Heidi Heitkamp’s Brother Is No Boon To Her Campaign

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Written By:
Rob Port

Sep 30, 2012
2:47pm

If there was ever any doubt that the Fargo Forum was fully behind liberal Democrat Heidi Heitkamp for Senate, let today’s front page lay it to rest:

The article is a glowing profile of the candidate and her brother, a loyal mouthpiece willing to attack her enemies and spin out her talking points relentlessly. But it’s doubtful that Joel Heitkamp is much help to his sister. In fact, what’s interesting is just how far to the right of her very liberal talk show host brother Heitkamp has found herself going in order to sell herself to the North Dakota electorate.

While the male Heitkamp may have a popular regional talk radio show, he wouldn’t be electable on a statewide basis running on the platform of the ideas he expresses on-air. In fact, were his sister not his sister and a loyal Democrat, Joel Heitkamp would be attacking his sister as the worst sort of right-wing conservative.

Because that’s the character Heidi Heitkamp has been portraying on the campaign trail. A right-of-center Republican of the sort her brother, in any other context, would despise.

This is not a portrait of a politically-active brother and sister looking to change the world. This is a portrait of the worst sort of political theater and gamesmanship. The dishonesty is palpable to astute observers. Both Heitkamps claim, laughably, that there is little coordination between campaign and radio show. There is even the suggestion that Joel is equally as critical of his sister as Rick Berg.

Does anyone buy this? Of course not. Of course there’s coordination. We saw how the Heitkamp family works when the campaign coordinated an assault on a Rick Berg ad touting his support of the YWCA by and through Heitkamp’s niece, who heads the Cass County YWCA.

The question is, will the average voter fall for it? The Heitkamps are no doubt hoping we’re all that stupid.