “huge mistake”? You can take your pick, but I’m going with her decision to run for House leadership in her first term, which exposed her to political attacks but didn’t seem to bring any tangible benefits. Noem recognized this alleged “mistake” by passing on a leadership role for her second term.

Rick Weiland: “Her?”

George-Michael Bluth’s girlfriend Ann didn’t have the most dynamic personality, and his father Michael and various family members seemed perpetually surprised by Ann’s existence. “Her?” was a common refrain whenever Ann — or “Bland” or “Egg” — was referred to. That’s similar to the initial reaction when Rick Weiland entered the Senate race after months of speculation about Brendan Johnson and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.

Leslee Unruh: “No touching!”

Who else for the guards’ refrain at George Bluth’s prison than South Dakota’s most vocal proponent of abstinence-only sexual education?

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: “Co-ca-co-ca-co!” Or, “a-coodle-doodle-do!” Or, “coo-coo-ca-cha!” Or, “cha-chee-cha-chee-cha!”

The Bluth family frequently accuses Michael Bluth of being chicken — and accompanies the slur with their extremely loose interpretations of what a chicken looks and sounds like. “Has anyone in this family ever SEEN a chicken?” Michael asks. Meanwhile, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin probably had a lot of reasons why she passed on a U.S. Senate run, but lacking the proverbial “fire in the belly” for a tough primary followed by a tougher general election might have been in the list.

Dennis Daugaard: “I was once voted the worst audience participant Cirque du Soleil ever had.”

Attorney Wayne Jarvis is a very serious man, whether he’s defending the Bluths or prosecuting them. (He’s allowed; it’s in the Patriot Act.) Similarly, Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s dry, restrained Scandinavian demeanor is common-enough knowledge even the governor makes jokes about it. (Plus I couldn’t find any suitably funny and appropriate quotes from the many situations where Michael Bluth urges his family members to cut back on their spending to fit with Daugaard’s famous budget cuts.)

Brendan Johnson: “I don’t understand that question and I won’t respond to it.”

Lucille Bluth doesn’t mince words when she doesn’t feel like answering a question. The same goes for U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson, who’s certainly friendlier than the Bluth matriarch but just as taciturn when asked in public about politics. To a large degree he’s constrained by his job, but as a political junkie I’ll quote (bonus!) Gob with a hearty “Come on!”

Daniel Willard: “I’m doing the time of my life!”

Daniel Willard isn’t in prison like George Bluth after he’s accused of securities fraud, embezzlement and light treason, but Willard is in legal difficulties after being fingered for masterminding last year’s political robocalls. But Willard, like George after he starts making friends behind bars, doesn’t seem too perturbed by his brush with the law. He seems confident his actions were constitutionally protected and seems interested in taking his case to higher courts. (If you disagree with Willard here, you can substitute another quote: “I’ve got the worst (bleeping) attorneys.”)

Ryan Casey: “There are dozens of us — dozens!”

That insistent plea was spoken by Tobias Funke about the community of “never-nudes”, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. You can also get senses of that same insistence listening to people like Casey talk about the strength of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party in South Dakota. These liberal activists are vocal, but polling didn’t show a lot of discontent with centrist Democrat Stephanie Herseth Sandlin among South Dakota Dems.

Stace Nelson: “There’s so many poorly chosen words in that sentence.”

Michael Bluth made that comment after one of the many unintentionally homoerotic comments by Tobias Funke (most of whose direct quotes were too risque for me to use on this general-audience blog), who seemed oblivious to how other people responded to his malapropisms. The outspoken Stace Nelson doesn’t have much in common with Tobias, but they do share the lack of filter in their communication style. Nelson doesn’t uncork sexual double-entendres, but his fiery floor speeches sometimes leave fellow Republicans fuming over his strong, blunt language. 

Mike Huether: “Steve Holt!”

