TPM Reader CS reports in from South Dakota …
Yes, Marion Michael Rounds was a two-term Republican governor of South Dakota. But here’s the “secret”: He was never that popular. The only reason he ever became the Accidental Governor in the first place was because of the three-person Republican primary when he first ran for governor. Rounds was a distant third to Steve Kirby and Mark Barnett. However, the two front-runners ran such ugly campaigns throwing mud at each other that everyone was disgusted with them by the time election day rolled around. The result? Rounds sneaked into office past the two of them.
Once he was an incumbent, Rounds was practically a lock to be re-elected. About a third of the electorate here would vote for Satan if he had an R by his name, so barring any extraordinary circumstances Rounds could simply coast to re-election — which is what he did, despite accomplishing nothing during his tenure.
Now that he’s running a real race, it’s increasingly obvious that nobody really liked him to begin with. Add to that his dismal campaigning and he starts to look wobbly. (Since he’s charisma-free, he tries to avoid saying or doing anything, and instead tries to “run out the clock” and rely on the Republicans’ structural advantage in the state.) Add on top of that the simmering corruption scandals and sleazy cronyism from his administration, and suddenly Rounds is vulnerable. Sure, the Republicans still have a built-in advantage, but they have a truly awful candidate in Rounds — and their sudden attention to this race shows that they know it.
Once again, all of this wasn’t necessarily obvious to the naked eye, but it would’ve been apparent to anyone who knew South Dakotaand paid attention to South Dakota politics. Not surprisingly, that’s why the Beltway pundits missed it entirely until it virtually landed in their lap, thanks to the hard work of people like Cory Heidelberger at the Madville Times, and other local reporters and bloggers.
