OUR OPINION: Heidi Heitkamp goes to Washington
November 7, 2012 at 3:30 pm in Grand Forks Herald
Heitkamp campaigned with the same traits that’ll serve her well in the Senate: Passion, intelligence and political skill. Continue Reading
OUR OPINION: Heidi Heitkamp goes to Washington
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Could someone interpret this for me.
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Vintage Gene…..
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Heidi won because Berg was seen as an opportunist, a trait that goes against the ND grain. If he had been in his second term in the House I believe Silver’s predictions would have proven correct.
I predicted Heidi would win by the narrowist of margins. To be honest I thought I was going to be proven wrong. I made my prediction to needle some of the other frequent commentators as much as anything else.
I am glad I was right (or wrong). I wish her well. I think she is hands down the better choice. The proof will be in the pudding. The other reason Berg lost is he voted 100% of the time as his master’s wished. He was confident he would win and was setting the background for his career in the Senate.
Here is hoping Heidi shows enough independence to make both sides angry. That is the sign of a good legislator and a good leader. In these hyper partisan times, anyone who votes as instructed does not deserve the seat they were granted.
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As I recall, fn, you were one of the few who’s predictions about the election outcome held up. Your insistence on Obama winning was correct as well. Well done. You and Nate Silver….
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Thank you realist. I was 2/3. I predicted Richard Carmona would beat Jeff Flake in AZ and he lost by 5%.
The next big issue will be the defecit cliff. Part of me wants the mandatory cuts to go into effect just so everyone gets a wake up call. We cannot continue as we are, but everything is geared towards maintaining the status quo. In the case of our finances, that would be suicide.
Like I have said with healthcare, it is not that we do not spend enough on defense; we spend it in the wrong places. We support unwanted and unneeded infrastructure (against the will of the war fighters) because some congressman or senator does not want to go home and explain why losing “their” base is in the best interest of the country.
If everyone does not bleed a little, we will all end up bleeding a lot.
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In your circles…But that’s pretty much the norm there anyway
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And Berg wouldn’t have been a rubber stamp for Karl Rove?
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In the interest of being “Fair & Balanced” didn’t the majority of the American public just vote in favor of those policies? Rubber stamping Obama seems to be what the American public wants. If not, they would have voted for the other guy; correct?
Heidi will do what legislators from ND have always done: vote to make sure we get more from the Feds than we pay in.
This election was full of people decrying the nanny state. Dependence was the word of the day. It is funny how these same people became so incensed when asked to explain ND fiscal balance sheet in relation to the Federal govt.
What is good for the goose is good for the gander.
If we truly believe what we say, two bases & a big chunk of farm subsidies need to go.
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Who said anything about censoring your views or dashing your hopes? I was simply pointing out that your view of the future was tried and found wanting. I did not say you were entitled to it.
As soon as all the finger pointing stops you will see a rash of solid scholarship explaining what the GOP needs to do to regain power. Since Obama was the first Democrat I have ever voted for (my first vote was for Reagan in 1980) I hope they heed the advice and make the necessary changes. I would like to see my party return to solvency.
Unfortunately, Bush era policies and people have all but insured the GOP will go the way of the Dixiecrats. The parallels between the neo cons and Dixiecrats are frightening. Both ran on a social rather than fiscal agenda, and both lost.
The Dixiecrats are extinct. Lets hope the GOP finds its soul (Regan era policies) before its too late.
Also, making a geography class (study of maps and demographic changes) mandatory for any office holder would be a good start. You cannot regain power by intentionally alienating the three fastest growning population groups in the US.
This morning Fox was talking about how the Big O ground game was more than anyone expected. They were commenting on how he actually increased voter participation in the three groups above 2008, and how with the race as close as it was, that alone was enough to throw him over the top. This was especially true in VA and OH.
The GOP can learn or it can go the way of the dodo bird. The choice is theirs.
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“You cannot regain power by intentionally alienating the three fastest growning population groups in the US.”
This point is crucial. In a representative democracy the people do not change to fit the will of the party (that is communism), the party changes to reflect the make up of the people.