Sioux Falls’ energetic mayor has a flair for public relations — a flair that sometimes rubs people the wrong way when they perceive (fairly or not) the mayor taking too much credit for things like a new Walmart. Meanwhile, “Arrested Development” jock Steve Holt never missed the chance to celebrate himself by lifting his fists in the air and chanting a vigorous “Steve Holt!”

John Thune: “Well, that was a freebie.”

What else for the Republican senator who geared up for a high-profile reelection battle only to have Democrats decline to nominate even a token opponent. Thune was unopposed in his first reelection bid, and Michael Bluth would certainly appreciate how unexpectedly easy that was.

——-

There’s plenty more good quotes I didn’t use (even discarding the risque stuff). I couldn’t think of any applications for things like “You’re gonna get some hop-ons,” “You don’t fire crazy. You never fire crazy” and “You don’t need double-talk, you need Bob Loblaw.” Fellow “Arrested Development” fans, join in in the comments if you want.

Some conservative groups down on Noem as Rounds challenger

As Rep. Kristi Noem continues to ponder running for U.S. Senate, some national conservative groups are skeptical she’d be the “conservative alternative” they want to former Gov. Mike Rounds in the race.

Rounds, who has drawn some fire from the right for refusing to sign a no-tax-increase pledge, has said he expects a primary challenge. Experts believe Noem would be his most dangerous rival in a GOP primary.

But the Club For Growth, a fiscally conservative group that’s not a fan of Rounds, said Noem’s no better.

“Neither Mike Rounds nor Kristi Noem is the type of candidate we would support,” said Barney Keller, the Club’s communications director. “Neither of them are fiscal conservatives.”

Meanwhile the Senate Conservatives Fund, which is also searching for a Rounds challenger, is “reviewing (Noem’s) record and watching to see how she’ll perform in office.”

“The farm bill is a big test,” said Matt Hoskins, executive director of the Senate Conservatives Fund. “That’s an issue where I’m sure that she is very supportive of the farm program, but it’s been larded up with all these food stamps. What we really need is we need leaders in Washington who are willing to say, ‘I know this issue is very important to my constituents, but this isn’t the right way to legislate.’”

Noem voted for the farm bill as it passed the House Agriculture Committee and said she’s working hard to pass the bill.

“She’s for that but believes there’s still room for improvement,” said Courtney Heitkamp, Noem’s spokeswoman.

Noem has supported cuts to the food stamp program that many Democrats say go too far, but it’s unclear if she goes far enough for groups like the Senate Conservatives Fund.

Jordan Stoick, Noem’s chief of staff, defended the congresswoman’s conservatism.

“Rep. Noem is not beholden to any special interest group,” Stoick said in a statement. “She has a solid record of cutting out-of-control government spending and will continue working hard to promote conservative solutions to the problems facing our country.”

Rounds declined to comment on the Club For Growth’s comments.

Some conservative activists predict South Dakota conservatives would rally around Noem even if national groups don’t.

Former state senator Bill Napoli, who is considering challenging Rounds himself, said Noem isn’t a “hard-core conservative” but that she votes and acts conservative and has conservative beliefs.

“She’d be head over heels better than Mike Rounds,” Napoli said.

Political science professor Jon Schaff of Northern State University said Noem would probably have the best chance of beating Rounds of any potential GOP primary rivals.

“Noem has establishment credential, but also she has credibility with, shall we say, the tea party wing of the party,” said Schaff. “She straddles both sides. In that sense she would be a formidable primary challenger to Mike Rounds.”

Nathan Gonzales, deputy editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report, said Noem might be more likely to run now that Rick Weiland is the presumed Democratic Senate nominee and not former Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. Herseth Sandlin was considered by many outside experts to be a more formidable candidate before she decided not to run.

“If she only has to win a competitive primary and not deal with a competitive general election, (running for Senate) probably looks like a better path,” Gonzales said. “I think most members of Congress would rather run every six years than every two years, if they had their choice.”

It’s unclear when additional Republicans might enter the race. Noem has said she’ll make a decision in late summer, but is watching the race and has talked with outside groups about a possible run, according to an interview with The Hill newspaper. 

