Why Kristi Noem Failed to Impress

By: Azmon Meyer

Last Friday (March 2nd), Kristi Noem (U.S. Representative for South Dakota’s at-large congressional district) visited with MHS juniors and seniors for around a half-hour during pride. If you were impressed by Representative Noem then you either: (a) were blinded by her exterior appearance (shocker!), (b) Know little to nothing about politics, or (c) are a devout republican supporter. If you are a sophomore or freshman then don’t despair, you didn’t miss much.

Noem began by talking about her South Dakota roots, family, and reason for becoming involved in politics. While that wasn’t entirely dull, it wasn’t exactly invigorating. Next, she talked about her typical day as a representative for South Dakota. This wasn’t too bad, and most of the students in attendance actually paid attention, which is no small feat. The floor was then basically opened up to questions (but we were told we could ask questions throughout anyway).

The question and answer portion of the assembly was where Representative Noem failed to shine. Questions were asked by a few different students, and while Noem was able to effectively answer a couple of them, most of what she did was “beating around the bush”. When asked what she would do to help education in South Dakota, she responded with obscure generalizations. When asked about the current unrest in Syria, and what she thought of China and Russia opposing sanctions against Syria, she changed the topic to China’s economic dominance. Unrelated? Yes. Also, she was asked if she generally votes with her party. Interestingly, her response indicated that she didn’t always vote with her party. However, upon checking her voting record in the house, it’s apparent that she almost exclusively does. Over 90% of the time she votes Republican.

Personally, I asked three questions. First, I asked Noem if there was a specific GOP candidate for president that she supported at least somewhat, and why. She responded by saying that the GOP field has many interesting and diverse candidates and she’d just “have to wait and see”. Second, my question was “What do you think of the growing nuclear threat in Iran?” Basically, her response was that we definitely needed to halt their progress, and stop them. Finally, I asked what she thought about the participation of Super PAC’s (Political Action Committees) in the general election. She portrayed them vaguely as negative and hurtful to the election, saying that they made elections too “drug out” and that everyone becomes “sick of them”.

Her first answer to my question was hardly satisfactory, because I specifically phrased the question in order to get a name back. I was left feeling as if she hadn’t answered my question at all, because she didn’t. The second answer was decent. Obviously with thirty minutes to talk to us she didn’t have time to go into specifics, but she could have elaborated a bit more. The third answer was somewhat hypocritical, because Representative Noem actually has her own Super PAC, Kristi PAC. Noem is sighted as having said she will use the PAC to pay expenses and support other Republican candidates. According to the Washington Post, Noem was among the top

freshman Republicans in PAC fundraising in the first quarter of 2011, raising $169,000 from PACs and hosting at least 10 Washington fundraisers.

After the assembly, the general consensus in my mind, and in the minds of many students, was one of disappointment. Noem’s answers were largely generalized; it seemed as if she completely evaded the hearts of the questions. If Mrs. Noem was having difficulty answering questions in a half-hour assembly with a few high school students, I’m not sure why she was elected to represent us in the first place. She won’t have my vote come November.