(BISMARCK, ND) – Kevin Cramer made his priorities clear when he chose to attend an up to $50,000 fundraiser in Texas rather than discuss important ag issues with North Dakotans at Big Iron today. Tyler Axness has the latest:

NDxPlains: Cramer Dodges Farm Debate for Fundraiser in Texas

• In the midterm election, agriculture has been propelled to the front of our political debate due to policy decisions in Washington. That is the reason the Red River Farm Network (RRFN) invited Kevin Cramer and Heidi Heitkamp to debate in front of North Dakota farmers.
• Heidi Heitkamp accepted the invitation. Kevin Cramer declined. Instead, Cramer was in Texas at a fundraiser for his campaign.
  
• Cramer’s snub of today’s debate is the latest in a growing list. According to people familiar with the debate requests, Cramer has declined one of the two debates with AARP and Prairie Public. He said “no” to a KFGO debate on statewide radio, and turned down a debate on Fox News. He has also rejected another farm-based debate with the Chamber of Commerce Ag Forum in conjunction with ND Soybean Council. It turns out, he has rejected more debates than he has accepted.
• Instead of speaking with farmers and taking their questions, Cramer is in Texas for a high-dollar fundraiser hosted by Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn… The dollar asks ranges from $50,000 to $1,000. It is the second such event for Cramer in Texas this week according to reports.
• Meanwhile, Heitkamp attended the scheduled forum, talked with attendees, and answered the questions they had. [T]he topics on farmers’ minds were about the farm bill, the $12 billion aide, and trade disputes. Three topics Cramer has a relatively weak position, specifically when it comes to trade where he has backed the President’s actions and the farm bill where he is limited in what he can do because he chose not to be on the House Agriculture Committee.
  
• As someone who boasts about accessibility and eagerness to answer tough questions, Cramer sure seems to be dodging opportunities to challenge his opponent head-to-head. What is he afraid of? Why is it that he has turned down at least two farm-focused debates when it is one of the most pressing issues facing our state?
• It appears raising money for more political advertising is given higher priority to Cramer’s campaign than hearing from constituents and giving them a display of his level of understanding about the issues important to them.

Read the full article here.

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(BISMARCK, ND) – Last month, a group of farmers gathered to call on Congressman Cramer to stand up for North Dakota’s interests, rather than blindly standing with the administration on the trade war. Since then, Cramer has missed his self-imposed deadline for when he’d become “concerned” enough to do something and has compared someone wanting him to stand up against tariffs to “shoot[ing himself] in the head” and attacked Senator Heitkamp as “an enemy of our own country” for working to mitigate some of the harm done to our farmers. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

RealClearPolitics: Trade Deal — or Lack of One — Is Key in N.D. Senate Race

• [Farmers in North Dakota] fear that President Trump’s trade battles have created lasting obstacles to their livelihoods.
• In North Dakota, Chinese tariffs on soybeans have thrown a wrench in the finely tuned production line that makes agriculture a profitable pursuit. Farmers are now betting on high-stakes negotiations that don’t appear to be coming to fruition anytime soon.
• [A]s a cash crop in this country [soybeans are] second only to corn – worth $41 billion last year alone, much of it sold overseas.
• In the meantime, the impasse is roiling North Dakota politics. […] If soybean prices remain low, farmers will be left with the choice of dumping their beans below cost or holding their product in the hopes negotiations come to a positive conclusion. Some may not have the room to personally store their goods and will have to pay to hold the crops in grain elevators — if they can eventually find a buyer, given the surplus of soybeans out there.
• “The only way we can carry on with our way of life is trade,” Dotzenrod [a current state senator and candidate for Agriculture Commissioner] told RCP. “And it’s a world market. If we’re saying to the world, ‘We don’t need you,’ [then] we’re not going to be able to carry on.”
• Farmers are concerned that in the meantime China will find a different source of soybeans, namely South America. They fear countries there will profit off the trade war and re-sell U.S. goods to China at a higher rate.
• Farmers say this is just the beginning of the political consequences if the U.S. and China do not reach a deal. Although those who spoke to RCP were reluctant to wade into politics, they all agreed that if the marketplace does not return to what it was prior to the imposition of tariffs – or improve significantly due to changes – the status quo in this dependably Republican state may not hold.

Read the full article here.

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Welcome to Cramer’s Chronicles where, every Friday, we’ll break down the latest and greatest weekly hits about Cramer’s crooked, self-serving, extreme, and gaffe-prone behavior that puts himself and his partisan politics ahead of North Dakotans.

BREAKING: PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES NEW TARIFFS READY IN CRAMER-ENDORSED TRADE WAR. On his way to Fargo for the high-dollar, closed-door fundraiser, the president announced another $267 billion in China tariffs are ‘ready to go.’ That’s bad news for North Dakota – but we’re not counting on Kevin Cramer to take any actions to stop it. That’s because Cramer’s only campaign promise has been to support the president 100 percent of the time – even when it’s bad for North Dakota.

CRAMER TRADE WAR DEADLINE PASSES WITHOUT ACTION. To the surprise of no one in North Dakota, Cramer missed his self-imposed September 1st deadline of when he’d become “concerned” enough to stand against the trade war and break his pledge of supporting the president 100 percent of the time. Instead of offering any real, lasting solutions to mitigate the effects of the trade war, Cramer has doubled down on his reckless support. Since he created his self-imposed deadline, he’s:

• Compared someone wanting him to stand up against tariffs to “shoot[ing himself] in the head”
• Attacked Senator Heitkamp as “an enemy of our own country” for working to mitigate some of the harm done to our farmers
• Said of the trade war: it’s all “playing out the way that I hoped”
• Held a meeting with an administration official charged with implementing the tariffs who blithely told concerned North Dakotans to hang tough
• Agreed with this analogy of the trade war: “You know, you got to crack a few eggs to make an omelet, nobody said it’d be easy”
• Maintained that we needed to stay in the trade war: “Some people are saying we need to get out of this trade war. There’s only one thing to do in a trade war and that is win it”

See how much time has passed since Cramer’s deadline here.