Again, google Dixiecrats. As I said above, the parallels are astounding
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Well, Smartimus, the reason you lost is precisely that attitude and viewpoint which is dead wrong. That meme has run it’s course in GOP circles and it as wrong as it could be. Proof? You got beat using that assumption.
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Flyingnurse, to answer your question about whether a majority of Americans just voted in favor President Obama’s policies the answer is both yes and no. With regard to economic policies every poll clearly shows that the majority of Americans do not believe that President Obama is doing a good job with regard to the economy; it is not even close. A majority of Americans favored President Obama over Romney (although keep in mind that the results of the election were fairly close with regard to the popular vote). To suggest that the American public is in favor of rubber stamping President Obama’s policies is not credible. If that were true, Kramer would not have had such a lopsided victory, Republicans would not have won every statewide contested race in North Dakota and nationally the Republicans would not have held on the House of Representatives. If the question is whether or not a majority of Americans favored President Obama over Romney the election clearly shows that the answer is yes. If the question is whether a majority of Americans favor “rubber stamping” President Obama’s policies I don’t that you’ll find many Democrat pundits who would ever dare to make that claim. The American public is fairly evenly split, with the balance slightly tilted in favor of President Obama in this last election; I don’t view that as a call to “rubber stamp” president Obama’s policies. Note that I intentionally indicated that the balance was tipped slightly in favor of President Obama, not the Democrats. I think that a weaker Democratic candidate and a stronger Republican candidate may ended up with a different result even without changing the respective positions of the two parties. Hopefully the election will bring real change. I am hopeful for the day when both parties stop using divisive elections strategies and we are presented with candidates intent on unifying rather than dividing the country.
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Yes and no Joe. I agree, I do not want anyone rubber stamping anything. That was a needle at the previous poster. That said, elections have consequences and to assert they liked the person but not his policies – twice (2008 and 2012) – is a little hard to swollow.
Do I agree with everything Barry proposes? Absolutely not. I have argued vociferously against several of his decisions. Did I know what I was in for when I voted for him? Yes.
I quickly run out of patience with the people who say that even though he was elected in 2008 by a huge margin, and the Dems were given control of both the House and Senate, the American people were not voting for Obamacare. What were they voting for? That was the centerpiece of his campaign.
The same is true this go round. I am not for a radical increase in upper level taxes, but there is no denying that increasing the tax rate of the wealthiest Americans was a promise he made during the campaign. I have no tollerance for people who will then clog the blogosphere with their shock and dismay when he tries to get this passed.
In the end it does not matter why people voted for him. The fact is they did: twice. It is not credible to say the American public elected him twice only to have him legislate off of the other guys platform. It simply is not going to happen.
You also said: ” Republicans would not have won every statewide contested race in North Dakota and nationally the Republicans would not have held on the House of Representatives”
This thread is under the Heidi goes to Washington story. I will off write your assertion that the Republicans won every statewide contested race to a typo.
Also, the Democrats gained seats in both the Senate and the House. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, they picked up less seats than would normally be expected when your party wins the White House, but they did regain some of their 2010 losses.
Do the American people wholly support everything Barry wants? No. Did they know what they were getting when they voted for him? Absolutely.
If Romney had won I do not know what his policies would be. With Barry I knew exactly what he was going to do.
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Flyingnurse, my comment with regard to every statewide race (except Senate) was in North Dakota. The statement was typed in response to your assertion that the election of Heitkamp was an indication that the public wanted a “rubber stamp” of President Obama’s policies; that is certainly not true in North Dakota given the result of every other statewide race in North Dakota. As for the Affordable Healthcare Act, in 2008 President Obama ran with a platform that included healthcare reform, as did McCain. At that time nobody had any idea what the specifics were from either candidate as reflected in in the now infamous comment that “we need to pass the bill to find out what is in it”. You can’t isolate individual issues and extrapolate that the election is confirmation of each individual issue in an election that was within two percentage points. For example, I anticipate that the next poll will still show that a majority of Americans still do not favor the Affordable Healthcare Act; the next poll in North Dakota certainly will even though Heitkamp won the election. Many Hispanic voters were driven by immigration policies, some people were driven away from Romney because of his forty-seven percent comment and yet others for a variety of issues. The election clearly shows that overall a majority of people preferred President Obama, but your extrapolation of that support down to individual issues may or may not be correct.
