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.”

…

“‘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.’”

…

“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.”

…

“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.”

…

“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?”

Grand Forks Herald editorial board wonders why if those vying to replace Cramer get it, “Why can’t others?”

(BISMARCK, ND) – This week, the Grand Forks Herald editorial board mourned the death of the 2018 Farm Bill in the House of Representatives. Without using Cramer’s name, the Herald wondered why such a broadly beneficial bill could be derailed by the same type of partisan politics Cramer endorsed before the bill tanked, dismissively saying “it’s what you do in this business.”

Citing instead the firm statements in favor of a strong Farm Bill from the candidates vying for Cramer’s soon-to-be vacated seat, the Herald asks the simple, exasperated question: “These guys seem to get it. Why can’t others?” Hmm, wonder who that question could be aimed at?

Flashback to the last Farm Bill when Cramer was up to his same political tricks – and the Herald blasted him for his efforts to hold the bill hostage which almost derailed its passage entirely. Just like in 2013, the Herald echoed the frustration of North Dakota farmers and ranchers and bemoaned North Dakota’s lack of a leader in the House who can put politics aside to bring about compromise. That lack of leadership led the House’s effort to pass the bill to collapse this month, leaving farmers out to dry.

So, why is Congressman Cramer still failing North Dakota farmers and ranchers? He’s had since 2013 to learn how to play nice with the other side of the aisle for the good of North Dakota’s ag community. But Cramer is still unable or unwilling to put partisan politics aside to get necessary legislation across the finish line.

“Once, again, Kevin Cramer has proven that he’s happy to leave his constituents high and dry if it pleases his party bosses,” said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the North Dakota Dem NPL. “Time and time again, he’s demonstrated to North Dakotans that he’s not capable of reaching across the aisle, compromising, or achieving results. For years, the Farm Bill has stood alone in Congress as a rare example of bipartisanship. Kevin Cramer has stood by and done nothing as partisans on the far right hijacked the bill for their own political gain. North Dakota’s farmers and ranchers won’t forget his inability to deliver on this key piece of legislation.”

Read a quick summary of the Herald’s editorial below:

Grand Forks Herald: Our opinion: Aggies stuck in the middle of bill debate

• It’s frustrating when legislation that’s so important to rural America fails due to issues that have little to do with crop and livestock production.

• It’s difficult to stomach, since the farm bill means so much to the people who rely on agriculture and who have become pawns in a tiresome political game.

• A trade war with China is looming. The price of corn has fallen by half in the past six years. Most commodity prices — including crop and livestock prices — have been moving downward for five consecutive years. The price of steel is rising, which means the price of farm equipment is destined to rise as well. Net farm income is expected to be down 7 percent this year.

• Kelly Armstrong, the Republican, said Congress needs to “make sure supplemental crop insurance is taken care of. … Just because there was a drought last year doesn’t mean there is not going to be a drought again next year. Supplemental crop insurance is the difference between being able to plant your field the year after or going bankrupt.”

• Mac Schneider, the Democrat, said the farm bill debate “is indicative of the larger problems in Washington: partisanship, political polarization, no willingness to work together as parties. … Let’s set ideology aside and find a way to secure a safety net for farmers and ranchers during these times of sustained low prices.”

• These guys seem to get it. Why can’t others?

Washington Republicans derailed the vital bill over unrelated immigration squabble

Cramer refuses to stand up to hardliners in his party, says it’s “not inappropriate” to jeopardize legislation that many hardworking North Dakotans depend on

(BISMARCK, ND) – At one time, collaborating on the Farm Bill served as a rare example of cooperation in Washington, according to a recent editorial reprinted in the Bismarck Tribune. Apparently, those days are long gone, as far-right conservatives in the House of Representatives have steered this year’s Farm Bill way off of the bipartisan course over a wholly unrelated political vote.