Noem isn’t under financial pressures to enter the race. While potential candidates like Napoli or state Rep. Stace Nelson can’t raise campaign funds until they declare their candidacy, Noem can fundraise for her House reelection campaign and then transfer that bank account to a Senate run later on.

Hoskins said his group doesn’t feel an urgency to get a Rounds challenger soon, with the 2014 GOP primary still more than a year away.

“I think there’s time,” he said, while adding that it’s “good for candidates to get in and get running.”

But Napoli warned that waiting too long could cost Noem.

“I hope she doesn’t wait until too much time has gone by, but I would like to see her run for that seat,” he said. 

If Noem waits too long, “a lot of people will have committed to other candidates,” Napoli said. “I think that might really affect her race.”

Rounds headed to Israel

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rounds will travel to Israel this month, his campaign confirmed today.

Stan Adelstein, a Jewish state senator and wealthy businessman who backed Rounds’ gubernatorial campaigns, wrote on his blog that Rounds will have an “intense six-day briefing” in Israel.

“He will have an in-depth confidential discussion with three Israeli generals concerning the military situation. In addition, he will be meeting with business leaders, press individuals, and members of both parties of the Israeli Knesset,” Adelstein wrote.

Rounds aide Jason Glodt didn’t have additional details about the trip, which is on Rounds’ initiative rather than part of a group journey. The former governor was traveling Wednesday and wasn’t immediately available to discuss the trip.

With his political experience being in the South Dakota statehouse, Rounds has minimal foreign policy experience. This trip will provide an international perspective as he runs for the U.S. Senate where he’ll be expected to weigh in on foreign affairs.

Support for Israel is also an increasingly important position among GOP primary voters.

The honeymoon is over, part two

My prior post on Rounds’ open records laws initially suffered from a reading comprehension error — I missed the line where Daily Caller reporter Alexis Levinson said that it was “a Democratic group” that filed the open records request Rounds denied, not the Daily Caller.

That doesn’t change anything about the fact that Rounds has a vulnerability over his position on open government, where he has been historically favored the privacy of government officials and people dealing with them.

But it does say something about how national Democrats (including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which blasted out the Daily Caller story to the press this morning) are approaching the campaign, and also how they’re responding to the entry into the race of a Democratic candidate they didn’t want.

This story’s origin was a straight up “oppo drop” — a political group handing its opposition research to the press as a scoop. Everybody does it. It’s not the first time Rounds is going to face an oppo drop, and sooner or later his side will feed the press scoops about his opponents, too. 

Should the Democratic oppo drop be seen as an attempt to recapture the momentum after Rick Weiland spurned the DSCC by declaring his candidacy? Possibly. Certain it’s one of several benefits they get.

The politics of the thing, again, shouldn’t take away from the question of open government, which is going to keep dogging Rounds throughout this campaign.

And so it begins…

Mike Rounds’ honeymoon is over.

He’s known all along that running for Senate will mean facing criticism for some of the things he did — and defended — as governor. One of Rounds’ weaknesses is open government, something he’s always been leery about.

This morning, the conservative news site The Daily Caller reported on Rounds denying their a Democratic group’s records request for some of the former governor’s personal correspondence.

After Rounds denied their request for information about the governor’s mansion construction, the Capitol renovation, the Homestake lab, inmate files and other governor’s office reports, Daily Caller reporter Alexis Levinson summarized the state of South Dakota’s open records laws, and the role Rounds played in keeping them from being more open.

The Argus Leader has covered these issues extensively over the years — Levinson’s article relies heavily on past Argus Leader reporting for her context.

But this issue illustrates the different world a U.S. Senate campaign is compared to a gubernatorial campaign. South Dakotans may not have cared very much when the Argus Leader reported on how limited our state’s open records laws are. But nationally, most states and the federal government make FAR more information available to the public than does South Dakota. The law letting Mike Rounds keep his official correspondence private may seem normal to some South Dakotans, but to outsiders it looks like he’s being secretive and hiding things.

