Category: Heidi Heitkamp

Hey everyone–

Heidi Heitkamp has spent every day of the campaign running from her own record, hoping North Dakotans won’t pay close attention to the way she’s voted in Washington. National Reviewjust released an in-depth look at why.

Heitkamp is a liberal Democrat who is out of touch with her constituents, and her voting record proves it. Heitkamp has voted against:

•     tax cuts
•     border fencing
•     defunding sanctuary cities
•     a 20-week abortion ban
•     repealing and replacing Obamacare
•     several of President Trump’s judicial nominees

President Trump said it best: “You need a senator who doesn’t just talk like they’re from North Dakota, but votes like they’re from North Dakota.”

Check out the full piece HERE.

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Hey everyone–

Heidi Heitkamp spent this weekend walking back her frequent, over-the-topic rhetoric on trade.

— First, Heitkamp’s Senate office was forced to delete a tweet that claimed “A study shows that corn, soybean and wheat farmers across the U.S. have already lost $13 billion because of the administration’s trade war.” Unfortunately for Heitkamp, no such study exists, and those numbers are wrong.

— Meanwhile, Heitkamp herself toldthe Editorial Board of The Jamestown Sun the Administration’s $12 billion trade assistance package was “necessary and appropriate for farmers,” a complete change from when she criticizedthe plan and introducedcompeting legislation of her own.

REMINDER: Heidi Heitkamp is playing politics with North Dakota’s farmers to try to save her failing campaign. As Rob Port previously reported, “What is political advantageous for her [Heitkamp] is for farmers to bleed. She needs them to feel pain, or at least think they’re going to feel pain, so she can capitalize on it politically.”

In case you missed it…

The Truth Is Inconvenient for Senator Heitkamp’s Political Strategy

Rob Port | Say Anything Blog

8.13.18

Last month I noted that Senator Heidi Heitkamp has put herself in a political position where she needs her constituents to feel pain. The self-styled “independent” voted with the rest of the national Democratic party against the Trump tax cuts. She has positioned herself in opposition to Trump’s efforts on trade. Heitkamps needs North Dakotans to bleeding thanks to these policies – or to at least feel like they’re bleeding – in order to demonstrate the efficacy of her decisions.

Which brings us to a Washington Postfact checkpublished today which prompted Senator Heitkamp’s team to delete a tweet about crop prices.

“A study shows that corn, soybean and wheat farmers across the U.S. have already lost $13 billion because of the administration’s trade war,” a now-deleted tweet from the Senator read. “We need trade policies that make sense for North Dakota, protect farmers and ranchers, and open up markets.”

The Postnotes that the “study” referenced in the tweet, which was deleted after the paper made inquiries about it, wasn’t a study at all. It was actually a claim made in an op/ed by the National Farmer’s Union, a Democrat-aligned agriculture group, which in turn had cribbed it from a Wall Street Journalarticle:

When the Fact Checker asked to see the study, Heitkamp’s office pointed us to an op-ed from the National Farmers Unionthat was referenced in a New York Timesarticle. But the National Farmers Union said the calculation was not its work. Instead, it said, it obtained the factoid from a quote in an article in the Wall Street Journal.

It turns out the $13 billion in losses is based on a calculation using projected crop production numbers and prices from the futures market. Only, the markets are volatile. As the Postnotes, the prices go up and down. “The volatility is particularly clear when you fast-forward to Aug. 8. On that day, Hurt pegged a $9 billion decline in corn, soybean and wheat crops. In other words, the situation had improved almost 40 percent in just two weeks,” they report.

“Heitkamp’s office deletedher tweet after our inquiries,” the Postreports, and they give the Senator some credit for that, though not as much credit as they would have if she’d had the integrity to post a corrective tweet. “It’s good that she deleted her tweet, but she would have more credibility if she had deleted it with an acknowledgement of her error,” the Postwrites.

Heitkamp’s tweet says there has “already” been $13 billion in losses thanks to Trump’s trade policies, but that’s not really true. Any losses which may or may not occur will happen when farmers pick a price point at which to sell their crops. What’s more, many farmers lock in prices ahead of time, meaning the volatility in prices now has no impact on them at all.

But Heitkamp can’t afford to acknowledge the error. The truth, in this situation, is not convenient for her re-election strategy.

By the way, the Postarticle makes another interesting point. They point out that crop prices are coming down off some booming highs. We saw a rise in crop prices through a peak in 2016. Those high prices combined with generally favorable growing conditions has resulted in a sharp rise in production. Which, in turn, has driven prices back down in accordance with the laws of supply and demand.

