Plain Talk: We should stop calling one another enemy

Politics in North Dakota are about as divisive these days as they are anywhere else. In our state, the divide in the Republican party is between traditional Republicans and a faction of conservatives, in-step with former President Donald Trump, who feel the state’s Republicans haven’t been conservative enough.

I’ve been writing and talking about this divide a lot, and recently state Rep. Jeff Hoverson, a Republican from Minot and a member of the Bastiat Caucus of lawmakers who align with this faction, asked to come on the podcast to talk it out.

So Hoverson joined my Wednesday co-host Chad Oban and me, and we talked about Hoverson calling people who disagree with him “enemy” and the other things that are dividing us.

I’m not sure we changed anybody’s mind, but it was good conversation.

Also, Oban and I discuss some of the changes the NDGOP is making to their state convention and candidate endorsement process. I wrote about the proposed rule change for the timing of the convention in a recent column, and we talked about that, but we also discussed another potential rule change that would make it harder for candidates to seek the NDGOP’s endorsement. It would even require the candidates to pay the party for the privilege of being considered.

Good idea or bad? I’m not so sure it’s a good move, but click to listen to the discussion.

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