Democrats Now Too Progressive For South Dakota?

One consequence of Democrats continuing to go Left under Obama as a national party is poised to cost them a Senate seat in a year when they’re fighting to retain control of that same institution.

While South Dakota is conservative, Democrats have long held a seat in the Senate. Weiland is running to replace Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), who suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2006 and chose not to run for reelection. So national Democrats should be working furiously to try to keep the seat, right? 

Wrong.

Cantor’s loss in Virginia serves as a reminder to never take anything for granted in politics. And while former two term governor, Republican Mike Rounds is the odds on favorite, he says as much in this item. Yet, the underlying theme here is impossible to miss. An increasingly Progressive Democrat Party with an increasingly unpopular Obama in the White House, South Dakota is now out of reach for them in terms of national politics.

“I’d call it a tacit acknowledgement by the very thin ranks of Democrats here that South Dakota has pretty much transitioned to a single party state; and that their nominee is as good as we could expect given the state and national conditions,” said David Wiltse, a professor of political science at South Dakota State University.

More on Rounds here.

Rounds ticked off his conservative credentials; he has, however, been criticized by some conservatives for tax increases.