North Dakota’s lone representative in the House would normally be expected to serve as an advocate for the legislation, which is widely supported by farmers and ranchers in rural states. But not Kevin Cramer. Cramer, a proud member of an ideological caucus that backs anti-farming legislation, has refused to stand up to the right flank of his party, describing their actions to sink the bill as “not inappropriate.” Opposing bipartisanship is nothing new for Cramer, who has been criticized in the past for politicizing farm bills and is currently feeling the heat for his complaints over the president’s close relationship with Senator Heitkamp.

Meanwhile, Heitkamp is working diligently across the aisle to help craft a strong, bipartisan Farm Bill in the Senate, and has repeatedly expressed her support for cooperation on this critical legislation.

Highlights from the editorial below:

Bismarck Tribune via Lincoln Journal Star: Farm bill’s failure shows partisanship

• Recently, the House’s proposal to replace the current farm bill that expires later this year failed in spectacular fashion.

• What once inspired thoughtful policy debate on the agriculture industry, conservation, food assistance and more has increasingly become a proxy war for unrelated topics. Given the importance of the farm bill, that’s a crying shame. Americans deserve better of their Congress.

• At one time, hashing out the farm bill was among the most bipartisan exercises on Capitol Hill. Why? Because representatives and senators all sought to please key constituencies in their states, with all regions benefiting from ag policy, food stamps, environmental rules and more.

• Instead, this year’s version — which was admittedly flawed — died not on its own merits but largely because a small cadre of immigration hard-liners wanted to trip up an unrelated bill regarding “Dreamers.”

• Some might call that playing politics. But therein lies the problem.

• Politics don’t have to be a zero-sum game. No compelling reason exists as to why Americans can’t enjoy both updated farm policy and much-needed immigration reform, beyond the people elected to the office deciding that scoring political points in an election year was more important than passing laws for those same constituents.

Cramer says Gardner “absolutely” can run again for office, handled the exposure of his Peeping-Tom criminal history in a “gentlemanly way”

 

(BISMARCK, ND) — Kevin Cramer sounds ready to endorse convicted-Peeping Tom Will Gardner for his next run for office after he withdrew from the Secretary of State’s race this week.

This morning, Cramer praised Gardner as “a very good man,” who handled exposure of the criminal history “in a gentlemanly way.” When Gardner was a 29-year-old married father of two, he caught prowling outside freshman women’s dorms in the middle of January at the North Dakota State University – where he served as an employee – with his pants unzipped, shirt undone and belt left on the front see of his car. Gardner described his behavior as “immature.”

Cramer said Gardner’s convicted prowler history, if made public earlier, “wouldn’t have been much of an issue,” and wouldn’t “have been a compelling case” not to vote for him. Cramer even suggested that Gardner may have orchestrated the exposure of his crimes to help his future political career because “Americans like a redemption story.”

“Does Kevin Cramer think that preying on young women makes someone a good man?”said Scott McNeil, Executive Director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. “Not pausing to even think of the victims, Kevin Cramer would rather defend a predator just to make sure Gardner’s actions don’t reflect badly on his own Senate run. How about condemning this absolutely disgusting behavior or speaking up on behalf of women across North Dakota? Kevin Cramer should be setting an example, not acting as a window-peeping apologist.”

Cramer’s quotes show his nonchalant attitude towards Gardner’s acts:

• If, after the fact, as it turns out, it comes out while he’s already while he’s already on the ballot and he’s the endorsed candidate, I suppose I would have told them to handle it just like he did because I thought, I think Will handled it as well as anybody could in a gentlemanly way, did the right thing. But it’s very unfortunate for the party to have been, to be in this situation, to have been put into this situation, and it could have been avoided.

• I’m not so sure Will wouldn’t have still won the Republican endorsement had he done, had he revealed this much, much earlier and explained it to people, and in which case, I think he wouldn’t have much of an issue.

• Sure, the Democrats would make an issue of it, as they should. That’s what the opposition is supposed to do. But I don’t think it would have been a compelling case.