Even under Gov. Dennis Daugaard, Rounds’ successor (and ally) who is much more favorable to open government, it’s been a very slow slog expanding open government laws in South Dakota. A commission convened by Daugaard and Attorney General Marty Jackley proposed eight new laws last year. Half of them — including some of the most significant, such as a bill opening up police mug shots to the public as they are in almost every other state — were defeated in the Legislature despite backing from Daugaard and Jackley.

So welcome to South Dakota, national reporters. It’s a whole new world here.

(Note: I misread the original Daily Caller article about who filed the open records request Rounds rejected — it was a Democratic group, not the Daily Caller. Fixed — though it’s worth noting that the point of open records laws is that anyone can use them, from the press to your bitterest enemies. The information is free regardless of what purposes people intend it for.)

Does Weiland make Noem more likely to run?

Rep. Kristi Noem has refused to rule out a run for U.S. Senate against Mike Rounds. Her decision here will have a big impact on the race, as the biggest Republican name out there who could challenge Rounds in the primary.

I think her chances of running this morning are considerably higher than they were 24 hours ago.

Why? It has to do with what I think are two of Noem’s key goals here:

1) She would like to be a U.S. Senator

2) She would like for the GOP to take South Dakota’s U.S. Senate seat

The problem is that with Mike Rounds already in the race, the two goals conflict somewhat — a bruising GOP primary could make it more difficult for whichever Republican wins to triumph in the general election.

But Rick Weiland’s candidacy eases that devil’s calculus a little bit.

That’s presuming you consider Weiland to be a less formidable general election candidate than either Brendan Johnson or Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. This point could be debated, but I’d bet Republicans agree with NBC News that whatever Weiland’s potential, he’s “not a top-tier candidate” compared to Herseth Sandlin and Johnson.

Weiland running for Senate means Republicans now face two dominant possibilities in terms of their Democratic opponent:

1) The Democrats nominate Weiland, seen as less formidable than Herseth Sandlin or Johnson

2) The Democrats nominate Herseth Sandlin, but only after she beats Weiland in a fierce primary

Either case would seem to strengthen the GOP hand over an alternative in which either Herseth Sandlin or Johnson cruises to an uncontested nomination.

And a strengthened GOP hand gives the party more margin for error. In other words, it makes the party better able to absorb a fierce primary of its own.

So if Kristi Noem is being held back from a Senate run by appeals to party loyalty, Weiland’s candidacy would ameliorate some of those concerns.

That leaves the primary obstacle being the personal uncertainty — giving up her current job, where she’s the incumbent and presumably has a better chance of winning than an open Senate seat primary battle against a popular former governor.

Noem’s still no lock to run for office. But whatever Stephanie Herseth Sandlin does, Rick Weiland has made Noem’s choice a little easier.

What the other guys have to say to the Weiland news

Mike Rounds: 

We’ve said from the beginning that we will be prepared to take on all comers. Our focus continues to be on engaging South Dakota voters and gaining their support for the U.S. Senate race. 

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin:

Anyone and everyone is welcome to join the race. I deeply appreciate the support and encouragement I’ve received from South Dakotans who believe my past experience and record serving the state would make me a strong candidate to win this race. Obviously, I have both professional commitments and family obligations to consider. I have indicated that I will make a decision this month, and I will keep to that commitment.

Brendan Johnson:

My focus remains strictly on being the state’s chief federal law enforcement officer. That focus had not changed, nor has my commitment to not discuss politics while serving the people of South Dakota as U.S. Attorney.

Tea Party Express talking to potential SD Senate candidates

Strategists for the tea party group Tea Party Express spent several days in South Dakota this week interviewing possible Senate candidates as they weigh possible involvement in the Republican primary.

So far Mike Rounds is the only declared candidate, and unlike the Senate Conservatives Fund, the Tea Party Express is considering backing the former governor.

“He’s the front-runner at this point, so he’d be high on our list to talk to,” said Sal Russo, the group’s chief strategist. “We haven’t made any judgments at this point.”

