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• We do feel her attendance at committee meetings must improve, although we do not have any proof that she is truly the slacker that Varilek wants us to believe. Noem says she always attends meetings that involve South Dakota issues, and we have no reason to not believe her.
• We appreciate her voting record, which is 99 percent in committee and 98 per

cent on the House floor. We also appreciate that, according to her records, she has attended some 800 meetings with constituents during her time in the U.S. House.
• Varilek holds Noem -- and other House members -- responsible for Congress' farm bill failure of 2012. We do not feel Noem has been a detriment to any farm bill discussions, nor do we feel sufficient proof has been submitted to suggest she has.
• Despite the strong differences they show in their campaign advertisements and during debates, Varilek and Noem actually have many similar ideas and visions.
• They both vow to stand up for the ag community. They both believe in preserving the United States Postal Service. They both say they are advocates of ethanol.

They both agree the Keystone XL pipeline should be built.
• This campaign isn't about skipping committee meetings or corndog-and-beer parties. It's about deciding who truly deserves to represent South Dakota in the U.S. House of Representatives.
• Noem could be better, but certainly hasn't done anything to be tossed aside after just a single term.
• Noem possesses the dual experience of a business owner and, now, national lawmaker. Varilek has neither. We also feel many of his policies mirror those of the president. We're not sure that's what the country needs right now.
• We give our support to Noem, but urge the congresswoman to tend to her post and to continue fighting for South Dakota.
• ___
• Watertown Public Opinion. Oct. 30, 2012
• Postal Service is vital
• The U.S. Postal Service has been hemorrhaging money for years and has been looking for ways to stop the bleeding. It's raised the prices of stamps, left positions unfilled, consolidated processing centers and taken a host of other steps all designed to at least reduce its losses and, hopefully, eventually stop the drain of money.
• Capitalism, which this country is built on, and modern innovation have slowed the USPS's money stream. Private parcel carriers have cut deeply in the Postal Service's shipping business and social networking sites that provide email, text messaging, tweets and other forms of personal communication have replaced letter writ

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