South Dakota: The State in Waiting
I joked a few weeks ago that President Barack Obama was saving the best for last, and I guess I was right!
By Friday, South Dakota will be the lone ranger, the only state left that President Obama has not visited since being elected president.
News came out on Monday, that Air Force One will be heading in the direction of Utah later this week. The trip will mark the 49th state Obama has visited since becoming president.
Obama will travel to Hill Air Force Base in northern Utah on Friday to speak about the economy.
So the question now becomes, is the South Dakota snub, a slap in the face, to the great faces, great places state?
South Dakota secretary of tourism Jim Hagen, doesn't think so. Hagen says, “President Obama is obviously saving the best for last! And we look forward to showcasing our incredible 'Great Faces and Great Places' when he visits.”
President Obama did briefly visit South Dakota back in 2008, before he was president and while he was running against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. He visited Mount Rushmore on that trip.
Since then, he hasn’t been back to Mount Rushmore or anywhere else in South Dakota after taking the oath of office.
He did however come within 40 miles of the state line last year when he visited the North Dakota side of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.
Politically speaking, it's really no surprise that Obama is giving South Dakota the cold shoulder. No Democratic presidential candidate has won the popular vote in the state since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Only 40 percent of South Dakota voters supported Obama in the 2012 election, after 45 percent supported him in 2008.
As of right now, there are no plans in the works for a presidential trip to South Dakota.
South Dakota Senator Bernie Hunhoff, (D) from Yankton holds out hope that Obama will indeed visit South Dakota. He thinks the state will be on Obama's agenda in the future.
Hunhoff feels the president needs to visit South Dakota to see the extreme poverty, hopelessness and despair on reservations in the state. A presidential visit would go a long way in shinning a spotlight on the state for the rest of the country to see the problems in those communities, according to Hunhoff.
"I'm hoping he would come and tour at least several of the reservation communities and listen and learn and see what could be done yet to make improvements in education, health care and economic development," Hunhoff said.
White House officials have said Obama plans to make a stop to all 50 states before his term ends in January 2017.
As of right now, South Dakota remains the state in waiting.
Source: Rapid City Journal
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