• I think that a little time, you know, is always valuable when you are faced with something like this. […] So but you’re right, there was, in my view, there was no urgency for the party to have had to have this settled immediately.

• [Could Gardner] one day run for a state office again? I absolutely think there is. I absolutely think there is. And I think that maybe that was part of this calculation of how he handled it because I do think, again, North Dakotans, like other Americans, like the redemption story. Will is that. He is by all measure, by anybody who knows him and knows him well, including his wife, a very good man.

Kevin Cramer Only Cares About His Audience of One 

(BISMARCK, ND) – Forget North Dakota farmers, ranchers and manufacturers – Kevin Cramer only cares about his audience of one, and that’s the president. He still can’t muster up support for North Dakota agricultural producers who are concerned about the trade war – he even condescendingly calls their concerns “hysteria.”

But it looks like Cramer is becoming even more isolated in his support for a trade war, as key Trump allies in the Congress voice their concerns. Highlights from two important articles below:

The Hill: Republicans think Trump is losing trade war

• President Trump is facing a significant backlash from Senate Republicans over his trade talks with China, which they see as delivering far less than he promised. Several GOP senators say Trump has wound up on the losing side of the discussions, and his talk of lifting rules barring U.S. companies from selling to the Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE has prompted a revolt.

• “Sadly #China is out-negotiating the administration & winning the trade talks right now,” [Senator Marco Rubio] wrote on Twitter. “They have avoided tariffs & got a #ZTE deal without giving up anything meaningful in return by using N. Korea talks & agriculture issues as leverage.”

• Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said farmers and ranchers he met with on Tuesday are not reassured by Trump’s claim over the weekend via Twitter that “China has agreed to buy massive amounts of additional farm/agricultural products.” “I’ve been meeting with farmers and ranchers all morning. I have not yet heard one who thinks the U.S. has won anything from the Chinese leadership,” he said. “They’re scared to death.”

• Sasse, who ripped Trump’s trade policies earlier this year as the “dumbest possible way” to take on China, said Trump doesn’t appear to have made significant progress addressing two major economic threats facing the United States: China’s ambitions to dominate high-tech industries and its rampant theft of U.S. intellectual property.

• Even Trump’s most loyal allies are expressing frustration. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said he agreed with Rubio’s critique.

• “Is there a plan somewhere?” asked Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Politico: Who’s winning the trade war? Everyone but Trump.

• There may be new winners as President Donald Trump ramps up trade pressures on China: America’s top competitors.

• Brazil could bring millions of new acres of land into production faster with the help of Chinese investments in its roads and railways, a boom for soybean farmers seeking an edge over U.S. farmers. In Europe, Airbus is poised to ramp up production to fill Chinese orders that were originally meant to go to U.S.-based Boeing. Australia, Canada and other countries may be able to export the scrap aluminum and other recyclables the U.S. used to send to China en masse.

• Beijing will continue to pour resources into other countries to diversify its sources for everything from food to consumer goods to meet growing demand. And that worries American manufacturers and growers who stand to lose market share to competitors whose governments are friendlier to global trade.

• Brazil’s push on soybeans is a prime example of the unintended — and irreversible — consequences of a U.S.-China trade war. The U.S. once was the major grower and exporter of soybeans, with China as the major consumer and importer. Now, the South American nation has supplanted the U.S. as the biggest global supplier. Protracted discussions between the U.S. and China are just expected to exacerbate the widening gap.

• Any further losses in market share could have devastating effects on U.S. farmers, who saw 61 percent of their total exports go to China last year, amounting to $14 billion worth of shipments. Farm incomes are already at their lowest point since 2009 and are expected to stay stagnant for the remainder of 2018.

• Economists say that situation could worsen if the threat of tariffs continues through the summer and, as the U.S. harvest nears, Chinese buyers grow even more reluctant to import the commodity only to have a duty imposed while the shipment is out to sea.