The Idea Of An Independent-Minded South Dakota Senator Is Driving Harry Reid And Mitch McConnell Crazy

Blue America planned to run a 60 second radio spot statewide in South Dakota based on the “Hit The Road, Joop” song (above). But the radio stations refused to take the ad. OK, we’ve faced that in every election cycle. This time we turned to Google. The idea is to get as many South Dakota voters as possible to listen to the song. The deal Google gave us has brought us over 100,000 impressions since October 2 and we only get charged when someone listens to at least 30 seconds of the song. As of Sunday that was over 10,000 South Dakotans over the age of 25.

Almost all the money Blue America raises goes directly to the candidates' campaigns through our Senate page or our House page, where we direct 99% of our fundraising efforts. But Blue America also has an Independent Expenditure Committee which allows us to run advertising for our candidates. You already know about because you're one of the people who has already contributed on that page-- and we’re raising money for this Google campaign on that page.

Mike Rounds' EB-5 visa scandal-- selling visas to rich foreigners-- isn't widely known in the rest of the country… but everyone in South Dakota knows about it. The Beltway Democratic Establishment isn't helping defeat Rounds and they're ignoring Rick Weiland, the progressive opponent Blue America has endorsed. Like I said, we’re hoping to blanket South Dakota Google with that video—and we only get charged if someone listens to at least 30 seconds of it. Right now we plan to spend $500 a day, enough to reach about 8,000 voters a day… every day for the next 4 weeks.

You can read about the EB-5 scandal here. Any chance of getting you to chip in a day's worth of Google ads— or an hour’s worth? (A day costs $500, so an hour is about $21.00.) Last week PPP reported that "Rounds’ support has dropped all the way down to 35% in the wake of voter anger over the EB-5 scandal, and that Rick Weiland continues to be better liked and within single digits of Rounds." This is what they found this week:

• Rounds is at just 35% to 28% for Weiland, 24% for Larry Pressler, and 8% for Gordon Howie. A majority of South Dakotans have a negative opinion of Rounds, with just 41% rating him favorably to 51% with an unfavorable opinion. Weiland’s favorability, at a positive 42/38 spread, is a net 14 points better than Rounds’.

• Weiland is likely to gain ground as Pressler’s support fades over the course of October. Among Pressler’s voters, Weiland has a positive favorability rating at 43/28 while Rounds is incredibly unpopular with only 18% of voters rating him favorably to 68% who see him unfavorably. Since Weiland has been second in all the polls, anti-Rounds Pressler voters are likely to move in Weiland’s direction as the election nears since he’s the more viable candidate both in terms of current polling support and fundraising.

• Rounds is losing supporting on the right to Howie. Howie’s doubled his share of the Republican vote over the last month from 6% to 12%, pushing his support to the point where it provides a real threat to Rounds. Rounds has a tepid 62/31 favorability even with GOP voters, reflecting his weak 55% showing in the June primary.

With under 5 weeks to the election, South Dakota has the potential to join Kansas as a previously under the radar Senate race that could confound Republican efforts to get control of the Senate. This race is just as competitive as the ones in places like New Hampshire and Michigan that have drawn far more attention. Rounds’ growing weakness makes this a race worth keeping an eye on in the stretch run.

The EB-5 scandal is the hottest issue in the South Dakota Senate race and a few days ago the Rapid City Journal reported that Rounds’ corruption just got him into more hot water. “One day after a newly unearthed document conflicted with his earlier written testimony to state lawmakers,” they wrote, “former Gov. Mike Rounds wants to change that testimony… Rounds, the leading candidate in a suddenly close U.S. Senate race, wrote to lawmakers on the Government Operations and Audit Committee that "the governor's office was not served" with lawsuit papers regarding the state’s handling of a federal immigrant-investor program known as EB-5.” That was a bold-faced lie— and Rounds was just caught dead to rights. It doesn’t mean much in DC, but it sure does in Sioux Falls, Pierre, Aberdeen, Rapid City and Brookings.

Weiland has all the momentum in this race now and the polls have closed. South Dakotans know a vote for Weiland is a vote against the kind of sleazy corruption represented by both Mike Rounds, Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid. If Weiland goes to the Senate after Reid’s efforts to sabotage his campaign, he will be the most independent member of the body. I like that. A couple of weeks ago, college professor and pundit Jon Schaff who had originally dismissed Rick’s chances wrote that “Rounds is in trouble,” and South Dakotans have a real race on their hands for the United States Senate. Again, this is the I.E. Committee page.




UPDATE: Things Looking Up For Weiland Today

The video above is Weiland’s latest musical foray and I love it. It just sums up the whole campaign so beautifully. And just as he was releasing that to the media, Lawrence Lessig’s good government, non-partisan Mayday PAC dropped a million dollar ad into the relatively inexpensive South Dakota media market.