Coat Hangers at Dawn riffed on my recent post on the S.D. Legislature and its I Phelta Thi fraternity-like atmosphere.

(The CHADians are more miffed about why Rep. Roger Hunt remains to roam free, which I also don’t quite understand either.)  Read: When Will Hunt Face A Judge?

But I digress.

Still, the CHAD post got me thinking. Are all legislatures as horny as ours?

I don’t know the full answer to that. As they say, politics is Hollywood for ugly people.

But I can compare it to one other legislature I’ve covered—the Kansas Legislature in Topeka.

I covered the legislature there from 1981 to 1986 for KTWU-TV (PBS). We did a weekly show on the legislature while it was in session as well as nightly updates.

I also lived in Topeka, so I saw state government on a daily basis.

My general observation is that while Kansas legislators weren’t complete angels either, they did seem more attuned to working. Most of them actually had little offices where they could meet constituents, legislators, officials, and lobbyists. While drinking and eating were big activities, it seemed that POWER was the game that most played.

Having a 90 day session than ran into May also made the legislature seem more like a regular job than some special event.

Now, beam me up to Pierre.

I covered the S.D. Legislature for SDPTV from 1987 to 1996, most of those years on the ground in Pierre during the session. After, I covered the session from a afar for KSFY-TV and KDLT-TV. And now I blog about it and talk to quite a few people who are in “the know.’

In Pierre, believe me, I’ve seen my share of power games, as well as drinking and eating. But as I reflect on my experiences in Topeka and Pierre, chasing tail seemed to be much more on the minds of our legislators than in Kansas. Rumors are always flying about who is schtuping who, what happened at the various parties, what intern or page was seen with what legislator, and so forth.

I didn’t probably hear 1/10th as much about those goings on in Topeka as I did in Pierre. And even though I was fresh in my journalism career in Topeka, I made it a point to talk to a lot of people—legislators, governor’s staff, journalists, lobbyists—about what was going on under the dome in T-Town. I was also under no googlely-eyed impression about my Kansas legislators. I had some try and get me in trouble for what I had reported, so I wasn’t star struck by any means.

Anyway, I don’t know what goes on in Lincoln, St. Paul, Denver, Des Moines, Albany, Sacramento, or Austin. But between Topeka and Pierre, our legislators have “party time” much more on their minds than their Kansas cohorts.

Is it time that the press and constituents pay closer attention to what are legislators are doing in their “off” hours in Pierre? Or do we care and will continue our attitude of “What goes on in Pierre stays in Pierre?” So far, my blog traffic says you don’t care.

I bet even Bob Ellis might agree with me on this one. CHAD, Todd, and Bob, working together in a bipartisan fashion to bring respect and good behavior to Pierre.  Think of the conversations we’ll have!

But I digress, again. 

Believe me, I’m not a prude.  As long as good legislation emerges, what the adults do with each other is their business.  But when pages and interns are involved—and the power relationship is out of whack—then I have a problem.  I just find it funny that in a state that prides itself on having wonderful family values that it tolerates such boorish behavior from its lawmakers. 

Just another thing to make you go “hmmmm.”

technorati tags:sex, politics, pierre, topeka, legislatures, scandal, dan, sutton, power

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