LLOYD OMDAHL: Crystal ball shows cloudy outlines of 2012
October 16, 2011 at 9:44 pm in Grand Forks Herald
To start out, we can assume that the Republican candidate for president, regardless of name or gender, will carry North Dakota in 2012. He has in every election since 1964 and that’s a 50-year track record. So you can safely put your money on that prospect. Continue Reading
“When it comes to candidates for state offices, the past 10 elections tell us that there were 59 incumbents running and only 11 (19 percent) of them were defeated. None of the incumbents lost in the past three elections.”
Regardless of party affiliation, that is a sad, sad statistic. I know ND has a pathological aversion to change, but that is nuts. Every incumbent in ND, regardless of party affiliation, has a halo? Not one committed any act of wrong doing or exposed a view too extreme for his/her electorate in three election cycles?
I love politics. It is great fun to study as long as you don’t take it too seriously. Case in point: the Letters to the Editor and Area Voices blogs are awash in “throw the bums out” fervor (like they always are), yet no incumbent in three election cycles has been defeated. A serious disconnect between words and reality, which unfortunately is par for the course with politics.
For the record I am Libertarian. I am for a very limited government, getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan post haste (half way there), a flat tax (no national sales tax – bad idea Mr. Cain), the legalization of marijuana (85% of border crime gone in one fell swoop. Also, pot may or may not be a gateway drug, but alcohol remains the most deadly and most abused drug in the US. Prohibition failed because as long as there is a demand, there will be a supply; same here), taxing the heck out of marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco to pay for healthcare. Alcohol accounts for 25% of the US healthcare bill. Tobacco accounts for another 25%. Tax revenue from alcohol and tobacco should reflect their cost to society. Finally I am for taking responsibility for your actions. If you are forced to live with your decisions, chances are you won’t make the same bad ones again.
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The only Republicans in the ND legislature are Republican in name only; I have the tax bills to prove it!
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