Supporting SD-Sen Democratic nominee Rick Weiland has many benefits:
• Exploiting Republican nominee's Republican friends' attempts to stall testimony on big scandal;
• Putting a very Progressive candidate into the Senate;
• Carrying on the tradition of Democratic Senators (McGovern, Daschle, Johnson) belying South Dakota's conservative reputation.
• Pre-empting the Democratic Party game-playing described below.
Who will be blamed by DC villagers if Democrats narrowly lose their Senate Majority six weeks from now?
The argument for blaming the "too liberal" SD-Sen candidacy of Prairie-Populist Rick Weiland has been telegraphed as follows:
Democratic divisions between the party's progressive and centrist wings cost them an opportunity to compete. To the irritation of Reid and other campaign officials in Washington, Daschle encouraged Weiland to run, even though his former staffer's unabashedly liberal views make it difficult to win in conservative South Dakota. Reid even went so far as to proclaim Weiland wasn't "his choice" in the race, dismissing his candidacy. But in echoes of the tea party-establishment battles roiling the Republican Party, to the small universe of Democratic activists within the state, Weiland's progressive principles trumped Herseth Sandlin's more-electable profile.
Those purity-trolling Progressives need to learn to play ball:
... several Democratic operatives familiar with [Herseth Sandlin's] decision [not to run] said she didn't want to face any primary opposition, even against a longer-shot candidate like Weiland.
So, does that mean Weiland and "Democratic activists with ... progressive principles" will receive accolades if a Weiland win helps preserve the Senate Majority? Don't hold your breath...
...but also don't hold your fire! This race deserves attention and Weiland deserves support. Reasons include the following:
• Even before South Dakota Republicans' scandal crunch-time, or receiving any support from national Democrats, Weiland had polled within 8% (31%) of Republican nominee Rounds (39%), and best net favorability (+15: 42% favorable; 27% unfavorable), and was already leading (42% to 33% over Rounds) among voters who are familiar enough with Weiland to have an opinion.
• Most of the remainder going to independent Larry Pressler, who has been reborn as an Obama-supporting maverick after being a far-right Republican Senator, and then losing re-election to the now-retiring Democratic incumbent Tim Johnson.
• Weiland was named as the second choice by a majority of supporters of Pressler, who has name recognition, but virtually no organization or money.
If current trends continue in this race, soon it will be Reid and Conservadems who will come under pressure to provide late support to Weiland, and should be seen as having been taught a lesson by Progressives.
Of course if Weiland wins, Conservadems will simply argue that their candidate would have won by a bigger margin, but few people will hear them, because of the loud cheering each time Weiland votes with the Warren Democrats in the Senate.