How To Win Hearts and Minds

One way to win friends and influence people is to write a book.

Or at least have one ghost-written for you.  

Just make certain it is a book that will attract moderates, independents, right-leaning voters, hunters, and dog lovers.

Kristi Noem, South Dakota governor, and supplicant for the position of Donald Trump's vice presidential running mate has a book:  No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.  

Officially released today, the book has captured the hearts and minds of moderates, independents, right-leaning voters, hunters, and dog lovers; although perhaps not as intended.  This is because in her book Governor Noem describes in grisly detail how she killed a self-described 'untrainable' puppy following a pheasant hunting trip.

According to the governor, a fourteen-month-old, female wirehaired pointer named Cricket 'went out of her mind with excitement, chasing all of those birds and having the time of her life.'  And 'later attacked another family's chickens' during a pheasant hunting trip.  And when the governor made a grab for the dog she got nipped.  According to Noem this was evidence that Cricket was 'less than worthless as a hunting dog.' 

So she shot and killed it.

It has occurred to me that my best friend and all-around champion hunting Lab, Inky, did all of those things too.  At about the same age.  She went out of her mind with excitement, chasing birds and having the time of her life, made a move on someones' barnyard chickens and nipped me.  That's what puppies do until they learn the ropes.  The difference between me and the South Dakota governor is I didn't immediately declare my dog 'worthless'; followed by an execution.  I corrected her, reinforced appropriate behavior, loved her and she matured into a marvelous hunting partner and family member.  I miss her more than you know.

Raising a hunting dog is hard work and can be incredibly frustrating some days.  It might be that the governor doesn't have the patience for this.  Maybe she doesn't have the time; she is a governor after all.  Or perhaps she simply doesn't know how to train a hunting dog.  All of which is anybody's guess.

Or maybe there is an altogether different explanation.  

Noem has said she included this story in her book to demonstrate her readiness in politics and to do what needs to be done, even if it is 'difficult, messy and ugly.'  Might it be that in the MAGA movement your star status rises if you demonstrate you are stone cold enough to shoot and kill your dog for being a puppy?  

I sure hope not.  Just about anyone I know, including some of my Trump supporting friends who hunt with dogs, tell me this is over the top.

I have hunted and killed countless animals in my life.  Same for fishing.  I have raised two hunting dogs and am presently training a third.  The art of raising a hunting dog is difficult, hard work that requires near daily coaching. It demands discipline, patience and love.  High-energy sporting breeds generally don't achieve their peak performance until almost three years of age.  In my world view there are no bad dogs; only bad dog owners.

That Governor Noem did not expend sufficient time training Cricket, and failing that; rehome a likely talented wirehair pointer is appallingly disappointing. Our new pup, Ruby, landed in our household solely because the original owners did not have the skill set, patience and time to commit to the task of raising a hunting dog.

Governor Noem may not have the skill set, patience or time.  However, as a wealthy individual she does have almost limitless resources to make good life choices.  Her derisive commentary about the circumstances, failure to put the pup up for adoption, did not lift a finger to humanely euthanize the dog and finally crow about it in a book calls into account her judgement.  

I see no evidence of love or empathy.

The implication is she might lack impulse control or possibly have a personality disorder.  I'm not an armchair shrink so that's not my call. My normal dog-owning, hunting guy impression of this entire unsavory episode is that it is exceedingly unsettling. It is a bad look. As a consequence, is Kristi Noem a 'less than worthless vice presidential candidate?'  That's not my call either.

While some of Donald Trump's base supporters might applaud and celebrate this sort of behavior, it would be fascinating to observe how it wins hearts and minds in a general election.