But Russo and his team interviewed several other potential candidates, including state Rep. Stace Nelson, who reported speaking to the group in an in-depth 90-minute discussion.

Russo said his group is solely concerned with fiscal conservatism, not social issues or foreign policy. It’s on fiscal issues where Rounds has drawn most of his criticism from conservative activists.

The group is a political action committee subject to campaign finance limits, so it doesn’t have the potential to make a huge splash like some of the new, post-Citizen United Super PACs and 501(c)4 groups. Russo said it would help arrange bus tours and rallies to boost whichever candidate it supports, and consider making independent expenditures such as TV ads or postcard campaigns.

With multiple outside conservative groups now eyeing South Dakota’s primary, it’s possible that the groups could end up backing different horses. That happened last year in states like Nebraska and Missouri. In the latter state, Tea Party Express backed former treasurer Sarah Steelman over eventual primary winner Todd Akin.

“We thought she was a far superior candidate to Todd Akin,” Russo said. “Few would disagree with us today.”

Russo said that might happen this year, but predicted less infighting among conservative activists than 2012.

“I think generally people are committed to winning the Senate, so I don’t think there’s going to be too much,” said Russo. Compared to some past years, he said, there’s less interest in “impossible-to-win candidates.”

Tea Party Express will return to South Dakota in “the next month or two” for another look at the situation.

Rhoden still pondering U.S Senate run

State Sen. Larry Rhoden is still considering running for U.S. Senate, the Union Center rancher said.

“We’ve not done a great deal since (the legislative) session got out (in March),” said Rhoden, a Republican. “We continue to (gather) input and look in that direction.”

So far former Gov. Mike Rounds is the only announced Republican candidate for the seat being vacated by Democrat Tim Johnson. Several other Republicans, including Rhoden, state Rep. Stace Nelson and former lawmaker Bill Napoli have expressed interest in the race, while U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem has refused to rule a race out.

Rhoden said he doesn’t have a timeline for making a decision.

“I know that time keeps slipping away, but I still feel we’re at the point where I don’t have to lock down a decision as of yet,” Rhoden said.

Noem, Rounds speak back to back but avoid 2014 news

Two potential rivals for the South Dakota Senate spoke back-to-back Friday night at the Minnehaha County Republican dinner, but stayed away from primary politics.

Former Gov. Mike Rounds, a Senate candidate, focused his brief speech on attacking federal disfunction.

“Year in and year out, from statehood, we balance our budget,” Rounds said. “How about the Feds? Sorry, the Senate doesn’t even pass a budget the last four years… Wouldn’t a little bit of South Dakota common sense go a long way in our nation’s capital?”

Meanwhile U.S. Rep Kristi Noem, who has refused to rule also running for the Senate, didn’t mention that race at all in her remarks. She also concentrated on criticizing national Democrats and discussing congressional battles.

“The House passed two bills to replace that sequester,” Noem said, referring to the automatic spending cuts that went into effect a month and a half ago. “While the president stands on TV and talks about the devastation of the sequester… what we need to understand is, the president never once put a proposal on the table to avoid that sequester.”

The two spoke back-to-back at the Minnehaha County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner, held at the Sioux Falls Convention Center.

Also speaking were Sen. John Thune, South Dakota Republican Party chairman Craig Lawrence, and Republican National Committee co-chair Sharon Day.

Thune, who has said he plans to stay neutral in any possible GOP Senate primary here, had kind words for Rounds but stopped short of endorsing him.

“I’ve known Mike and worked with Mike for over 20 years. He would be a great addition to the United States Senate,” Thune said, before praising Noem in the next breath as a “strong voice” who “votes the right way, and you don’t have to worry about what she’s going to do.”

Lawrence, in the evening’s longest speech, closed by urging Republicans to not waste energy on infighting.

“We must stop shooting at each other,” Lawrence said. “We are often divided by ourselves, giving one another conservative litmus tests.”