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You are correct on the Hispanic vote: the Dream Act will become a reality with bipartisan support because without it the GOP will fall short on every national election in the foreseeable future. No matter how much the Tea Party whines they have lost this battle. If they continue with their “deport 11 million first then we will talk immigration reform” stance they have a very good chance of losing the war.
When you have Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist, & super PAC donors all saying put a lid on the rhetoric & find a way to get 40% of the Hispanic vote (the number GWB had when he won), something has to give.
As for Obamacare I believe you are viewing the past through rose colored glasses. McCain was not for a radical restructuring of the US healthcare system. He did not even support the elimination of pre existing conditions – something that enjoys the support of 80% of the American people.
Obama ran on a platform of end Iraq, increase Afghanistan (a mistake in my view – he should have just pulled the plug on both) & a radical change in the way healthcare is financed & therefore delivered in this country.
People may not have agreed with all the specifics, but to say they voted for him not knowing how radical he would be is not honest; either that or they simply failed to do their homework. The information was there.
I did not vote for Barry the first go round for healthcare. I voted to get out of Iraq. Healthcare was the price I was willing to pay to accomplish that. It was a trade off.
This election & Heidi is very much the same. You cannot with good conscience say America wants Obamacare repealed. They had an opportunity to vote for a candidate who ran on that platform & that platform failed.
Obamacare will be changed, but there is no chance it will be repealed. To suggest otherwise is unrealistic.
Heidi won’t rubber stamp the Big O. She will vote in such a way that ND will continue to bring in more than it gives, regardless if that is good for the defense & welfare of the country.
She will vote with him on social issues & Supreme Court justices because she belongs to that side of the party. People knew that going in. There should be no surprise.
I voted for her because Rick Berg voted with his masters 100% of the time & I do not agree with their immigration & social policies.
I knew how he would vote on issues important to me. If he had won I could not pretend to be surprised when he voted to shore up DOMA or whittle away at women’s choice.
That would have been disingenuous on my part.
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One of the reasons (not that well-known) the GOP were able to hang on to the majority in the House was because of the gerrymandering that took place in Republican states. Pennsylvania is a perfect example. Had it not been for the re-organization of districts by the GOP state legislature, there would have been more Dems elected to the House. This is done by boths sides over the years, but this election cycle it was particularly effective.
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It seems to me I remember Bush talking about all the political capital he had earned in the 04 election which was close. Just by winning the election, Obama has this same advantage and to argue he doesn’t just makes no sense. Obama is in a position of power right now to push congress to follow his lead. Makes no difference what percantage of the voters voted for him versus Romeny. The political capital is earned as a result of the win, regardless of the size of that win. It is not earned in proportional amounts based on voter preference.
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Why did you endorse berg if heidi will make nd a senator to be proud of?
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Simple little ron….the man that bought up several newspapers in the RRV ruined their moral integrity.
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Ron, just because one person receives an endorsement doesn’t by implication mean that the Herald determined that the other person wouldn’t be someone to be proud of; the Herald endorsement didn’t indicate that Heidi wouldn’t have been someone ND would be proud of, the Herald (Forum Communications) simply preferred Berg. Your comment isn’t logical.
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Nate silver and nurse did not make bold predicitions. They followed what the polls and common sense showed. The polls in the sing states favored obama, minorities and women were showing up in huge numbers during early polling. Everything leading up to the polls closing favored a strong democratic showing.
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My secret is out. Watch more than one news channel and read more than one newspaper. Letting CSPAN drone in the background while vaccuming and doing the dishes is also a plus.
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If a democratic woman can win a nd senate seat A change is happening, our political climate is becoming diverse. Money will no neccisarly buy an election and america cares about what the canidate stands for instead of what their party affiliation is.
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You must believe that because she is a woman not a Democrat. North Dakota’s delegation to Washington DC had been all Democrat for many years up to two years ago. Does not seem like a huge change to me.
