Say Anything Blog

A reader who just happens to be on a guy named Roger Timm’s “spam list” (as the reader put it) sends long this missive which Timm sent out yesterday.  In it, Timm gripes about “anti-Hoeven whiners” at this site, who he clearly wants to shut up.  Timm is also upset about the “Should Hoeven be re-elected” poll I posted yesterday.

So who is Roger Timm?  He’s a former regional campaign director for John Hoeven’s campaign, and may or may not be with the campaign for the 2008 elections (I haven’t heard).

Here’s the full email he sent:

Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:16:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: Rog Timm [Email Redacted]
Subject: 2008 GOVERNOR’S POLL
To: R T [Email Redacted]

There is an on-line poll being conducted by the KX network that asks if John Hoeven should be elected for a third term as N.D. Governor.  This same poll is on the SayAnythingblog.com blog, which is strongly anti-Governor Hoeven.

Here is the address of the poll: 

http://www.kxmb.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=173507

or you can go to http://www.Sayanythingblog.com

Either address will get you to the poll question.  Of course, every Democrat and a bunch of anti-Hoeven folks will vote.  The only way this becomes a media play is if supporters do not vote.

The Democrats are running rampant in the press and on the air attacking Governor Hoeven.  And, so are blogs like Sayanything.com.

Even though it seems very early, the moaners and whiners, on both ends of the political spectrum, are already out in full force.  You can bet that if the anti-Hoeven folks manage to get a majority in this poll, it will be front page news across the state.  Of course, if a majority support the Governor, it will be no news, period.

Let’s make sure it doesn’t become front page news and Zaleski doesn’t have material for another editorial.  Go to either of the addresses above & convince these folks that GroundHog Day has not yet arrived and they should retreat back down their holes!!

Rog

So what can we “anti-Hoeven whiners” conclude from this?

First, I think it tells us that Hoeven is more than a little worried about a challenge to his leadership from the right.  And that’s as it should be, I think.  In his fiscal policies Governor Hoeven has simply moved too far to the left.  He’s tying far too much of this state’s money up in government, and he’s spending money like it’s going out of style.  The Governor’s proposed budget in the last session increased spending on state agencies some $382,752,351 over and above the increases those agencies had requested.  Why Hoeven would think he can spend like that and not be criticized by conservatives in his base is beyond me.

Second, with the “Ground Hog’s day has not arrived yet” comment is meant as criticism for starting the political cycle in the state too early.  Which seems like utter nonsense to me.  I am not a politician.  I’m not campaigning for anything, or even backing a specific candidate.  I’m just a citizen expressing some political opinions about one of my elected leaders.  I wasn’t aware that I needed to wait until after Groundhog’s Day to do this.

Here, again, is the poll that Timm is so worried about.

Voting is still active, so feel free to vote if you haven’t already.

As you can see from the results, despite Timm’s effort to “stuff the ballot box” some 39% of respondents say they either don’t want John Hoeven to be Governor again or, at the very least, don’t like him but don’t want a Democrat governor either.  That’s a pretty significant chunk.  Enough of a chunk, in fact (if we’re to believe this poll is in anyway representative of state opinions as a whole, which is extremely questionable), that it could lead to a loss for Hoeven.

Given that, you’d think Hoeven and his people would want to take a conciliatory attitude toward conservative Republicans like myself.  There’s a lot of us out there, and I think dissatisfaction with Hoeven among people like myself is higher than the Governor or anyone else would like to admit.

Update: I should add that the poll above is not being conducted by the KX Network.  Reiten Broadcasting syndicates this blog on the KX Network of television station websites, but in no way are my posts meant to represent Reiten Broadcasting.