Are Dem Party Leaders blowing off South Dakota U.S. Senate candidate? [View all]

[think]

The race for retiring Senator Tim Johnson's seat in South Dakota could be very interesting. But the current Democratic candidate is getting the cold shoulder from Harry Reid and others in the Democratic establishment.

Perhaps it is because Rick Weiland is promoting a progressive or populist campaign as his campaign manager calls it and party leaders don't think he can win in South Dakota on those issues. Weiland wants to push for single payer and is against the Keystone pipeline.

Making the race more interesting is that former Republican Senator, Larry Pressler is running as an independent and has not said who he would caucus with if he won. Pressler has stated that he is against the money in politics and he would only run one term so he could focus on issues and not fundraising.

The former Republican running as an independent will likely end up splitting some of the Republican vote but apparently the Democratic establishment don't think this will matter according to The Hill.

Here is The Hill article:

Why is Rick Weiland getting cold shoulder?

March 25, 2014, 07:54 pm - By Alexandra Jaffe

Rick Weiland will be the Democratic Senate nominee in South Dakota, but party leaders are less than thrilled about it.

Stuck with a candidate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has publicly trashed and a race the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee routinely leaves off its competitive list, the seat of retiring Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.). now looks like a lost cause for Democrats who face an increasingly difficult map to hold onto the Senate.

Filing for the June primary closed on Tuesday, and Weiland will be the only Democrat running. He’ll likely face off against the winner of a crowded GOP race — expected to be former Gov. Mike Rounds (R) — and former GOP Sen. Larry Pressler, who’s running as an independent.

Even though the DSCC is expected to endorse Weiland, he’s faced open hostility from his own party. The underdog became the subject of a rare public feud between Reid and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), for whom Weiland worked and who’s backing him in the race.


Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/201746-dc-dems-give-cold-shoulder-to-south-dakotas-rick-weiland#ixzz2xJAp6B1u
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To learn more about Democratic US Senate candidate, Rick Weiland, here is his website:

http://rickweiland.com/