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Ignoring ND for a moment, I would refer you to my comments above. I would also ask you check out comments Ralph Reed (hardly a liberal ideologue) made this morning on a panel on CSPAN.
He said what I have been saying for 6 months: if the Republicans cannot find a way to capture 40% of the Hispanic vote they will not be competitive in national elections. This from the God Child of Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and the Moral Majority crowd.
He learned to count.
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“Ain’t nothin’ illegal ’til you git caught.”
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Glen, this year has the largest number of women being elected to national office. That is a change. This year has the largest percentage of minority vote, that is a change. The good old boys club of the republican party needs to wake up. All the offensive comments on ra..p.e abortion and birth control this year is just one example of how the republicans are out of touch with reality. I was offended about 5 times last night when I watched fox news try to explain why the republican party lost. They had racist, sexist, and homophobic comentary followed by americans just can’t get enough of our welfare programs. None of this is true. America is sick of the rich looking out for the rich and that is exactly what berg and romney represent.
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Glen, yes you had earl and company for ahwile but north dakota is a very conservative red state. Look at your presidential electiol history it is very red and you guys have not voted democratic in over 50 years. It speaks well of the canidates before and of heidi that they are moderate enough to win an election in n.d.
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Ron, in one post you assert that the election of Heitkamp represents a sea change in North Dakota politics. In another post you rail on Romney and Berg as being out of touch and representing their self-interests. Your later post is a much better summary than the former; Heitkamp was elected not for her positions but because of the public’s perception of Berg. If North Dakota elected Heitkamp as an endorsement of her policies, the Democratic party would have been more competitive in the house race, would not have lost every statewide election and would have taken control of at least one of the house/senate/governorship. This post isn’t a slam on either Heitkamp or Berg; the public narrowly, but clearly, preferred Heitkamp. However, given the fact that every other Democrat (with the exception of some local candidates) was rather soundly defeated it is a stretch to suggest a significant change has occurred.
In contrast, in Minnesota the Democrats essentially swept the elections on the state and federal level, regaining control of both the house and senate. While there were many reasons for that, including the Republicans ridiculous push to amend the constitution to prohibit same sex marriage and the push to require voter IDs, Minnesota is a much better case study for a rejection of Republican policies. Minnesota overwhelmingly elected Democrats; North Dakota overwhelming elected Republicans and rejected Berg.
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Now watch Minnesota go down the tube. More handouts and more taxes, bigger state government await you.
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Joe, it was a sarcastic comment. Forum communications endorsed berg. This article is written by tom dennis a writer who has political views that differ from his boss.
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I would like to send a request to all the billionaires in this country–if you are looking to throw some more money away I have a bank account ready, willing and able to accept some of that cash.
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Why don’t you go out and work for it yourself, instead of expecting it to be handed to you? You are what is wrong with this country.
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Outrage of the week: Maricopa County Arizona has over 300,000 uncounted early votes. The county election officials did not plan on that many early ballots. There are several extremely close races that might be overturned & concession speeches retracted because the bureaucracy failed AGAIN.
Even Fox News (Fox 10 PHX) is up in arms, even though most of those early ballots are from traditionally Democratic areas.
Maricopa County is being accused of consciously trying to disenfranchise 10% of the voting population in the county.
If the Harald is to be believed, 30% of the votes in ND this go round were early, & by all indications those ballots favored Heidi over Berg.
That is why the GOP has been working so hard to hamper early voting: it tends to break for the other guy.
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Nurse, you nailed it 100 percent on the republican immigration policies and obama care. My first thought when fl was so close was romney lost fl because of his closed borders stance. America wants affordable healthcare and they want the healthcare industry needs an overhaul to play fairly and honestly with america.
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Since the election I have been congratulated for having most of my predictions come true and poo pooed by someone who said I simply watched the polls and could count. Both are absolutely correct.
The ONLY advantage of having such a polarized news media is you know where to turn to get the other guy’s take on things. While MSNBC has been calling this election a mandate to tax the snot out of the 1% (completely untrue), beginning yesterday Fox started running stories and interviewing talking heads about the changes the party had to make in order to become successful again on the national stage.
