By Denise Ross

In campaign mode, that is, when it comes to the proposed abortion ban on South Dakota’s 2008 ballot. Dr. Glenn Ridder of Sioux Falls, a member of Physicians for Life, addressed the Monday night crowd at the campaign office opening of Vote Yes for Life in Rapid City.

(Photos by Denise)

Ridder anticipated a repeat of the 2006 dueling professional opinions from doctors on both sides of the issue and said Initiated Measure 11 would not be a problem for doctors.

Enacting the law will not adversely affect any practice in medicine following ethical norms.

(I am confident that we’ll soon be hearing from doctors involved in the Campaign for Healthy Families, the group campaigning against the proposed abortion ban. I strongly suspect they will offer a differing view. Stay tuned.)

Ridder also addressed twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, which has so far been the primary message put forth by the Healthy Families campaign. (Click here to see the video. Read the entire Vote Yes press release on the issue on the jump.)

Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome has raised its ugly head. … Chances are fair for a good outcome for both children. … It’s a very rare condition that occurs 1 to 3 times in South Dakota a year.

Ridder said the syndrome occurs sometimes when twins share a placenta.

The current thoughts are to work on the tissue that is diseased, the placenta not the baby. … If a baby dies, the procedure is not an abortion. You did not go in to abort. You went into address the disease.

Ridder also says he has experience successfully treating pregnant women with cancer while delivering a healthy baby, albeit prematurely.

He also said that babies who die after a very short life due to fetal anomalies don’t justify abortion.

If we look at our lives as Christians, none of our lives are anything compared to eternity. That was the lifetime meant for that child.

Meanwhile, Dr. Patti Giebink also was on hand Monday night.

Giebink, who is treasurer for Vote Yes for Life, lays claim to being the last South Dakota doctor to perform abortions in South Dakota. Since she quit her work for the Planned Parenthood clinic in Sioux Falls at least a few years ago, doctors have been coming from Minnesota. Giebink now works in Chamberlain.

To read the full press release on twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome press release, click “CLICK HERE” below.

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By Denise Ross

The proposed abortion ban has registered a lead in the polls, said Leslee Unruh of Vote Yes for Life. She told the Rapid City Journal she’s going to focus on West River efforts through Election Day.

(Photos by Denise)

Unruh led the program Monday night at the opening of the Vote Yes campaign office in Rapid City, offering an endorsement of Catholic Bishop Blase Cupich’s call for a gentle campaign.

The bishop warned against the gotcha’s and shrill shouting that have come to characterize the modern American political campaign. He said:

We will lose if we come off that way with people. We have a good argument to make. We should tell stories in a very human context, not in a way of harshness that makes enemies.

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By Denise Ross

Blase Cupich, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Rapid City, delivered a full-throated endorsement of the proposed abortion ban on South Dakota’s 2008 ballot at a campaign gathering Monday night.

(Photo by Denise)

Bishop Cupich asked those in the pro-life community who are opposing Initiated Measure 11 to “really consider that position,” naming specifically “state officials with Right to Life.” (That longtime anti-abortion group is officially opposing IM11.)  

Cupich said he understands the principled anti-abortion position against IM 11 because it contains exceptions for the health of the mother and for rape and incest victims who report the crimes - thus still allowing abortion in some cases. But, he quoted that age-old policy-making maxim: Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Initiated Measure 11 is not perfect law. It allows exceptions. I struggle with that. I want human life protected.

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By Denise Ross

They might not have a lot of money, but as well-known anti-abortion activist Leslee Unruh told the crowd gathered at the new Vote Yes for Life office in Rapid City Monday night, they’ve got a lot of heart.

And know-how on how to open a campaign office.

(Photos by Denise)

The campaign to pass the abortion ban on South Dakota’s ballot in Initiatied Measure 11 had everything, including the Fleet for Little Feet bus pictured above. They also had lots of campaign literature, yard signs, their trademark balloons, Leslee herself, an emotional personal story, a Catholic bishop, a protestant preacher and two doctors - including the one who is the last South Dakota doctor to perform abortions in South Dakota. (Planned Parenthood now brings doctors in from Minnesota.)

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By Denise Ross

I’ve been fascinated all year that in this red state, the two Republican candidates for Congress can’t get no respect.

The two GOP candidates seeking to represent this red state on Capitol Hill are widely viewed to be such long shots that few political observers - at both the state and national level - are paying close attention to the U.S. House and Senate races. But the GOP candidates have not lost faith in themselves.

Both Senate candidate Joel Dykstra of Canton and House candidate Chris Lien of Rapid City say their campaigns were infused with a new energy after the Republican National Convention and the nomination of political firestorm Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential candidate.

AND …

I interviewed the pair of candidates back-to-back recently, and they offered similar reports from the campaign trail. Their reports were so similar that had I not spoken with Lien immediately after speaking with Dykstra, I would have suspected they coordinated their answers.

