ND Democrats need to put up a Governor candidate

Also: newsflash the media hates Sanders more than Cruz

The state party conventions are coming up at the end of the month in North Dakota for the Democrat and Republican parties in the state and as of this point, the Democrats have no announced candidates for statewide races including Governor.

There are rumors the Democrats may not put anyone up for Governor in part because Doug Burgum is running, someone who is not as conservative as other Republican candidates and would presumably take some votes away from any Democrat candidate. That would be unfortunate. There is no question, it would be an uphill battle but it is a sad state of affairs if the Democrats in North Dakota cannot put a competitive candidate on the statewide ballot in 2016.

A friend of mine said to me recently one of the reasons he campaigned for Heidi Heitkamp for Senate was the hope that if she won, it would make Democrats more competitive in statewide races which the Republicans have dominated for years. Of course it was a blow when Heitkamp declined to run for Governor but she is not the only Democrat in the state.

There are some fresh faces in the party who may be a force to reckon with in the future, people like Mac Schneider, Kylie Oversen and others. And for someone to run for the first time on a statewide ballot, it can be daunting to face someone with the name recognition of Wayne Stenehjem. In the past, Democrats have put up what could be considered sacrificial lambs to take on tough incumbent candidates like John Hoeven, Jack Dalrymple and others. But the party should be beyond that by now. There are some areas where Republicans are vulnerable and they should take advantage of that. Our state’s economy is not where it was two years ago. The oil boom is over and it’s time to look to the future.

Doug Burgum’s candidacy may have scared some candidates off for good reason (he shares some positions with Democrats) but as we’ve seen with recent polling, he faces a challenge with name recognition outside of Fargo as well. And there’s no question that the western part of the state doesn’t exactly welcome with open arms, candidates from the big city of Fargo telling them what the state needs to do next. Maybe Democrats could put up someone more well-known statewide than Burgum.

So with a few weeks to the convention, it is my hope that the rumors of Democrats not putting anyone up for the Governor’s race are untrue. I hope they will put competitive candidates for all races. If they want to be a party that is relevant in the state in the future, this is a pretty simple way to do it. If they are unable to find candidates to run, maybe it’s time to find new leaders in the party who are capable of finding competitive candidates to run.

Media downplaying Bernie gains while touting Cruz's?

Finally, it has become very clear the media wants Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic nomination for President and Donald Trump to lose the Republican nomination. Every time Ted Cruz wins a state, the headlines become Cruz gains on Trump and when Bernie Sanders wins, it gets reiterated how much of a longshot he is to win the nomination even though he is not that far behind Clinton in delegates and there is many races left in the Democrat nomination race.

Sanders just had a huge upset coming back from 20 points behind to defeat Clinton in Michigan. Momentum appears to be on his side. But you wouldn’t have gathered that from the media leading into the Michigan primary. Hopefully they reflect it now, but I am not holding my breath. It shouldn’t be surprising that the media establishment favors Clinton over Sanders. Bernie supporters need to not mention it with every breath. But it is something he has to overcome and this is one of part of the challenges. But it’s not over and if Ted Cruz is gaining on Donald Trump well certainly so is Bernie by winning states the Democrats actually be competitive in November not southern states which will be easy Republican territory.