Conservative darling and rising GOP star, Kristi Noem, loves individual freedom and personal responsibility. Noem delivers classic conservative rhetoric with a smile and Fox News anchor looks, (she was once “miss snow queen” of South Dakota). A South Dakota native, Noem has all of the traditional conservative talking points down to a rote science, and what’s wrong with that? Nothing. For many issues, it makes sense especially if one steps away from NYC and LA fabulousness, long enough to put that almond milk latte down and consider rural America’s perspective.
As low population agriculture state, Noem is a solid fit for South Dakota. She likes to throw out a lot of homespun wisdom she learned running the family ranch after her father died in a farm equipment accident. Noem left school to manage the family business and it wasn’t long before a simple country girl headed to Washington to inject some common sense into the DC swap. While in congress, Noem finished college online at South Dakota State , earning her the snarky moniker, “DCs most powerful intern” from the Washington Post. This is all classic Americana, the stuff of which lifetime movies are made and that plays well west of the Hudson and east of the 405. Things start to get wonky when Noem tries to lead on social issues.
Noem is a “small government” Regan worshipping conservative but that all ends when Noem talks about LGBTQ legislation. Steadfast in her belief that marriage is between a man and a woman and same sex marriage destroys the sanctity of the institution, Noem has consistently signed anti LGBTQ legislation. As a side note: Sanctity? Ask anyone who has been married if it feels like a gift from God. So, “small government” unless one is a rural state Governor crowing about marriage and thinking it’s a government decision. Rugged individualism applies to guns and CDC recommendations but not to pregnancy, nope, then government is in charge. Noem, a staunch prolifer would forego individual freedom for government mandated parenthood. This all gets to be pretty muddled with some murky boundaries and lack of consistency.
It’s not hard to predict where Noem would fall on the political spectrum. Low taxes are sacrosanct, Obama care is way too much government, never mind that the affordable care act, is immensely popular in her state. A Rose is a rose, Governor and Obama care IS the affordable care act. For someone who is trotted out at the CPAC conference as “the future of the party” she really needs to find a balance with what is, and what isn’t, a government decision.
Last election cycle, the voters of South Dakota made their voice clear. They want weed. The voters approved recreational cannabis use at 54% and medicinal at a landslide margin of 69.93%. Noem could have taken the opportunity to put her rhetoric into play. Is consumption of cannabis a medical decision? Is it an individual decision? Both points could be argued, what it’s not, is a government decision. Noem went way off the reservation with her response to the cannabis law. Not only did she disapprove like an old aunt whose niece moves in with her boyfriend without being married, she filed lawsuits to stop the will of the voters and replace that with her own will. We get it, Governor, you don’t like the idea of weed but do you like the idea of individual freedom as you claim? Most confounding, is Noem’s rationale. She says she is opposed to cannabjs on “moral grounds”. A call to the state house and email to her press secretary yielded curious silence to a simple question “does the Governor drink”? Morality aside Governor, the voters of your state have spoken and you are there to serve them, not scold them and try to impart your own morality.