SD Watch Upset Special #3--Merchant over Smidt in District 7 Senate
Ok, upset might be be too strong of a word. Dark horse might be better.
Brookings is my former hometown. It is a progressive, upbeat, vibrant community. Incumbent Republican State Senator Orv Smidt is none of those things yet he keeps getting elected.
Even my young Republican friend Pat Powers, who ran an excellent primary contest against Orv in June, couldn’t unwedge Sen. Do Nothing from his seat.
But this is a blue Obama year. And some of my progressive friends have registered—and gotten to the polls—a whole bunch of new, young SDSU voters who are likely Barack Obama—and Pam Merchant voters.
Keep your eyes on District 7 election night.
Posted on Sunday, November 2, 2008
by
Todd Epp
in 2008 Election, Environment, Outdoors, Personal
|
3 Comments
Todd Epp
in 2008 Election, Environment, Outdoors, Personal
|
3 Comments
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Reader Comments (3)
I understand you don't like Orv, but do you know Pam? If you speak to her about the "issues," she has absolutely no idea what's going on within the state and what's realistic. If you ask her, she's the ONLY person in the state who can fix ALL the state's problems, and she can do it the MINUTE she is elected. She comes off, even to students, as naive and uninformed.
Apparently Mr/Mrs. Anon isn't a student at SDSU, or doesn't know any. Pam Merchant's support at SDSU is at least 5-6 times more than Orv's, party because she's a Democrat, party because she's much younger than Orv. Orv isn't a bad guy, but this election is about the future. Orv is the past, and Pam is the future.
Pam is not naive or uninformed. As a political science major I've had many discussions with her about policy and have been very impressed. Let's just say I bet she can name at least 20 more Supreme Court cases than Sarah Palin, so basically 21.
In the few days we've done registration drives at SDSU, we've registered about 500 students. College age voters are Democratic by about a 2 to 1 margin, so if national numbers hold up, that's lots of votes for Pam. District 7 is turning blue!
"If you ask her, she's the ONLY person in the state who can fix ALL the state's problems, and she can do it the MINUTE she is elected."
I'm beginning to think "NO YOU CAN'T" is the slogan of all Republicans and not just John McCain.
As a correction to Braden's post, we have registered 1200 students in Brookings, and have within two days had taken 520 of them to the courthouse to vote. That's pretty impressive. Orv might be a nice guy, but he is no friend to SDSU students or the SDSU community as a whole. Pam is a breath of fresh air who will actually DO SOMETHING in her time in Pierre. Voters in District 7 will be well served by Senator Merchant.