WEEKEND MUST READS: Heidi Heitkamp “is in trouble,” “doing damage control”
- The mean-spirited, thoroughly repugnant crusade against Kavanaugh by Sen. Heidi Heitkamp’s political party has created a backlash which has damaged her re-election campaign.
- Cramer, a Republican, has led in every single poll released to the public since February, but until the Kavanaugh fight began those leads were consistently small.
- Democrats, meanwhile, are doing damage control.
- What we are left with, then, is a Democratic Senate incumbent who, lacking the courage of the convictions expressed in her campaign messaging, has utterly failed to call out her own party for perpetrating a weeks-long travesty on Judge Kavanaugh and his family.
- Now she’s paying for it at the polls, and even voting for Kavanaugh may not be enough to reverse the trend.
Trust The Polls: Heidi Heitkamp Is In Trouble
- Poll of the week: A new Fox News poll gives Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer a 53% to 41% lead over Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in the North Dakota Senate race. The bottom line is that a loss in North Dakota leaves Democrats in a far worse position in the race for control of the Senate.
- Perhaps because of the importance of North Dakota, a number of Democrats have argued that the polling in North Dakota may be wrong. Specifically, people like to point out that Heitkamp won in 2012 even though the public polling showed that she was going to lose.
- Most of the public polling in 2012 painted a picture of a closer race than the polls do now.
- Moreover, it’s not as if there has been a consistent pro-Democratic bias in the polling out of North Dakota.
- Heitkamp’s decision to vote against Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court may help her, though polls suggests the opposite.
- If the polls stay where they are, the forecast will grow worse for Heitkamp and it’s quite likely she will lose. That would likely mean Republicans would continue to hold their majority in the Senate come next year.
- The National Rifle Association is going after Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) after she announced she will vote no in opposition to the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
- “Today, Heidi Heitkamp put partisan politics above the rights of law-abiding North Dakota gun owners. Right now, the U.S. Supreme Court is split 4-4 on the basic right to keep a firearm in the home for self-defense. Therefore, a vote against confirming Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is a vote against the fundamental right to self-defense,” the NRA released in a statement.
- “Today, Heidi Heitkamp announced her intent to vote against the basic right to keep a firearm in your home for self-defense. Make no mistake – that is what’s at stake.”
- Her decision is already impacting her chances for reelection in the state.
Her Final Stand
The country’s most vulnerable Senator, Heidi Heitkamp, just made her final stand against the people of North Dakota, voting NO on Brett Kavanaugh becoming our next Supreme Court Justice.
this is why she voted no
Heidi Heitkamp today voted no on Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, just as President Trump said she would. Heitkamp wants to paint her obstructionist opposition as non-political and courageous, but the opposite is true.
North Dakota voters want for a Senator who won’t side with Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Chuck Schumer over their own interests. They are ready for Kevin Cramer, who will always put North Dakota first.
Heidi Lies “Every Day”
Trump was right
President Trump came to Fargo, ND in June for Kevin Cramer and made this proclamation about Heidi Heitkamp:
“Heidi will vote ‘no’ to any pick we make to the Supreme Court.”
The President was right. Heidi Heitkamp just sided with liberals Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to obstruct President Trump and oppose the exceptionally qualified Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
LET’S BE CLEAR— Heidi Heitkamp just failed North Dakota, and voters know it. This race is now between a candidate who will be a voice for North Dakota and another candidate who politicizes every issue and staunchly opposes President Trump at every turn.
Given that a majority of her constituents want this exemplary nominee confirmed, Heidi Heitkamp is on the wrong side of history, and this will be the last consequential vote of her career.
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Heitkamp is running🏃🏻♀️. literally. from reporters.
Heidi Heitkamp is running scared. From her record, from her critics, from taking a stance on Kavanaugh, and today, from reporters in the Senate basement:
Bloomberg Congressional Reporter
As the Senate gets closer to voting on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the faster Heitkamp seems to get. When Judge Kavanaugh was first announced, she was “practically jogging” from reporters:
Forum Commentator Rob Port:
When her friends on the Judiciary Committee began their obstructionist tactics, she “bolted” from answering CNN about it:
CNN Congressional Correspondent:
And now, she’s literally running.
But no matter what she does, Heidi Heitkamp can’t escape the nightmare scenario President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee has created for her.
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INTERNAL STRUGGLE: Dems Concede Majority of North Dakota
- Their released poll began in mid-September.
- Their released poll only covered three cities (Fargo, West Fargo, Grand Forks)
- Their released poll is only sampled to include 45% of North Dakota’s voting population.
- Their released poll’s self-proclaimed hope is to prove this race is still a “toss-up,” despite how leading election forecasters see it.
‘What a week, huh?’ Heidi, it’s Wednesday
With 34 days left until the election, the most vulnerable Senator in the country just had one of the worst 24 hour periods of her campaign.
- NBC News: The ad … says Heitkamp ‘did nothing’ to defend law enforcement or protect property rights during Dakota Access Pipeline protests in the state in 2016.
- House Majority Leader Al Carlson: My communications when we had any were always with Sen. Hoeven. I did not have any discussion or did their [Heitkamp] office ever reach out … Sen. Hoeven to his credit stepped forward and he was in constant communication with us. We received basically no communication, at least I did not, from the other side of the aisle.
