The Battle for South Dakota: The Thune Survey

Trailer Trash News headed to the recent GOP conference in South Dakota. We had an agenda:

1) Meet Scott Pressler (more on that in a future article)

2) Get the pulse of GOP members regarding the performance of Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

As you'll see with these survey results, it isn't pretty. The fact that the Resolutions Committee passed a resolution to censure John Thune reflects the frustration that South Dakotans have with their native son. Yes, it didn't pass on the floor - but it is the same type of measure that preceded Thom Thillis' exit from North Carolina.

For this survey, we wanted to target participants in the South Dakota GOP conference - not just random people on the street, but rather, the people that are the energy behind the GOP conference. If you've lost these people - well, that doesn't bode well.

The survey contained six questions, with the scale going from 1 (Disgusting) to 5 (Amazing):

1. Since the No Cash For Terrorists Act landed on John Thune's desk, we've sent approximately $754 million to the Taliban. This is:

2. John Thune refuses to push through the Save America Act, this is:

3. The U.S. Senate has only been in session in Washington, D.C. approximately 50% of the available time doing the people's business, this is:

4. John Thune will not recess the Senatem using pro forma sessions to block President Trump's appointments, this is:

5. John Thune has allowed a Democrat parlimentarian to remain in place when she should have been replaced Day one of his tenurem this is:

6. John Thune's job as Senate Majority Leader, servant of the people of South Dakota and the United States, overall has been:

The results are as follows:

It is clear that the heart and soul of the GOP membership is not happy with John Thune's performance. What is not clear is if he is paying attention. You would think that with the censure of North Carolina's Thom Tillis (he didn't even participate in the primary after that) the primary losses of Senator's Cornyn and Cassidy, that the message is clear: the GOP faithful are tired of the same old excuses and senatorial shenanigans, and will remove anyone who they view as not listening or faithful to why they were put in office in the first place.

Having the senate go on recess when the pressure has been mounting on them to stay in D.C. to do the people's work is particularly tone deaf.

These survey results indicate that the battle for South Dakota is just beginning.