Nelson, Munsterman Go Hard Right, Take Stage with Radicals

I had hoped Chris Nelson might hold the center and restore a little practical policy sanity to the Republican Party. I had thought Scott Munsterman might be a sensible technocrat who just might concentrate on governing and resist the Wesleyan urge for culture war. Maybe, just maybe...?

Pffft—the cast of characters for this coming Saturday's Pierre Tea Party lets the remaining air out of that flaccid balloon. Nelson and Munsterman are appearing on the same stage as the following right-wing radicals:

1. Dr. Allen Unruh, who likens federal health care reform to slavery.
2. Nancy First, South Dakota coordinator of the Second Amendment Sisters, who thinks packing heat in courthouses, bars, and kindergartens is good public policy.
3. Kitty Werthmann, who skips the foreplay and takes every argument straight to Godwin's Law. Werthmann brands everything she despises as Nazi machinations. (She probably thinks Bush's Real ID plan is part of the Nazi plot as well.) Her all-purpose policy solution: "buy more guns." Werthmann fronts the South Dakota branch of Eagle Forum Schlafly radicalism.

So, any of you Dems still thinking of backing Nelson over Herseth next year? Think hard—really, really hard—about whether you want to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with characters like Unruh, First, and Werthmann.

With their choices of political appearances, Nelson and Munsterman are making clear they are not moderates. They are standing with and seeking the votes of the hardest right-wingnuts we can find in South Dakota.