Say Anything Blog

I’ve made no secrets of my dislike of North Dakota Governor John Hoeven.  I think he’s a poor, ineffective leader who does little to advance the limited government movement.  That being said, he is the strongest potential challenger for entrenched liberal incumbent Senator Byron Dorgan.  He alone among potential challengers has the name recognition and connections to big political money it would take to unseat someone like Dorgan.

While I remain skeptical that Hoeven would be all that much of an improvement over Dorgan, I do think that the down-stream implications for a Hoeven run are worth considering.  And among those implications are a strong challenge for another entrenched liberal incumbent, Rep. Earl Pomeroy.

Pomeroy, with his recent arrogance and flip-flopping on health care, may be more vulnerable now than he’s ever been.  And whether it be a little-known candidate like Paul Schaffner riding Hoeven’s fund raising and name recognition coat tails to victory, or Hoeven perhaps attracting a more recognized and experienced challenger to the ticket, it’s undeniable that a Hoeven run would not just be a headache for Dorgan but a headache for Pomeroy too.