MINOT, N.D. — We need to stop debating masks. It’s pointless. Local politicians in Minot and Fargo have passed symbolic “mandates” they do not have the authority to enforce – seemingly to satisfy the pique of a cranky old rock star who griped about it on Twitter. The language approved by a 5-2 vote of the Minot City Council literally says masks…
Poll Shows Strong Majorities Want Legacy Fund Invested in North Dakota by North Dakotans
MINOT, N.D. — The Legacy Fund has a problem. The roughly $6 billion pot of money, created from a portion of oil tax revenues by the Legislature in 2009, is almost entirely invested outside of the borders of North Dakota. What’s more, some of those out-of-state investments are morally dubious, including financial backing for the Chinese…
The Politicians Blame Each Other, but Anti-Masking Sentiment Starts With Individuals
MINOT, N.D. — Campaign politics is the art of taking complex problems and boiling them down to simplistic talking points so that they can be blamed on your opponent. Witness Shelley Lenz, the Democratic-NPL gubernatorial candidate, making her opponent, incumbent Republican Doug Burgum, the villain in North Dakota’s October surge in the spread of COVID-19.…
Indignant Lectures From Martinets With Medical Degrees Are Not What We Need Right Now
MINOT, N.D. — “North Dakota’s doctors are fed up,” reports my colleagues Jeremy Turley and Adam Willis. Their story is about doctors ripping Gov. Doug Burgum for not instituting a mask mandate and not deferring to doctors when making policy during the ongoing pandemic. I’ve written before about the deference issue, and the simple answer is…
In Latest Gaffe, Democratic-NPL Fails to Certify Write-in Candidate for Insurance Commissioner
MINOT, N.D. — For the most part, candidates representing the Democratic-NPL don’t do very well in North Dakota because the Democratic party brand is toxic in our state for many excellent reasons. But you really can’t ignore how incompetent the party is when it comes to the basics of running campaigns. The Democratic-NPL’s adventures in…
Will the Election Cure Coronavirus?
MINOT, N.D. — Every day, we hear it. The incessant drumbeat about the coronavirus. New cases. New deaths. New food fights over what we ought to do and what we ought to stop doing. Do you wonder if the tone of all this will change after the election? Continue reading…
Port: Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem Rules That Deceased Candidate Is Somehow Still Eligible for Office
MINOT, N.D. — District 8 has become a political battleground this election season. That was true even before Republican state House candidate Dave Andahl died, tragically, as a Republican faction backed by Governor Doug Burgum and his personal wealth took on sitting Republican incumbent Rep. Jeff Delzer. Andahl and his running mate Dave Nehring defeated…
Plain Talk: Brandt Dick, Challenger for Superintendent, Says North Dakota ‘Going the Wrong Way’ on Test Scores
This episode of Plain Talk was intended to be a conversation with North Dakota’s candidates for superintendent. Sadly, the incumbent, Kirsten Baesler, opted not to participate, claiming she didn’t have enough time to make it work, though she did offer me a one-on-one interview later in the week. Go figure. The challenger, Brandt Dick, did…
Trumpian Obstinance, Backed by Republicans Like Sen. Cramer, Is Making Conservatives Look Silly
MINOT, N.D. — Perhaps Donald Trump’s greatest contribution to the Republican Party’s legacy will be a shift, prompted by his rise to the presidency, from a conservatism defined by a platform of ideas that annoy liberals to simply annoying liberals. With the budget deficit now measured in the trillions, and the bulk of his policies…
District 8 Mess Illustrates the Problems With Early Voting
MINOT, N.D. — I have always been skeptical of early voting. I like voting, on Election Day, in a gymnasium, or a church fellowship hall with my fellow citizens. I like standing in line and eavesdropping on some of the last-minute deliberations friends and siblings and married couples engage in before voting. I like getting…