ICYMI: Career Opportunist Kevin Cramer
(BISMARCK, ND) – Mike McFeely lays Kevin Cramer’s “political opportunism” to bare and warns that voters don’t want someone who is simply looking to “go from one political job to the next” – something that “should make Cramer nervous.”
- There might be a lesson for Cramer in Pawlenty’s stunning and decisive defeat to grinder Jeff Johnson in last week’s Minnesota primary election: Opportunism isn’t a good political strategy.
- Cramer, by his admission, was a reluctant entrant into the race against incumbent Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, sweet-talked into running by President Donald Trump and billionaire oilman Harold Hamm when Republicans could find no other credible candidates.
- Cramer has yet to cut his own trail, instead preferring to attack Heitkamp and loudly proclaim he’s a willing vessel of Trump. Cramer seems convinced he’ll win because he’s a Trump-worshipping Republican in a state that strongly favors the president. There’s been no talk of whatever Cramer believes he’s accomplished legislatively in the House and no roadmap to what he envisions if elected to the Senate, other than to support Trump’s agenda.
- It looks for all the world like Cramer is running because the pieces were in place to get a better job, even if he wasn’t convinced he wanted it in the first place. Opportunism.
- Cramer has always been the guy to go from one political job to the next, either appointed or elected, so seeking a promotion isn’t unusual for him. The difference this time is that he finds himself in a competitive race and his inability to articulate exactly why he wants the job — other than to back Trump 100 percent — is telling.
- Minnesotans saw Pawlenty’s limp run at governor as opportunism and it was fatal. If North Dakotans see Cramer’s Senate run the same way, it might be just as costly.
Read the full article here.
More on Cramer’s political opportunism:
Politico: “Paying family with campaign funds could dog Cramer in Senate bid.”
KFYR: HEADLINE: Rep. Kevin Cramer’s campaign fund use comes into question
High Plains Reader: “Hamm and his net worth of $19.5 billion became the decision maker for Cramer accepting Hamm as his national finance chairman.
WDAY: “[Cramer] didn’t want to risk losing his seat in the House… It was a call from oil tycoon Harold Hamm, whose net worth is $18 billion, that finally tipped the scales” to him running for U.S. Senate.
Associated Press: As Public Service Commissioner, Cramer was accused of “taking improper campaign contributions from coal mining officials.”
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