Say Anything Blog

Back on February 20th Senator Byron Dorgan announced, two years early, that he’d be seeking another term in the Senate.  At the time I said this:

I think Dorgan is probably getting ready for a Hoeven run at the Senate in 2010.  By putting things in motion early Dorgan will probably prompt the eventual Democrat nominee for Governor to ask Hoeven is he’s going to fulfill a full term in Bismarck or leave it to run against Dorgan.  They’ll want to get Hoeven to promise a full term as he did in 2004 when they pressured him into saying he wouldn’t run against Kent Conrad in 2006, but I’m guessing that Hoeven isn’t likely to do that again.

Now flash forward nearly two months, and guess who is in the media demanding to know if Hoeven will be finishing a full term in office?  Why the Democrat governor nominee of course.

BISMARCK - At a news conference today, Senator Tim Mathern said North Dakotans should know his future political plans and those of Governor John Hoeven to clear the air before the upcoming election.

“Since I began my campaign for Governor, people have been asking me if Governor Hoeven wants to be in office for 12 or more years, or if he wins will he resign and run for Senate or Congress in two years. I think these are legitimate questions for the highest state office in North Dakota.”

What’s interesting is that while Mathern wants Hoeven to clear the air on whether or not he’ll be completing a full term in office, Mathern himself is actually running for another office midway through his term as a State Senator from District 11.  This year all the legislators from even-numbered districts in North Dakota are up for re-election, meaning that Mathern’s seat isn’t up again until 2010.

Did Mathern “clear the air” with people from his district when running for re-election to the state Senate?  Did he tell them that he’d be running for another office halfway through his term in office?

Personally, I don’t care if he did or not.  Whether or not a politician will complete a full term is a non-issue as far as I’m concerned, but Mathern does come off as a bit of a hypocrite in holding John Hoeven to a standard he apparently doesn’t hold himself to.