On Doug Burgum and Conservatism
MINOT, N.D. — Gov. Doug Burgum is a sellout.
A secret liberal.
A camouflaged progressive.
A closeted Democrat who, when he first ran for office in 2016, only affiliated himself with the Republican Party and Donald Trump because that’s the sort of thing you have to do to get elected in North Dakota.
Or maybe he’s exactly the sort of pragmatic, right-of-center policymaker North Dakotans have always preferred. Someone who very much values low government burdens, light-touch regulation, competent administration, and isn’t all that interested in the culture war.
A traditional conservative, in other words, as opposed to the Trump-era iteration of the ideology.
