Tim Even Seeks Working Man's Revolution... or at Least Representation

As I toodle through SDPB's videos from candidates for State Legislature, I pick out Tim Even, Aberdeen Democrat running for District 3 House. He draws my attention at first purely on appearance: I see the polo shirt and think the same thing I say when I teach job interviews in speech class: "This is a job interview. Find a necktie."

The first minute goes by, and I'm feeling discouraged: family history, four kids, went on the ninth grade field trip to Pierre... fine, fine, now tell me how you'll govern.

Ah, and then around 1:10, we get a working-man's manifesto:

South Dakota has a citizen legislature that I feel should be made up of a representative mix of our society. This mix of legislators has never fairly included working families or people who work for wages.

Our governors and past legislators have worked hard these past 30 years making South Dakota the number one business climate in South Dakota.

While they were doing that, what has happened to the average wage-earner in the state? Why do we have the highest percentage of working mothers in the country? And why have state employees gone over two years without a pay raise? And at the same time, we give millions of dollars in tax breaks to corporations, enticing them to build projects that would probably be built anyway.

If I'm elected, I will vote to prioritize spending to include people who go to work every day and make this a great state to live and raise a family [Tim Even, SD District 3 House candidate video, SDPB, posted 2010.08.02].

That's more like it, Tim. Shorten that biography and hammer on the practical economic issues! Remind your voters that our empty Chamber of Commerce happy talk mostly lines the pockets of the corporate interests without helping working folks spend more time raising their kids right. Carry on!