- Buzzfeed: New ad from the North Dakota Republican Party hits Heitkamp over DAPL
- Forum Commentator Rob Port: Make no doubt about it, this is a damaging ad for Heitkamp. No North Dakotan who was living in the state during the protests will believe that Heitkamp behaved like a leader.
- Breitbart News: The state party pointed to a congressional race fundraiser Heitkamp once held for pipeline protest leader Chase Iron Eyes at her D.C. home.
- NTK Network: New Ad Hits Heitkamp For Not Protecting Law Enforcement During Pipeline Protest
- I gave up my career and began working on Kevin’s campaigns in a professional capacity as campaign manager. Recently, Senator Heitkamp’s campaign hit a shameful new low with the release of a television ad specifically targeting me and the fact that I get paid for my work on Kevin’s campaign.
- Clearly, Senator Heitkamp is only supportive of women when it suits her political objectives. Should I not have worked in that role just because I’m Kevin Cramer’s wife? Worse yet, should I have not been paid for my work just because I am his wife? I’m disappointed to think that Sen. Heitkamp would diminish a woman’s role like this and insinuate that it is somehow wrong for a woman, any woman, to be compensated for her work.
- As typical of the ads we’ve seen coming from her campaign, Sen. Heitkamp also went to great lengths to sensationalize her attack by making the amount I was paid seem like a giant one-time payment rather than monthly compensation over several years.
- I firmly believe this escalation in negative rhetoric, demonizing a working professional who just happens to be a woman and drawing our family into the political fray is a shameful development. The people of our state don’t deserve it and my family doesn’t deserve it. We must demand better from Senator Heitkamp.
New Ad: During Dakota Access Pipeline Protests, Heidi Did Nothing
The North Dakota Republican Party released a new ad today that “might be one of the most consequential television ads of the 2018 election cycle,” calling out Heidi Heitkamp for her failure to protect law enforcement and North Dakotans during the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) protests.
As these protests turned violent, radical out-of-state protestors terrorized law enforcement, setting fires and throwing explosives. Republicans like Kevin Cramer who “strongly supported the pipeline” stood with our law enforcement officers and the National Guard as they worked to end this violence, but Heidi Heitkamp did practically nothing to help. We shouldn’t be surprised. Heidi previously hosted a glitzy fundraiser for one of the protest’s leaders, Chase Iron Eyes, in her $1 million DC home.
“Heidi Heitkamp sat on the sidelines as violence escalated, property was destroyed, and the lives of North Dakota law enforcement officers were put in harms way,” said North Dakota Republican Party Communications Director Jake Wilkins. “Heitkamp claims she fights for her state, but when North Dakota needed her most, she was nowhere to be found.”
VO: Violent radicals terrorized our state during the DAPL protests, setting fires, hurling dangerous explosives.
VO: And Heidi Heitkamp? Did nothing.
Gov. Ricketts: They are trespassing on private properties, they’re burning cars, they’re throwing rocks and bottles at law enforcement officers.
VO: Heidi failed condemn the violence, failed to protect property rights, and failed to defend law enforcement.
VO: When we needed her most, Heidi Heitkamp did nothing.
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Good trade news for ND = Bad campaign news for Heidi
President Trump today announced a new trade deal has been reached to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. This trade deal is a win for our economy, as “the U.S. made very significant” victories.
But this news is a loss for Heidi Heitkamp, who has built her campaign on fanning the flames of farmers’ fears. As Rob Port notes in his story below, “It is undeniably bad news for Democrats trying to win elections this cycle. They needed Trump to fail. They needed chaos and uncertainty.”
Heitkamp has spent her campaign undermining the President every step of the way, but despite her efforts, President Trump has yet again succeeded. It’s clear that what is good for North Dakotans is bad for Heidi Heitkamp. In Case Your Missed It…
What Will Democrats Do if It Turns Out Trump Is Right on Trade?
10.1.18
Democrats, particularly “red state” candidates like incumbent Senator Heidi Heitkamp and U.S. House candidate Mac Schneider, have placed a big bet on trade this election cycle. Specifically, they’ve positioned themselves to benefit politically from any news about chaos or failure from the Trump administration’s efforts to negotiate better international trade agreements.
Thus the news this morning that Canada has joined the United States and Mexico in a reformed North American Free Trade Agreement, while welcome to most of us particularly here in North Dakota…
…it is undeniably bad news for Democrats trying to win elections this cycle.
They needed Trump to fail. They needed chaos and uncertainty. That tact has served them well in recent months, given President Trump’s iconoclastic and belligerent approach to negotiations, but it has also put them in the position of losing when Trump’s policies are successful. As they appear to have been in negotiations with Canada and Mexico.
Not only are we on the verge of improved trade relations with our North American neighbors, but pinning down a sort of NAFTA 2.0 gives our nation more clout in negotiations with China.
Those realities, however, are going to be subsumed in a cloud of politics.
Expect our Democratic friends – up to and including Senator Heitkamp and candidate Schneider – to express skepticism about the trade agreement. Because what’s in their interest right now isn’t sound trade policy but winning an election.
Make no doubt about it, though. The NAFTA agreement is a big win for Trump, and a serious rebuttal to those who say Trump’s approach to this policy area has been unserious.
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