House Candidate Kevin Cramer Splits From Senate Candidate Rick Berg On Farm Bill

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Written By:
Rob Port

Jul 12, 2012
11:11am

Forum Communication is reporting that ND House candidate Kevin Cramer “breaks with conservative groups on farm bill.”

FreedomWorks and the Club for Growth both oppose farm programs like crop insurance, but both back Cramer.

“Frankly, I thought my position on agriculture was going to be the reason I didn’t get those endorsements, but we did have a discussion on that, and I pushed pretty hard,” Cramer is quoted as saying in Kristen Daum’s article. “I said, ‘Guys, the reality in America and the reality in North Dakota is that every country is going to protect its food supply, at least every sophisticated country in the world does that.’”

But Cramer isn’t just breaking with those conservative groups on the farm bill. He’s also breaking with Rep. Rick Berg, who is on the ticket as a Senate candidate, who supports the House version of the farm bill.

That’s an interesting maneuver for Cramer.

Generally speaking, agri-pork is not the political hill to die on for farm state politicians. You can’t get elected in a state like North Dakota without pandering, to some degree, to ag interests. I was surprised when Berg took such a conservative position on the farm bill. Cramer, who is generally seen as more conservative than Berg, is sort of taking the easy way out.

Update: Berg has put out a call today for the House version of the farm bill to be brought to a vote of the full chamber.