It’s politically convenient right now for politicians like Heitkamp to make it seem like crop prices hinge on just one variable – in this instance trade policies they oppose – but the truth is much more complicated.

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In the article below, Rob Port details the recent acts of desperation by Heidi Heitkamp, including her most recent immigration flip-flop and the excuses she’s already making for losing this election.

It’s no surprise her campaign is in full-panic mode. If I had nothing more than Heitkamp’s liberal, out-of-touch record and excuses the voters aren’t buying, I’d be panicked too.

In case you missed it…

It Kinda Seems Like the Heitkamp Campaign Is Panicking

Rob Port | Say Anything Blog

8.10.18

A couple of things have happened which make me think that Senator Heidi Heitkamp’s campaign is in full-on panic mode.

For one thing the Democratic Senator gave an exclusive interviewto Breitbart– yes, that Breitbart, a news outlet derided by Heitkamp’s political base as a digital den for white nationalists – in which she touted her supposedly long-time support for a border wall.

“I’ve always supported increased and enhanced border security along our southwest border with Mexico – including physical barriers, sensors, drones, and more resources at our ports of entry – and yes, wall funding as well. My votes clearly reflect a commitment to robust border security funding,” Heitkamp said.

I’m not sure that squares with the Senator’s voting record. “I just wish we could get beyond it,” she said of the border wall issue last year. She voted against a border fence in 2013. She voted against cracking down on sanctuary cities in 2015, 2016, and 2018.

This year she also voted for legislation which would have provided permanent residence for illegal immigrants without funding a border wall.

But it’s not just that Heitkamp, despite the aforementioned voting record, is suddenly pitching herself as a border hawk to an “alt-right” website (to use the parlance of the Senator’s political base). She’s also playing the Russia card:

Heitkamp, responding to a question during a meeting with The Forum Editorial Board, said she believes the Russians could try to intercede on Cramer’s behalf in the race.

“I would be a fool if I didn’t think that was true,” Heitkamp said.

To be fair to Heitkamp she was responding to a question from theFargo Forumeditorial board, who in turn was working off a batty columnby left wing commentator Lloyd Omdahl, but if I had to guess I’d say the editorial board was probably surprised that Heitkamp took a bite at that particular apple.

Cramer, for his part, laughed it off. “It sounds like a really pathetic excuse for poor performance in the election in advance,” he said.

That’s what I thought too when I read the initial story about Heitkamp’s comments (which, at the time, didn’t yet include Cramer’s response).

Is Heitkamp laying the ground work to excuse what would be a devastating loss on the statewide ballot for North Dakota Democrats this cycle?

It kinda seems like it. Blaming the Russians would mean Democrats wouldn’t have to acknowledge that they stand for things most voters here just don’t want.

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Hey everyone–

Heidi Heitkamp is again siding with her fellow, out-of-touch liberals to obstruct President Trump and his nominees. As The Hillreports, Heitkamp is “joining forces with Warren and other liberal colleagues” to oppose Kathy Kraninger’s nomination to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

You can add Kraninger to a growing list of Trump appointees that Heidi Heitkamp has worked to block. Since President Trump was elected, Heitkamp has opposed 1 in 5 cabinet appointments and judicial nominees, though she voted for President Obama’s judges 97% of the time.

“Heidi Heitkamp has once again joined her out-of-touch, obstructionist allies to oppose one of President Trump’s qualified nominees,” said North Dakota Republican Party spokesman Jake Wilkins. “North Dakotans are ready to put an end to Heitkamp’s long history of resistance and obstruction in November.”

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Hey everyone–

National pro-life and conservative leaders met in Fargo yesterday to urge Heidi Heitkamp to vote yes on Judge Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination.

This event comes just two days after socialists gathered outside Heidi Heitkamp’s campaign office to urge her to vote no on President Trump’s nominee.

REMINDER:

• Over 60% of North Dakotans want Judge Kavanaugh confirmed.
• The rest of the North Dakota Congressional delegation supports Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination.
• Sen. Heitkamp is facing significant pressure from both sides on which way to vote.
• It’s taking 37 days for Sen. Heitkamp to meet with Judge Kavanaugh, the longest she’s ever waited to meet with a SCOTUS nominee.
• Democrat party boss Chuck Schumer issued Heitkamp and other red-state Dems these orders: “Don’t commit. Stay as neutral as you can, as long as you can.”

Given that she greatly delayed her meeting and has refused to engage those on either side of this issue, it’s clear the only voice Hiding Heidi is willing to listen to Chuck Schumer’s.