Olson watching the SDGOP imploding

Editor's note: like Liz May, South Dakota's favorite former teevee anchor-turned author, Shad Olson is watching the South Dakota Republican Party turning to shit.

"Toby Doeden should have spent his money supporting good conservative legislative candidates instead of running for governor."

That's the running "true fighters" narrative, now that many more smart and seasoned conservatives are begging Jon Hansen to see what was true, even before the Hansen-Lems campaign jumped Toby Doeden's formal campaign announcement date and Scott Odenbach seethed and fumed in Chamberlain last July about Doeden's presence in the race.

The Hansen-Lems ticket will split the conservative grassroots and give Dusty Johnson his best possible pathway to victory in the June primary. Because that was always the plan. Because ALL OF THEM are backed and supported by AFP and AIPAC.

All except the businessman outsider from Aberdeen.

But then, I wrote exactly that in February of 2025 and have repeated it ad nauseam, while the pipeline sheep dreamed their sleepy delusions about the true reasons for a Jon and Karla ticket.

Today's narrative, now that a great many others are making impassioned appeals for conservative unity as our only chance to show the establishment phonies to the door...

"Toby should have spent his money supporting legislative candidates instead of running for governor."

Yes. Morons. Now some facts. He has. He is. And he will.

It was only Toby Doeden's cash and support from Dakota First Action that allowed the "Freshman 15" conservative legislative class to sweep out the establishment incumbents and punch tickets for Pierre in 2025.

Including $50,000-plus in one State Senate district primary alone, allowing Carl Perry to stave off the Schoenbeck-Dusty Johnson RINO, Katie Washnok. (How's ole Carl expecting to fare against Ms. Washnok this time, without that kind of backing?) Good luck to you, Mr. Perry.

Doeden's PAC is spending $2-million in the 2026 legislative primaries in hopes of repeating the trend, in addition to bankrolling his own campaign. A campaign pledge announced at the same Chamberlain strategy session where Jon Hansen asked Scott Odenbach's permission before speaking to the group. (Real alpha, that guy.)

Anyone believing in some stupefying zero-sum game where Doeden's run for governor was coming at the expense of assisting another grassroots groundswell of actual conservative legislative candidates doesn't know fava beans from the hole they're planted in.

As I've maintained repeatedly and will until the end of time: South Dakota conservatives are too stupid, and now, too fractured to win.

All by design.

So, welcome one and all to the Tea Party Era, Part II. No political power. No access to actual policy influence. And lots and lots of rah-rah rallies and patriot commiseration events, full of energy but devoid of substance or ability to inflect the political universe.

"Scott Pressler came to South Dakota and scolded John Thune's obstruction of the SAVE Act.

ZERO impact on who controls the machines or counts the votes.

2000-era White House policies beget 2010-era political irrelevance for the GOP.

And lots of halting and meandering Rumble podcasts featuring painfully inarticulate, obviously confused and visibly miserable cultists, explaining to the room why running a Governor's campaign to nowhere, with zero money, to upend the state's most generous conservative political donor, was the "good and righteous" thing for South Dakota.

If Hansen-Lems were ever interested in that, they wouldn't have assisted in driving the wedge and sent out their battery acid-and-razor blades surrogates to set the scars.

A Dusty victory in June would and will complete the most stunning act of political subterfuge and betrayal in the history of South Dakota.

And, oh, how very different it all might have been...