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Republicans as the number of registered voters in their party -- 236,906 -- stands far ahead of the Democrats who listed 186,041 registered voters as of Aug. 1. Republicans have dominated voting rolls for years but recently the gap between the two parties has been expanding. But are these the best of times for Republicans? Yes and no.
• True, Republicans hold two of the three offices in the state's congressional delegation. The governor is Republican -- as is usually the case -- and every elected state constitutional officer is Republican. The Republicans also hold sizeable majorities in both houses of the Legislature so it's pretty obvious they've got a good grip on South Dakota politics.
• But even with all that, the number of registered voters who list Republican as their party affiliation has declined in the last four years. In 2008 there were 241,528 registered Republicans which was 4,500 more than the Aug. 1 total. Democrats, however, are in even worse shape during that span, going from 204,413 registered voters in 2008 to 186,041 -- a loss of more than 18,000 voters as of Aug. 1 this year.
• The long-standing disparity between Republicans and Democrats isn't really surprising because South Dakota has been a Republican state for much of its history. But why are the numbers of registered voters for both parties declining while the number of independent voters increases, going from 84,473 in 2008 to 88,726 now?
• We're guessing there's a message somewhere in all those numbers and we're guessing it has more to do with national politics than state politics.?South Dakotans

have been fairly satisfied with the way their state has been run for many years and we can't think of too many issues over the past few decades that have really polarized people regardless of who has been in charge. That's part of the "best of times."
• "The worst of times" we can lay squarely at the feet of Congress which is so polarized politically that getting anything of substance accomplished is incredibly difficult because regardless of what one party proposes, the other generally opposes it. All you need do is look at the Thomas Voting Reports published in a recent edition of Public Opinion to see that.
• Could it be that voters are so sick of partisan politics that both parties are losing their appeal and registering as an independent has become an attractive option? If so, what does that mean for the major political parties in South Dakota and, perhaps, the nation? Maybe a substantial drop in party numbers for both sides, not just in?South Dakota but across the country, will serve as a wake-up call. Something needs to because what we're getting out of Congress now isn't worth the money we're paying to keep its members employed.

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