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Larry Pressler on Principles & ValuesFormer Republican Senator (SD) |
Republicans, who once worried Pressler would peel off support from Rounds, now see his campaign as advantageous to them. Pressler "is a respected former senator who's trying to run on issues the Democratic candidate is running on," said a senior adviser to South Dakota Republicans.
This is not Pressler's first quixotic stab at public office. He served three terms in the Senate before losing his seat in 1996, mused about running for mayor of Washington, D.C., and ran a 106-day bid for president in the 1980 election. But Pressler still boasts strong name identification in the state --enough to impact the race.
It's unclear how much heartburn an underfunded, former Republican who backed President Barack Obama in 2008 would cause for the GOP--especially with national Democrats still in search of a top-tier candidate. But Pressler hopes his campaign would serve as a conversation-starter and at least influence the debate in the race.
Most of all, Presser said he's "disturbed" by the paralysis of the political system and the inability of Congress to strike a "grand bargain" on the budget.
A Rhodes Scholar and Harvard-educated attorney, Pressler said he's spent a lot of time teaching overseas since leaving Capitol Hill, including in China, India, France and Italy. He's kept a home in South Dakota, where he's currently spending the semester teaching at the University of Sioux Falls.