Meet and Greet with South Dakota Rep. Candidate Chris Lien

Sioux Falls, South Dakota -- In South Dakota, being a Republican is usually advantageous. South Dakota has only voted for a Democratic candidate for president twice since 1900: 1932 for FDR and in 1964 for LBJ (maybe a Democrat needs to use their three initials to win here). We have rarely voted for a Democratic candidate for governor and the legislature is consistently a Republican majority. However, where it doesn't seem to matter as much is when candidates are running for the Senate or the House of Representatives. While there are more registered Republicans in this state than Democrats, there have been numerous Democratic candidates that have won elections for the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate.

With that said, Chris Lien is running a campaign against one of the most popular elected officials in our state's history. Representative Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin has established a reputation as a conservative Democrat who has wide support among Democrats and Republicans. While this does make Chris's campaign harder, he has done a great job this year and is running a great campaign.

In my opportunities to meet with Chris, I have found him to be very unassuming and likeable. I will say that this is not the same type of likeable that propelled George W. Bush to the White House (i.e. a good old boy to drink with). Chris is very intelligent, engaging and truly wants to listen to what voters have to say before he starts to talk. At the meet and greet event that was sponsored by some of Sioux Falls young professionals, Chris felt at home just walking around and engaging in discussions with everyone. He was able to talk to us not just about politics, but anything that came up.

I would like to note that I am a Democrat. I have ran for the State Legislature as a Democrat and have worked on various campaigns for Democrats throughout the years so I do not have an agenda in regards to my political affiliation.

Unfortunately, according to polls done in the state, Chris is down quite a bit in the polls. I think this is a problem for any candidate running against an incumbent, but especially hard for Chris because of Herseth-Sandlin's conservative stances on a lot of issues prevents him from gaining ground on some of the usually strong issues for Republicans such as the second amendment and spending.

What I did learn from the meet and greet is that the people who have met Chris Lien like him and want him to do well. I came away with the same perception. I would like to see Chris run again if he loses because even though I disagree with him on some of the issues, I feel that he will listen to what I have to say and consider it before making a decision.

Seth Tupper, "Democrats, eyeing a banner year, bring get-out-the-vote push to Mitchell", The Daily Republic