Say Anything Blog

North Dakota should elect some Senators who don’t have to change the way they vote during election years.

Is there such a thing?

If there isn’t there should be.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

I have a hard time taking this seriously.  The data is essentially a bell curve of liberosity and conservosity.  The membership changes with every election, so of course Conrad and Dorgan will appear more or less conservative/liberal than their counterparts depending on the season.

 But, I want to know, would you prefer Conrad and Dorgan to be at 0 percent or 100 percent?  Since apparently it’s an all or nothing deal, politically, which extreme end would you prefer them on?

I use the ADA, a liberal advocacy group to get a perspective on how Senators and Representatives vote. The ADA’s Liberal Quotient for Conrad is 85%, Dorgan is at 100%  for the the year 2005. I live in a solid red state, My Senators are rated at 0% and 5%, thank goodness. Unfortunately, I live in a gerry-mandered congressional district for the democrats. It it a solid conservative area filled with yellow dog democrats. The constituency, for the most part believes their Representative in Washington, is a solid conservative, they tend not to study national issues. "He brings a lot of money to the district, doesn’t cost us anything," is the often heard reason for voting for him. His Liberal Quotient is 90%. Tip O’neal had it right, "all politics is local."

The North Dakota Republicans are obviously pleased with their representation by Sens. Dorgan and Conrad.  Here is a report from Rasmussen politica report: 

"With no challenge to fend off from popular Governor John Hoeven, whom the White House and others had urged to run for Senate this year, the path to reelection of incumbent Democratic Senator Kent Conrad so far appears smooth.

Senator Conrad, serving his third term, enjoys a lead ranging from 13 to 28 percentage points against each candidate considering the Republican nomination.

When likely voters are asked about a match-up against Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, Conrad leads 53% to 40%.

Matched against Public Services Commissioner Kevin Cramer, Conrad leads 57% to 35%.

Matched against Bismarck Mayor John Warford, Conrad leads 59% to 31%.

In each proposed contest, only 6% at most are unsure of their choice, a relatively low number of undecided voters this early in an election year."

How in the world is Rob going to change this?  Not this year, Conrad is  shoo in this year as is Pomeroy. 

It continues to amaze me that Dorkan continues to be elected time after time.  What kind of Dakota Ditchweed are the state’s voters smokin?  This guy is one of the smarmiest, self-serving politicians to come around shy of Daschle in years.  If the average ND voter really knew what Dorkan was like, they’d run from him. 

The fact is most North Dakotans know who he is and they obviously like the job he does because he gets a larger percentage than Bush does. As long as Dorgan and Conrad and Pomeroy continue to do their jobs for North Dakotans, they will be elected by large majorities. The Rs will put up the usual sacrificial lambs who will run and then never be heard from again on the national scene. All politics is local and Dorgan, Conrad and Pomeroy know what they are doing.  They have worked together for years and will continue to do that.