Weiland and dealin'

And here I thought it would be a decade or so that I would hold the dubious distinction of having the shortest Congressional run in state history.  Yet, less than six weeks later, I happily pass the honors off to Dr. Kevin Weiland.  Weiland was in on March 25 and out on March 30.  That's five days.  I made it seven.  He wins.

And loses. Liberals state wide scrambled and got 4000 people to sign his nominating petitions. Then Kev cuts a secret backroom deal with Mrs. Sandlin and quits the race. His fan club is NOT happy as is evident from these comments left on his Facebook page.

Deborah Gangloff; Wow. You appear to have no idea of the damage you've done with this little vanity lap. Your comments are insulting.  StevenDonnelly: Nice little ego trip you took this weekend, Doc. Helen Hart: Wow, I'm speechless, disappointed, what a waste of time. I was told by your son 'he's the man to get it done'..hmmmm… Wyatt Lawrence: Were you paid off, Kevin? Why would you go through all that trouble just to let us down? Bill Fleming: I think these folks deserve an apology, Kevin. And a better explanation. The one you're giving us here just doesn't cut it. We weren't born yesterday, you know. What really happened? Jen Tiernan: Epic Fail.

SuperAnon made this comment over at Dakota War College;

Kevin should be ashamed of himself, the signatures were there, significantly more than was needed. In the end, people pinned their hopes on this coward, and he walked away. I am glad he is not my doctor, and I am ashamed that I signed his petition.

And, this from commenters at the Rapid City Journal…

rbmdakota You leave me no choice but to vote Republican, Doc. First time in my life.

msliberal Good ole Kevin was gobsmacked by Stephanie, just the way the rest of the voters in this state have been for the last few years. Truly sad when so many of us made special effort to sign his petitions. Puhleze, she bamboozled him just like she has us at election time over the years. I will vote for a republican…my parents are turning over in their graves as I type this. She is a disgrace to the democratic party and the excuse that Kevin's not running will save the party is… bull hockey.

Todd Epp spells out his lament with a post titled; My Second Worst Day as a South Dakota Democrat. His first worst day was the day Thune beat Daschle.  Regarding yesterday, Epp laments how Kev and Stephanie had a little chat and he drops out five minutes before the filing deadline.

These little "chats" are the very Weiland and dealin' that the Democrats are famous for these days.  Most interesting is this from Badlands Blue;

This comes as a real disappointment to the staff at Hildebrand Strategies who snapped together a first class, lightning fast, well-disciplined petition drive that most observers felt was impossible to accomplish in a few days. Nobody at Hilde’s office heard about the joint accord between Kevin and Stephanie until it was a fait accompli.

Looks now like Hildebrand has more reason to loathe her. The divisions in the Democratic Party seems to be deepening.