U.S. Congressman Kevin Cramer is on the brink of throwing his hat in the ring for a run at U.S. Senate against Democratic incumbent Heidi Heitkamp. This is something we’ve anticipated here on The Minuteman.
In early November, we dropped an article about President Trump wanting Cramer to take on Heitkamp. Cramer has since met with Trump , where the President offered his support and encouragement– leaving North Dakota’s only U.S. Congressman to say he’d give it about a month to decide.
Currently, only State Senator Tom Campbell (R – District 19) has announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate. He’s been campaigning for what seems like forever now.
But word is that when Cramer jumps in, Campbell will simply switch his campaign to the House side in an attempt to take Cramer’s place there. It’s a logical move considering the likelihood of Campbell beating Cramer for the Republican nomination is slim to none. Besides, Campbell can easily switch his campaign at little or no cost– something I pointed out at the end of November .
Aside from the difficulty of Campbell taking on a sitting U.S. Congressman like Kevin Cramer in securing the Republican nomination, the feeling in political circles is that he doesn’t have what it takes to beat Heitkamp in a General Election. We first discussed that way back in August .
What’s perceived as Campbell’s weakness in a matchup versus Heitkamp just so happens to be Cramer’s strength. There’s no question he can go toe to toe with her on the campaign trail. Like him or hate him, Cramer isn’t scared of anyone.
And while the Heitkamp campaign allegedly isn’t scared of Campbell’s candidacy, recent developments seem to indicate maybe North Dakota Democrats are indeed fearful of Kevin Cramer’s. Recent reports show that the state’s dying breed called for an ethics investigation yesterday into a recent Tweet from the Republican Congressman:
According to the Bismarck Tribune:
“Cramer’s Dec. 30 tweet was in response to Forum Communications Co. columnist and radio host Mike McFeely, who said he’d ‘like to see Cramer’s and Heitkamp’s internal polling,’ tagging each politician’s official account.
“‘It would break your heart to see our polling,’ Cramer said in response.
“Scott McNeil, the executive director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL, said Cramer’s official Twitter account is subject to the same rules that prohibit congressional members’ websites from including campaign information.”
McNeil really took a leap when he wrote:
“By using official House resources for political purposes, especially to promote his presumed candidacy for the United States Senate, Representative Cramer is undermining the credibility and dignity of the House.”
What a laughable statement.
First of all, what “official House resources” did Cramer use? Second, how did the Tweet “promote his presumed candidacy”? And third, how does it undermine “the credibility and dignity of the House”? Twitter is a free service. Cramer’s Tweet was nothing more than a single sentence response to a Democratic talk show host that revealed no specific information.
For some time now, Democrats send what Congressman Kevin Cramer refers to as “Democratic Trackers”. They follow Cramer and even video him speaking at events. So, after all that, is this really the best Democrats have to offer against him? Because, at the moment, it comes across exactly as Cramer himself says it does– “petty”. In fact, it borders on grasping at straws or an act of desperation.
The Democrats had better get their campaign in order. They’d better find issues that ring true to North Dakotan’s. Because failure to do so will be to their own detriment. The majority of the electorate will not take kindly to childish tactics like calling for an ethics investigation over a non-issue like Cramer’s Tweet.
The Democrats are in trouble, and they know it. The one person remaining that can beat Heitkamp is about ready to enter the race. And the result just may be that Heitkamp is left with the same status as her state party– irrelevant.
Sources:
1. https://theminutemanblog.com/single-post/2017/11/03/Move-Over-Tom-Campbell-Trump-Wants-Cramer-to-Run-for-Senate
2. http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/367197-gop-rep-cramer-trending-towards-nd-senate-run
3. https://theminutemanblog.com/single-post/2017/11/28/Tom-Campbell-Odd-Man-Out-in-US-Senate-House-Races
4. https://theminutemanblog.com/single-post/2017/08/28/Is-Tom-Campbell-the-Right-Republican-Candidate-for-US-Senate
5. http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/dems-ask-for-ethics-investigation-into-cramer-tweet/article_136db725-b6a9-5e5d-bb40-fc48641c9d20.html
