Welcome to South Dakota, Mrs. Clinton. And Mr. Obama. And Mr. Clinton. And the Kennedys.

Presidential candidates and their campaign surrogates are showing up all over South Dakota in advance of our June 3 election, and we couldn't be happier about that.

The political parade began a week ago when Sen. Hillary Clinton visited Sioux Falls. It continued with her return to an Aberdeen-area farm and a Rapid City donut shop yesterday. Sen. Barack Obama's first campaign stop here was in eastern South Dakota today. Obama will host a town hall meeting in Watertown this morning and an early-vote rally in Sioux Falls tonight.

Here on the western half of the state, the widow and the youngest son of 1968 presidential candidate Sen. Robert Kennedy will be in western South Dakota today, campaigning for Sen. Obama. Ethel and Max Kennedy will speak at a 9:15 a.m. community coffee at The Journey Museum in Rapid City before heading to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Former President Bill Clinton was in Pine Ridge on Wednesday doing the same thing for his wife, just days after he spoke to 1,500 people in Rapid City.

Like so many voters here, we're thrilled that the national candidates have finally come to South Dakota to talk about our concerns. Despite a growing consensus in the rest of the country that this Democratic primary campaign has gone on far too long, South Dakotans are enjoying the last days of this historic campaign and all the attention that comes with it.

We were chagrined when South Dakota's elder statesman, Sen. George McGovern, suggested that Sen. Clinton should end her campaign before the June 3 primary in South Dakota. With Obama holding a seemingly decisive lead in pledged delegates, Clinton's withdrawal may well be the ultimate conclusion of the race. Nonetheless, it was disappointing that McGovern, who recently switched his support from Clinton to Obama, gave so little consideration to the voice of all the voters in his home state and its 23 convention delegates.

What better way for the Democratic nomination process to conclude than with a competitive contest in its final primary? We're glad the candidates came. Let the campaigning continue!