Say Anything Blog

A large and consistent supply of out of state cash is what keeps Earl Pomeroy going year after year; unfortunately, this is not a well-known fact among North Dakotans. While not well known, it is certainly true that Earl received about 90 percent of his contributions from out of state and special interest groups in the last election. We have already discussed how Earl is a supporter of defeat in Iraq, and how he uses disaster aid for farmers to gain the media spotlight. Its time to talk about why such a liberal politician has been continuously occupying the lone House seat of one of the nation’s most conservative states since 1992.

He has not been re-elected because his opponents were poor in quality. Kevin Cramer, Matt Mechtel, Rick Clayburgh, and Duane Sand were all great candidates just to name a few. It is because Earl receives millions in out of state dollars, and opponents are left with a mountain of challenges to overcome. Let’s take 2006’s race with Republican Matt Mecthel as challenger for example. First, Mechtel had to try and match or come close to Earl’s out of state cash reserves. This was almost impossible since major donors were scared away by Earl’s massive cash pile. This left Mechtel struggling to first introduce himself to North Dakotans (since he began with zero name recognition). This task was also nearly impossible because North Dakota’s news media refuses to give both candidates the coverage necessary. This leaves Mechtel working from sun-up to sun-down attending parades, going door to door, and trying to form a grassroots movement. Meanwhile, Earl gets to sit back and relax by his big pile of east and west coast cash. Imagine starting a campaign where your opponent has millions in out of state dollars already in the bank from the start and has been a recognizable name for North Dakotans for 14 years. And imagine yourself as a true North Dakotan with great ideas and a vision for the state, but with no money, and no name recognition. This was the campaign Mechtel had to run; he did a superb job with what he had, but came nowhere near defeating the giant that is Earl Pomeroy.

This is the same campaign that someone else will have to run in 2008 against Earl. I hope that one of our 11 Republican statewide officials, particularly John Hoeven, will step up to the plate to prove that someone with the right idea for our state can represent us in the United States Congress once again.