For Gov. Noem's political career, there's 'No Going Back' after dog story: Analysis

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem spelled out her future in politics for her constituents and the nation in three simple words: "No Going Back."

Perhaps more aptly, there may be no coming back from the immediate damage to Noem's political career after the second-term governor's account of killing a 14-month-old German Wirehaired Pointer was highlighted Friday by The Guardian, a British news outlet.

The South Dakota governor, who has since spun the tale off as a reflection of her ability to tackle "tough challenges" in a weekend statement, is a contender for former President Donald Trump's vice president nomination.

Noem tells the grisly tale in her upcoming book, "No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward." In it, according to excerpts obtained by The Guardian, Noem recalled a 20-year-old story in which a hunting-dog-in-training named Cricket disrupted a pheasant hunt. On the way home from the training session, the pointer later attacked and killed chickens belonging to a local family during a visit by Noem.

Cricket, according to Noem, then tried to bite her upon being apprehended.

"I hated that dog," Noem wrote.

The chicken fiasco proved to be the final straw for Noem, who wrote about taking the gundog to a gravel pit and ending its life right there, along with an unruly and irritable goat, with a local construction crew as witness to both slayings.

More: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem defends shooting family dog that was 'untrainable.'

Noem's plight could 'haunt' her political career, expert says

The political firestorm, fanned by the coverage of media worldwide, represents a major liability for Noem's future political prospects, Michael Card, a political science professor with University of South Dakota, told Argus Leader Tuesday.

"If I were running a campaign against Kristi Noem, at this point, she just laid this on a platter for you," Card said. "I think for many people, you just bring up, 'Is this who you want having nuclear codes? Is this somebody who has a sudden reaction and terminates a 14-month-old puppy? What's she going to do to a human being?'"

The negative reception to the story could "haunt" Noem, Card said. For her opponents, the moment likely solidifies their contempt for her in their minds.

Some conservatives may be willing to ignore the decision or chalk it up to a rural American practice, Card said. But even rural farmers may be split, and that's partly because of the way Noem depicted the execution, he added.

"I suspect some of even the farm community [saying], if this is bred to be a hunting dog, 'You didn't train it right, and then you got upset, had an emotional moment,'" he said.

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Noem's book is expected to be released May 7, but even without the full context surrounding the gritty retelling of her dog's demise, fellow governors and conservatives, as well as the public have largely received the tale with revulsion and disgust.

But the account of Cricket is not the only time Noem has written about animals in her published works.

Noem's 'affinity to work with animals'

The Mount Rushmore State governor most recently wrote a more wholesome depiction of her love for animals in her 2022 autobiography, "Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland."

Unlike the story about Cricket, which took place in her 30s, Noem's prior work reached back into her childhood, a time when she was in constant contact with different animals.

"I was a tomboy and I loved growing up on a farm," Noem wrote in the 2022 book. "I loved animals and quickly adopted any kind of animal I could lay my hands on—in addition to the livestock that was part of our farming operation."

Among a "small herd of cats," three parakeets, a favorite pet raccoon named Bandi, and other puppies, including a shih tzu "that couldn't hunt or help herd cows, but that dearly loved me," there were also frogs, salamanders and mice brought home by a younger Noem.

"My mom has an incredible ability to see the unique gifts in everyone and she recognized my affinity to work with animals early on," Noem wrote.

In fact, "Not My First Rodeo" contains multiple excerpts across multiple pages in which Noem describes raising and caring for animals during her the formative years of her youth, from 4-H expos to the everyday interactions with her family's livestock.

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Under a chapter titled "Respect," Noem wrote "Respecting animals means making the effort to understand them—their habits, needs, and even their fears."

The decision, then, to attempt to iterate on a positive history with animals by relating the grim task of putting down what was arguably a puppy left Card scratching his head.

This story was meant for one person only

But Card said he believes there was likely only one person the dog-killing story was meant to reach: Trump.

"I think … there was an audience of one for this, and I think that's Donald Trump," Card told the Argus Leader on Monday. "I think it fits right in with Donald Trump's brashness. And in some ways, I think this was geared to be a message toward that, and especially the part [that Noem] can do the dirty work."

Trump himself has not publicly weighed in on the matter, though larger media outlets like The Hill and New York Post have cited purported unnamed Trump allies claiming Noem now has no shot at a VP ticket, with the latter even including a quote from an anonymous source, saying the former president reacted with disappointment at hearing about the story.

Sources that have commented on the record, however, include Steve Bannon, a former advisor for Trump, as well as Donald Trump Jr. The pair briefly discussed the incident Tuesday, with Trump Jr. saying the story itself was "not ideal."

"I read that and I'm like, 'Who put that in the book?'" said Trump Jr., who was hosting Bannon on his talk show "Triggered," Tuesday. "I was like, 'Your ghost writer must really not like you if they're gonna include that one. That was rough.'"

This came after Bannon talked about the strength of Trump's running mate roster. The former Trump aide expressed his desire to see a female vice president pick.

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Of Noem, Bannon called her "a little too based," a slang term for someone who unapologetically shares their views, including those deemed politically incorrect by conservatives and alt-righters.

Card, too, had his doubts about how publishing her experience in print would ultimately boost Noem's favorability with Trump.

But the seemingly unlikely gambit is not entirely impossible to pull off, Card said.

Because even as gruesome as Noem's tale was, if Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, was to select the South Dakota governor as his campaign partner, voters are unlikely to shift to President Joe Biden, a Democrat, Independent candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or Cornel West, or the Green Party's Jill Stein.

"I think there'll be some hesitation, but I suspect they would still vote for [Trump] if [Noem] were his choice," Card said.

Trump, too, has previously minimized the electoral importance of choosing the right vice president. He told Fox News in January the choice itself has "never really had that much of an effect on an election."

'No excuse for the callousness'

South Dakota's top political figures have also weighed in on the debacle. According to Politico, South Dakota's lone U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson told reporters he was "surprised people are paying so much attention" to the controversy.

Johnson, relating the event as typical rural American practice, added Noem, “handled that with as much humanity for the animal as was needed."

Of the South Dakota Democratic Party, the response to the retelling of Cricket's execution was met with disgust. In a statement to the Argus Leader, SDDP Executive Director Dan Ahlers said there is "no excuse for the callousness of [Gov.] Noem's actions in her book," rural values or not.

He went on to say Noem's actions "absolutely reflect poorly on South Dakota" as a whole.

"I'm not even sure why you would retell this story," Ahlers wrote Tuesday. "There were so many other ways to handle that situation. It doesn't make her look tough, but rather heartless and ignorant."

Gov. Noem's office and the South Dakota GOP did not respond to requests for comment.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Cricket's death could 'haunt' Noem's next political arcs: Analysis