The biggest issue they all agreed on (which means Rupert Murdock now endorses this position) was comprehensive immigration reform, which by definition means the Dream Act will pass in some shape or form.
The thing that blindsided me (did not even see it coming) was the anger of the big Super Pac donors. $400 million spent and they lost seats in both the House and Senate and did not retake the White House.
In short the 1% did not get what they paid for and they are angry.
If the Supreme Court had been allowed to see into the future and witness these people blathering on about buying an election then not getting what they wanted, I wonder if they would have still declared money protected political speech?
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At least this way, it is obvious that the 1% had it in mind to buy this election. I’m glad they’re complaining. It brings stark relief to the issue. I’m sure some Supreme Court justices are squirming about all of this.
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Nurse, I didn’t poo poo you. I kept it real! I gave you credit for making educated predictions by following all the resources that were given to you. Fox news, msnbc, polls, and voting trends were available to all of the public. Nate silver said it best on the daily show wed night ” he predicted correctly where the polls had a similar margin of error and limited bias. I am not sure what happened in north dakota”.
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I just reread what I wrote and it definitely came out wrong. I loved your comment. You were correct. The information was out there for anyone to see. You simply had to take a map of how the electorate broke last time (2008), and pay attention this time. It takes some work but I am a junkie.
What I did not do was watch TV. We do not have TV in my house, just the internet. The only time I was subjected to political ads was when I was at work.
By not having to watch 10 ads per hour, I was able to maintain my sanity. If I had been forced to watch all the ads I would have put a bullet through the flat screen (I have a TV so I can watch DVD or Netflix on demand. I do not have cable so I do not have any channels, local or otherwise).
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Nurse, I do love the fact that a libertarian voted for a democrat! Who knows maybe we can change you into a bleeding heart liberal.
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The Republicans think I am a bleeding heart liberal because of my social stances. The Democrats think I am a fascist because of my fiscal beliefs.
I do what all good Libertarian’s do: I make both sides angry.
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Nurse, I thought the republicans won because america loves all the “free stuff”.
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Error! Republicans lost because americans are 50 percent of americans are “entitled” and love all the “free stuff”.
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The dvr is a great thing nurse. You can record any show on tv and than watch later and fast forward through the commericals
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She ran a campaign of negative vicious lies and won. She is not my senator.
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I thought they tied on the pre-election rhetoric.
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The only lies I saw were the ones by Berg and the republican party.
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And berg was a saint? Give me a break. Both parties involved used pac money to discredit the other side. Berg did the same thing when he ran for the house. The difference this time is the national implecations of the race brought in more money from outside groups to attack both sides. The problem is heidi had very few demons in her closet.
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If one has ethics and morals doesn’t it really preclude you from having skeletons in the closet?
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The conservative right-wing delusional machine tries to distort facts to align with their ideology, goals and policies. Extreme left-wing ideologues may be in the same boat. At first this extremism appeared to meet the criteria of a mental illness: shared symptoms, common etiology (causes), pathology, shared progression and prognosis. Continued examination of this dis”ease”, leads to the current theory that is now evolving: this may actually be a learning disability. These afflicted individuals cannot tolerate experiencing two or more different theories, beliefs, principles or ideologies at the same time. They are unable to weigh, assess, judge or compare competing ideas without powerful emotional consequences. Invariably, one and only one perspective can be held and all others denied. Attempts to put more than one idea in a balanced perspective results in feelings of “going insane” or “losing control”. They grasp onto one idea, hold on to that idea fiercely and immediately, without careful consideration, refute any proof of an alternative idea at all costs. They will go to any lengths to avoid those feelings of loss of control or loss of sanity.
Mental illness or learning disability? They don’t care. Most refute any science or legitimate data that gives credence to this phenomena. Their only comfort is in the ideology or community that unifies and simplifies their world. Area Voices provides a vehicle to express their views. And express them they will! And so it goes…..
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And so it goes … a group of people who have never met each other but get in touch through Area Voices to shoot the bull … are told off again. Yep … and so it goes …
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“Shoot the bull”? Does that mean what is said here is meaningless?
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Yes … for the most part. It is just a place to visit and talk about current events.
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That doesn’t sound meaningless.
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