Video: Governor Jack Dalrymple Says He Doesn't Have Any "Personal Beliefs" About Pro-Life Bills He Signed

Last night Chris Berg interviewed Governor Jack Dalrymple on his Valley News Live Show. I believe it’s the first time Governor Dalrymple has given an interview since signing three controversial pro-life bills into law.

During the interview, Berg asked the governor why he signed the bills into law. Dalrymple told him it was because so many people in the legislature voted to pass them. Berg asked if he had any personal reasons beyond the political, and Dalrymple said he really didn’t.

“I don’t like to think of it being political,” he said. “I thought this through very carefully and it’s a very difficult issue and there’s a lot to learn about it. I don’t think it’s personal, I mean I don’t have a personal belief or a personal history or anything like that influencing my thinking.”

Wow.

Sad to say, this sort of vacillation is typical of Dalrymple’s style of leadership (and of former Governor John Hoeven before him). That is, if you can call refusing to own your decisions “leadership.”

Governor Dalrymple is to be commended for signing these bills. That was a tough choice to make. But is it too much to ask that he actually support the decisions he made? The Governor says the decision wasn’t political, and yet by admitting that he had no personal beliefs on this most controversial of issues he tacitly admits that it was entirely political.

He signed these bills not because he believes they were the right decision to make, but because he had his finger in the political winds. That’s a sad commentary on his leadership style.