Time for a fresh perspective at Republican HQ

A note at http://www.dakotawarcollege.com/ about Max Wetz and his new wife (last I knew also an employee of the South Dakota Republican Party) having purchased a house in Pierre. PP theorizes that this could mean a long term stay at the party for Max.

This idea caused me to question a few things that are happening in our party in the last several years. In the 80's and 90's it seemed that the party had a natural selection approach to staffing that followed two very basic principals:

1. We hired young, hungry people, that wanted to prove themselves and paid them way less than they probably deserved and worked them like dogs for a few years. At the end of this time period the staffers left with their expieriences to make their way in the world (some in politics, others in the private sector), make real money, and generally further the Republican way of life. It was a great way to develop future party leaders. This is where we have seen people like Lance Russell, Patrick Davis, Hugh Weber, Herb Jones, and most recently Jason Glodt come from. All of these people have gone on to sucess in different areas of the political spectrum.

2. If you did not exceed the standard that was set for you, you also left. You left completely of your own volition, and made room for the young turks that were chomping at the bit to get your job so that they could prove that they had what it took to join the ranks of the people in #1.

After the performance of the party during the last election cycle, some of the staff at Republican HQ are looking a little long in the tooth. With the loss of seats in the House and Senate in 2006 and the upcoming important national elections we may be facing, you would think we would be looking for fresh horses to carry us through the 2008 season. The fact that we still have the same Executive Director and Political Director (Amanda Dotson) shows that this is the team that we are planning on going forward with.

Amanda has been with the party since at least 2002 and Max since 2005. We have not had a stellar record of performance lately. These are good people, but they seem tired to me; like they are just punching a clock and taking home a check at a 9 to 5 job (If you wish to verify this, go by the party office after 5:00 any day and you will see that no one is there.) These are not the hungry young people that the party needs right now.

I hope that we will see some changes coming soon from the Republican Party. We need fresh legs with a fresh perspective if we are going to maintain control of the Legislature and have a chance at winning races for our Congressional seats.

An addition for the fact concious:

A post in the comments at www.dakotawarcollege.com questioned my facts, so I did some verifying. Here is what I found:

The links below show that in 2005-06 the make up of the house was 51R-19D. In 2007 it was 50R-20D.

The Senate was 25R-10D in 2005-2006 and is now 20R-15D.

But thank for keeping me honest!

http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2006/hourost.htm

http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2007/hourost.htm