Weiland accuses own party of sabotaging his campaign

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rick Weiland accused his own political party of trying to undermine his campaign in a striking news conference Monday.

Weiland said the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's ads attacking Republican incumbent Mike Rounds have backfired and hurt him.

"You put negative on a candidate and you put your disclosure at the bottom that says 'Paid for by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee,' the Democratic candidate's going to get blamed for that," Weiland said.

But Weiland went a step further and said this wasn't just an inadvertent side effect of the negative ads. He said it was deliberate — an attempt to sabotage him and boost independent Larry Pressler.

"My national party — that I'm a member of — (was) trying to drive votes to Larry Pressler and trying to drive up my negatives," Weiland said.

A spokesman for the DSCC declined to comment on Weiland's charges.

The DSCC announced earlier this month that they would spend $1 million in the South Dakota Senate race — but that the money would be spent primarily on attacking Rounds. Experts speculated that the party would be content with either Weiland or Pressler winning, as Pressler, though an independent, could be persuaded to caucus with the Democrats.

National political analyst Larry Sabato was skeptical of Weiland's claims.

"Unless (Weiland) has evidence he didn't present, it's quite a stretch, if not a wild charge," said Sabato, president of the University of Virginia's Center For Politics.

While it's true that the DSCC "would welcome a victory by either Pressler or Weiland," Sabato said, "I don't think that was the DSCC's intention to have the ads backfire on (Weiland)."

At the time the DSCC entered the race, Pressler and Weiland were both within a few points of Rounds. More recent polling, including from the Argus Leader and KELO-TV, has shown Pressler's support plunging while Weiland remains on the fringe of competitiveness.

Weiland and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have a fraught relationship. Reid wanted Stephanie Herseth Sandlin to run for Senate from South Dakota, and called Weiland "not my candidate" after he got in the race anyway. DSCC insiders were quoted anonymously slamming Weiland's chances just week before new polling showed the Senate race to be competitive — comment Weiland said Monday were "intended to dry up my fundraising."

Weiland has returned fire. In last week's debate, he announced he wouldn't vote for Reid for majority leader if elected.

The DSCC refused to spend money on South Dakota for months despite Weiland's pleas. He said he was initially excited when the committee announced it would spend money on the race in early October, but later grew suspicious.

In a television interview last week, DSCC executive director Guy Cecil said the group wasn't trying to help Pressler.

"We want Weiland to win," Cecil said. When asked if he'd be happy with Pressler, too, Cecil doubled down: "We prefer Weiland."

Pressler, in contrast, served with Reid during his previous time in the Senate.

"I know that Sen. Pressler has a personal relationship with Sen. Reid," Weiland said.

Weiland called on the DSCC to "go positive or go home" with their advertising campaign.

Sabato was also skeptical of Weiland's broader claim: that his standing was hurt by a voter backlash against negative ads from Pressler.

"This is done in all 50 states," he said. "People are so used to these sorts of negative ads sponsored by the party that there usually isn't that much political effect. People will absorb the political information, even as they say they hate negatives."

Independent Gordon Howie is also in the race.