Kent Conrad Is Acting Like Ed Schafer Is Already Ag Secretary

Given this press release from the Senator:

Washington – Senator Kent Conrad released the following statement today regarding the announcement that President Bush has nominated former North Dakota Gov. Edward Schafer to be his next Agriculture secretary.
“I just congratulated Governor Schafer and said I welcomed his nomination as a fellow North Dakotan. I hope he will support this Farm Bill, which is good for our state and the nation. I look forward to speaking with him about his views on the Food and Energy Security Act currently under consideration.”

I don’t know whether or not Schafer will support the farm bill, but I’m not surprised that Conrad is pretty much offering no opposition to Bush’s appointment on this. Unlike what Conrad has done to some of Bush’s other appointments.
In the past Senator Conrad, along with Senator Dorgan, have gotten away with siding with their party on a lot of Bush’s nominations mostly because your average North Dakotan, much like your average American, doesn’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about federal appointments. But Ed’s appointment has them between a rock and a hard place. Do they side with their party and oppose a very popular political figure among their constituency, or do they anger their national party and do what their constituency wants?
On this issue, it appears as though Conrad at least will be sticking with the constituency.