Want to Have Pull in SD Politics? Join Debate!

I've participated in high school debate for 20 years, as a competitor, a coach, and a judge. Yet I've actually had people come up to me and talk about debate as if it were a bad thing, as if it made a person less respectable, as if it were a waste of time.

Well... read on:

Seth Tupper at the Mitchell Daily Republic reports that the Clinton campaign is finally creaking to life in South Dakota. Yesterday the Clinton campaign announced it has hired Beresford native Geoff Wetrosky to direct Clinton's South Dakota campaign. Wetrosky has over a month of catch-up to do on the Obama SD director, fellow Beresford native Nathan Peterson.

The battle of campaign directors could be as interesting as the Obama-Clinton battle itself. Not only are Wetrosky and Peterson both Beresford HS Watchdogs -- Wetrosky, Class of '98; Peterson, Class of '99 -- but they are both alumni of Ann Tornberg's legendary Beresford Debate Team. If you check their National Forensic League records for speech contest points earned, you'll find that once again, the Obama team has the advantage:

1. Nathan Peterson, Beresford '99: 1376 points.
2. Geoff Wetrosky, Beresford '98: 935 points.

Another old debater, Madison native Jon Lauck, takes a coffee break from his work as senior advisor to Senator Thune to opine about Clinton's prospects in South Dakota:

Jon Lauck, a veteran political observer, author and current aide to Republican U.S. Sen. John Thune, said analyses of Tuesday’s Pennsylvania returns bode well for Clinton’s South Dakota effort. She fared well there, for example, among older people, working women and lower-income people, all of whom are significantly represented in South Dakota. Blacks, who voted mostly for Obama in Pennsylvania, are few in South Dakota.

Lauck added that, because Obama is the presumed favorite in South Dakota, a victory here could be a major coup for Clinton [Seth Tupper, "Democratic Presidential Hopefuls Step up Their Efforts in S.D.," Mitchell Daily Republic, 2008.04.25].

Of course, Clinton also started off with a 20+ point lead in Pennsylvania and saw it whittled down to 9. Obama's people are already working the state, and I'll bet he gets here before Clinton (at least he'd better, Nate!).

But the point for this afternoon: You want to be a player in South Dakota politics? Improve your chances: join debate. It's not just that debate helps students argue and research better -- that's the obvious benefit. A lesser known but very important aspect of high school debate is that it brings students into contact with all these other bright, motivated students who are interested in public affairs. There are a lot of opportunities at debate tournaments between rounds for these go-getters to get to know each other and build connections that last and serve them well, in college and beyond.

Wetrosky and Peterson are both in their 20s, they're from a town of 2000, and they are the go-to guys in South Dakota for two people who combined stand an 80% chance of becoming the next President of the United States. (I'm giving McCain 4-to-1 odds for now.) And Jon is right-hand man for the Senator who could become the GOP Vice-Presidential nominee (I'm still giving that long odds, too). Don't forget Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, a contemporary of Lauck's who was a national tournament qualifier in oratory for Groton. And that's just the start of the list....

Good work, Geoff and Nate! Now earn your pay: let's have a good clean fight and lots of candidate visits!


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Update 18:15: Mr. Woster gets me curious and induces this note to Geoff: Bring the fight to South Dakota, but keep it honest, double check your voting registration, and if you have a beef with my signs, call me first.