Those interviews were done before the Tim Johnson campaign - Dykstra’s Democratic opponent - released a poll showing Dykstra still hovering in the 30s. Dykstra remains undaunted, however, and he seems completely sincere in his belief that victory will be his in November.

Lien touts the line that candidates in his shoes must, that he plans to win - and with sufficient enthusiasm, but he lacks the adamant conviction of Dykstra. Lien is as likeable a candidate as one could expect. He has run a credible campaign and, should conventional wisdom prevail, he will be well-positioned in future election cycles when Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-SD, moves on from the House.

But I still marvel at how strong the Dems are at the Congressional level in SD. What are the dynamics that have so stacked the decks against Republicans this year? It can’t all be W, Rove and Cheney, can it?

To read the entire column, click “CLICK HERE” below.

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By Denise Ross

The Rapid City Journal’s Kevin Woster called it “as much GOP rally as it was town-hall meeting,” and that seems about right to me.

(Photos by David Larson)

Republican US Senate challenger Joel Dykstra kicked off a four-forum series of town hall meetings in Rapid City Thursday night (see initial post below) to highlight the fact that incumbent Sen. Tim Johnson, D-SD, has refused to debate him.

For my most recent newspaper column (posting soon to Hoghouse Blog), both Dykstra and GOP House challenger Chris Lien told me that the Republican National Convention and the choice of Sarah Palin for VP about a month ago infused the Republican Party with a new sense of energy. That enthusiasm was on display Thursday. The room filled up and (see photo above) Dykstra got a standing ovation after SD House Majority Leader Larry Rhoden introduced him.

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By Denise Ross

GOP US Senate candidate Joel Dykstra boldly proclaimed his optimism in his underdog campaign as he started the final stretch in his 16-month-long campaign against incumbent Dem. Tim Johnson.

(Photos by David Larson)

We have every reason to believe we can win, Dykstra told the crowd.  

Dykstra launched his series of town hall meetings Thursday night in Rapid City, on the campus of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. He was answering a question about Johnson’s campaign contributions from the now infamous mortgage-mucking twins, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Johnson, he said, is relying on his multi-million campaign war-chest to mount his 2008 campaign - including a lot of TV ads. But, Dykstra said, he is relying on South Dakota’s tradition of retail politics. (Johnson has refused to debate Dykstra, citing his continued speech trouble since suffering a brain hemorrhage in December 2006.)

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By Denise Ross

No sooner had news broke that Dem presidential candidate Barack Obama shut down his North Dakota campaign apparatus than has Obama’s South Dakota campaign announced it’s opening.

There’s this report:

Barack Obama, who has deployed more than 50 staffers in North Dakota in an attempt to become the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since 1964, is pulling out.

AND …

McCain’s campaign has no paid staff or offices in North Dakota.

Meanwhile, South Dakota’s Obama offices are about to open, on Saturday in Sioux Falls - again with no word from the Obama campaign about how many paid staffers it will deploy here.

Matt McGovern, South Dakota state director for the Obama campaign, wouldn’t say how big their staff is, but he said support is strong.

And there’s at least one Obama campaign kick-off party in SD on Friday night, coinciding with the big debate.

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By Denise Ross

Chris Lien, the Republican challenger to US Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, has his first TV ad in the can. I haven’t seen it on TV myself, but I caught it on YouTube and in my e-mail box from the Lien campaign. (Thanks!)

Here’s the ad:

Lien takes a sunnier tone than does his GOP counterpart in the US Senate race, Joel Dykstra. Lien introduces himself, talks about how he’s been traveling the state to meet people and asks people to join him.Has anyone seen any polling or have any sense of how these two congressional races compare, numbers-wise? Both Republicans are seen as long-shots despite South Dakota’s red-state status (a column on that topic is coming soon).

Dykstra’s more willing to criticize his opponent, Sen. Tim Johnson, for being part of the Washington crowd, but some have said he comes off as cranky and mean despite the record discontent with Congress in general. What other factors might contribute to voters’ decisions this election cycle?

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By Denise Ross

As a member of the U.S. Senate’s banking committee, South Dakota’s own Tim Johnson had a front-row seat to what his fellow Sen. Richard Shelby called the most important hearing in the committee’s history. You know, the one about how we might all have to return to the barter system?

I was watching intently on CNN, and they cut to commercial just as soon as Johnson started talking. By the time I fumbled my way through the remote control to find C-SPAN, he was just finishing his remarks. Thankfully, his staff sent out a written version. You can read those in their entirety on the jump.

(Photo courtesy of U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson’s press crew)

Johnson said:

In South Dakota, we believe strongly in personal responsibility. When you make mistakes, you should be held accountable for those decisions.  That is true for the folks who overextended themselves on their mortgages, and it’s also true for those on Wall Street who underwrote that bad debt.  This package may be a necessary evil, but we cannot allow it to be a gift.

Click here for the Banking Committee’s transcripts from the hearing.  Click here for the C-SPAN site, which has video and more.

To read Johnson’s full comments, click “CLICK HERE” below.

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