Northern Plains Downhome Gal

Just released from Rasmussen... Another GOP pick-up...

Rasmussen:

“The latest numbers mark an improvement for the Republican challenger from the 49% to 44% lead she held in July. The month before, right after her Republican Primary win, Noem, a member of the state House of Representatives, jumped out to a 53% to 41% lead over Herseth-Sandlin.

“This is the second time the challenger has crossed the critical 50% mark in matchups with the incumbent. Herseth-Sandlin in several months of surveys has come close only one time, picking up 49% support in February.”

Noem has been dubbed "South Dakota's Sarah Palin," and enjoys the enthusiastic support of the former libertarian-leaning Alaska Governor.

She is a proud Tea Partyer, which has brought her the wrath of SD's tiny Far Left contingent. From the Madville Times blog:

Kristi Noem campaign really is just a branch of the Tea Party... Noem's policy positions have all the substance of a misspelled Tea Party banner.

Noem has offered the amusing spectacle of trying to disguise her Tea Party associations from the general electorate. She won't confirm that she would join Michele Bachmann's Tea Party Caucus if elected, but it's obvious she will. Noem happily courted the Tea Party vote for the primary. And what was the first thing she did after winning the primary on June 8? She flew to Rapid City to thank her Citizens for Liberty Tea Party supporters at a Rapid City rally...

In tactics and loyalty, the Noem campaign is Tea Party through and through. And that bodes ill for a state that would elect her to turn a vacuous, spite-based worldview into votes in Washington.