(From left) Abrahamson, Finch, Ross (moderating), Petersen, and Davis. A freewheeling discussion on Democratic electoral politics in West River followed the Pennington County Democratic Party meeting March 26.
After two organized efforts that led to significant building of the West River Dems in focus and numbers in 2006 and 2008, but few victories, have left PenDems puzzling over why many of our candidates have come up short in votes against demonstrably less-qualified and less-experienced opponents.
Denise Ross, the well-known SDPR "political junkie" and host of the well-regarded Hog House Blog, (and proud new mom!) moderated the discussion. It was interesting to hear her non-partisan perspective and political analysis, and the insights the panelists had a lot to offer.
Eric Abrahamson gave us the lowdown on the results in District 32, Dennis Finch on District 33, Bonny Peterson on District 34. Also, PenDem activist Jay Davis, who though not a candidate in 2008, talked about District 35 and gave an overall analysis. There was talk from the panelists about the possible "Palin effect" of the week of the election working against us among low-information voters, the "split ticket" effect of Republican Herseth and Johnson voters who chose not to vote for more Dems down the ticket, and party-line voting that is so common among last-minute voters. Our legislative candidates did far better among early voters, which may have meant that those that are interested in politics and informed find our candidates more appealing to those who show up to vote party line on election day. Money raised and spent appeared to have made no difference in some races. The possible effects of redistricting during the 2010-2011 Legislature was also discussed.
In 2010 Pennington County Dems will be there speaking the truth, you can bank on that.
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