FRIDAY SPECIAL: Kevin Cramer’s no good, very bad week
Snubbed by Trump, lashing out at the White House and defending a window peeper – Kevin Cramer is fully unhinged
(BISMARCK, ND) – Kevin Cramer (R-Harold Hamm) had a really, really bad week. From Fargo to Washington, newspaper headlines show just how desperate and bitter Cramer has become in the North Dakota Senate race – lashing out at the White House while defending a GOP candidate arrested and convicted for preying on college freshmen women.
Here’s a roundup of headlines that remind us why the GOP looked high and low for a better candidate than Cramer:
POLITICO: GOP sweats Trump’s Heitkamp flirtation
“…As the president signed a banking deregulation bill into law before a national audience, Heitkamp was right next to him, the only Democrat in the room.
“As the election year kicks into high gear, Republicans have grown increasingly frustrated with Trump’s ongoing flirtation with the freshman senator. At a time when many in the GOP fear that the president’s unpredictable style will undercut their best-laid midterm plans, the relationship has given Heitkamp — who is seeking reelection in a state where Trump won nearly two-thirds of the vote — fodder to portray herself as a presidential ally.”
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“‘We will see footage of this on every platform,’ said Doug Heye, a former top Republican National Committee official. ‘It’s a huge gift for her campaign.’”
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“After Cramer learned last year that Heitkamp would be accompanying the president on Air Force One to North Dakota, he complained bitterly to the White House, according to two people with direct knowledge of the discussions.”
Axios: Republicans worry about Trump-Heitkamp alliance
“Heitkamp is a bit of a unicorn — she’s a Democrat who’s had more than a dozen meetings with President Trump since the election, ridden on Air Force One with him, and was even considered for a cabinet position. And the North Dakota Democratic Party is using her close relationship to POTUS as a selling point to voters.”
NDxPlains: A Pattern Emerges. Cramer “Complained Bitterly to the White House” According to Latest Report
“As we learn more about Congressman Kevin Cramer’s behind the scenes approach to the White House, we get a more clear glimpse to his level of confidence. Last week, it was revealed Cramer called the political director at the White House and begged for more help from President Trump. I shared my take at the time. This morning, Politico reported on the GOP – including Cramer – sweating over Trump’s working relationship with Heitkamp. In it, a pattern emerged.”
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“The constant complaining Cramer has unleashed upon the White House and President Trump demonstrates to me he lacks the confidence in his own accomplishments. Begging others to do more for you rather than pulling up those bootstraps and taking on the work yourself runs against North Dakota values. In politics, it reeks of desperation.”
National Journal: Cramer Upset Trump Likes Heitkamp
“As the election year kicks into high gear, Republicans have grown increasingly frustrated with” President Trump’s “ongoing flirtation with” Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D).
After Rep. Kevin Cramer (R) “learned last year that Heitkamp would be accompanying the president on Air Force One to North Dakota, he complained bitterly to the White House. … Heitkamp, Cramer predicted at the time, would try to use it to her political advantage.”
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“Yet the congressman declined to predict whether the president would go after Heitkamp aggressively, as Trump has done with other Democratic incumbents. … Trump has asked Cramer whether he likes Heitkamp, and when the congressman responds yes, the president seems to be ‘relieved,’ Cramer said.”’
POLITICO: GOP Senate candidate lashes out at Trump’s legislative director
“Rep. Kevin Cramer, one of the GOP’s top Senate recruits, launched an unusual attack on the White House’s legislative director Wednesday, blaming him explicitly for the party’s legislative failures in the Senate.
“The comments from Cramer (R-N.D.) come amid rising GOP angst over President Donald Trump’s close relationship with his opponent in the North Dakota Senate race, Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.”
The Hill: GOP Senate candidate takes shot at top Trump aide
“Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) on Wednesday sought to tamp down Republican concerns about President Trump’s relationship with Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, his general election rival, but took a shot at a top Trump aide in the process.”
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“Despite the White House’s role helping to prod Cramer into the Senate race, Trump has played nice with Heitkamp. He called her onto the stage at a tax event in North Dakota last year and his staff invited her to a bill signing last week at the White House.
“Republicans have quietly expressed concern that the episodes give Heitkamp ammunition for her campaign in a state Trump won overwhelmingly in 2016. Her campaign released an ad this week quoting Senate Republicans praising her.”
Forum: McFeely: Cramer calls window-peeping Gardner ‘a very good man’
“As the father of a teen-aged daughter, I would not define an adult male looking into the windows of college girls with his pants unzipped (do the prudish Republicans grasp what that fact would seem to suggest Gardner was doing?) as “a very good man.” I would define him as a creep.”
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“There seems to be no recognition from Cramer that committing a sex crime that was later pleaded down to disorderly conduct would be a disqualifier from holding public office. There seems to be no recognition of the victims. There seems to be no recognition that Gardner’s crime was immoral and debased.”
Daily Kos: ND congressman leaps to the defense of Republican candidate caught peeping with his pants unzipped
“To this day, Gardner’s account does not match those of the three officers who witnessed his prowling. You’d think that would be enough for North Dakota Republicans to distance themselves, but not United States Congressman Kevin Cramer. No sir! on the “Jarrod Thomas Show” Cramer thought Gardner’s withdrawal from the race for secretary of state was premature and he wishes he would’ve weathered the storm. Furthermore, he called Gardner a “good man” and hopes he runs again. Does a good man, a married 29-year-old with two kids at home go creeping outside the women’s dorm with his pants unzipped?”