DEM-NPL VOLUNTEERS GATHER FOR DAY OF ACTION. In stark contrast to the Cramer’s high-dollar, closed-door fundraiser with the president, the North Dakota Dem-NPL is providing free hot dogs and snacks for folks volunteering at its Day of Action. With over 300 volunteer shifts scheduled, we’re planning to serve a lot of hot dogs. 🌭 🌭

SELF-SERVING CRAMER. Cramer’s holding another closed-door fundraiser… is he  too scared to campaign in public? He’s got reason to be: between his health care agenda that threatens coverage for many folks in North Dakota, including individuals with a pre-existing condition and his reckless embrace of the administration’s trade war that’s hurting North Dakota’s farmers, manufacturers, and producers, Cramer has a lot to answer for. Just don’t count on getting any answers from him.

CRAMER TRYING TO REWRITE RECORD ON PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS. But, as HuffPost points out, “voters aren’t likely to believe they suddenly care about pre-existing conditions, just because they say they do.” And they won’t forget the 65 times Cramer voted to repeal or undermine the current health care law that could have harmed those with pre-existing conditions by increasing the cost of their insurance, imposed an age tax on North Dakotans ages 50-64, and increased health care costs.

FARM BILL POLITICS. A quick reminder that Kevin Cramer has a history of playing politics and supporting partisan poison pills in the Farm Bill. It led the Williston Herald to call on Cramer to “take a lesson from Hoeven and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp” and the Grand Forks Herald Editorial Board to label Cramer as an “ideologu[e] who value[s] purity above results.”

TWEET INVITE OF THE WEEK. We fixed Kevin Cramer’s invite to show what his fundraiser with the president actually gets him:

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(BISMARCK, ND) – En route to Fargo for a closed-door, ritzy fundraiser for administration lapdog Kevin Cramer, the president announced that his administration threatened tariffs on an additional $267 billion of Chinese goods – this is on top of the tariffs on $200 billion on Chinese goods the administration is preparing to enact in the coming days.

“There’s no question about it – escalating this reckless trade war is bad for North Dakota’s economy,” said Courtney Rice, Press Secretary for the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. “Despite that obvious fact, we don’t expect Kevin Cramer to raise the issue during his time with the president because he is more concerned with raking in high-dollar donations and climbing the political ladder than standing with North Dakota’s farmers and manufacturers on trade issues.”

From the outset, Cramer has fallen in line as one of Washington’s most enthusiastic cheerleaders of the president’s trade war. Out of touch with the economic realities in his home state, Cramer has repeatedly dismissed the concerns of North Dakotans as “hysteria” and suggested that farmers hang tough in the face of “short-term pain.” Meanwhile, soybean prices have dropped as much as 20 percent, steel prices for North Dakota’s manufacturers have gone up as much as 30 percent, and soybean orders from China have stopped.

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(BISMARCK, ND) – When Republicans first considered Congressman Kevin Cramer’s candidacy, they cringed and worked to keep him out of the race. Why didn’t they want him to run? Maybe it was Cramer’s penchant for saying outrageously offensive things. Or maybe it was his sycophantic need to stand with the president 100 percent of the time, even when it’s bad for North Dakota.

“Top Republicans in Washington are privately sending this message to a GOP congressman once viewed as a top recruit in North Dakota: Don’t run.” [CNN, 4/14/17]

“National Republicans are lukewarm on Rep. Kevin Cramer.” [Politico, 7/6/17]

“Republicans were trying to keep [Cramer] out of the race.” [Politico, 2/14/18]

“A Series Of Gaffes” “Convinced The GOP” To Look For Non-Cramer Candidates. [Politico, 1/11/18]

“Last year, [the GOP] wanted to go a different direction.” [ND Explains, 2/13/18]

Republicans Were Fearful Cramer Gaffes Could Hurt Chances Of Taking Seat; GOP Campaign Veteran Said Cramer Had “Akin-Like Tendencies.” [CNN, 4/14/17]

“Top Republicans are pressuring Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) not to launch a 2018 Senate bid against Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, according to a new report.” [The Hill, 4/14/17]

Since Cramer entered the race, he’s continued to prove why Republicans were nervous in the first place:

• HEADLINE: CNN: GOP Senate candidate Kevin Cramer: ‘Nothing inhumane about a chain-link fence’
• HEADLINE: West Fargo Pioneer: GOP Senate hopeful Kevin Cramer sought, received support of extreme anti-gay group, CNN reports
• HEADLINE: PolitiFact: Kevin Cramer distorts record on government shutdown
• HEADLINE: Washington Post: N.D. Republican’s Senate campaign ‘fact-checking’ website promotes false claim on CBO estimates
• HEADLINE: PolitiFact: Kevin Cramer distorts Heidi Heitkamp’s record on banking regulations
• Valley News Live: Cramer’s Ad “Misleading”
• Zaleski, The Forum: Cramer’s Medicare ad’s “premise is false […] He can’t fudge his record, although he is one of the best fudge masters in Washington, D.C.”
• HEADLINE: Forum: McFeely: Cramer’s admission is Hamm-handed

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