North Dakota Democrat rejects the Trump resistance: "I think that's a waste of my time"

[DonViejo]

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 2017 04:58 AM EDT

North Dakota Democrat rejects the Trump resistance: “I think that’s a waste of my time”

Heidi Heitkamp, one of the must vulnerable Democrats in the Senate, complains that fighting Trump is not persuasive

MATTHEW SHEFFIELD

In a Monday meeting with a state business group, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a North Dakota Democrat, said that the staunch “Resistance” position many of her party members are taking toward President Donald Trump is “a waste of my time.”

“The thing is that there are two things that are happening that are really challenging us,” Heitkamp told the North Dakota Chamber of Commerce, according to a video that was posted of the proceedings.

“One is the resist movement. Which is nothing. Just resist, right? Don’t do anything, just resist,” she said.

According to Heitkamp, merely resisting Trump is not a way to achieve good public policy. “I think that’s a waste of my time, if all I’m there for is to resist,” Heitkamp said. “That’s not persuasive.”

While Heitkamp has said she opposes to Trump’s current health care plan, she has also voted to confirm his picks to head up the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior. She also joined the GOP in voting for a repeal of an Obama-era regulation on coal mine pollution into streams and rivers.

more
http://www.salon.com/2017/05/24/north-dakota-democrat-rejects-the-trump-resistance-i-think-that-is-a-waste-of-my-time/

[Sculpin Beauregard]

1. She's really a DINO then, isn't she? As if 'just resisting' is doing nothing. F her!

[jalan48]

2. She will pull a Lieberman as soon as the Party moves to the left. Good riddance Heidi.

[dalton99a]

4. Yep.

[Doreen]

3. Well, she shows us that not all Democrats are good.

She is the type I see flipping.

[oasis]

5. Heidi's take: "'RESIST' is just a word Dems say when things are being said".

She prefers the "OSTRICH" approach to Trump's administration.

[benld74]

6. Invoking SNL routine here between Akroyd ane Curtain

Heidi, you ignorant,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[gratuitous]

7. I tend to agree

Resistance - by itself - isn't sufficient. Is Sen. Heitkamp out there with Sen. Warren, Sen. Merkley, Sen. Sanders, and others in coming up with counterproposals, and supporting the Democratic platform? Because I will say that her Senate career can be measured in a very short term if all she is offering as a Senator is Republican lite. Faced with a choice of that or a real Republican, North Dakotans will probably select the Republican. If you're going to lose, you might as well lose as a Democrat, Sen. Heitkamp.

[NurseJackie]

15. Does this mean you'd prefer to see a Republican senator, rathar than an imperfect Democrat?

[gratuitous]

22. I'm saying that Heitkamp is following a recipe for failure

She is presenting herself as a Democrat who will betray the party's platform and subvert the party's resistance to the Trump administration's ill-considered programs. In 2018, North Dakotans will consider whether to re-elect Heitkamp for another six years or replace her with a Republican. I predict they'll choose the real deal Republican for the Senate. Heitkamp was elected as a Democrat; she should act like one.

EDITED TO ADD: While I agree with Heitkamp that resistance by itself is not a path to good governance, it's about the only weapon the Democrats have to work with right now, being out of the White House and in the minority of both houses of Congress. Certainly the Republicans didn’t suffer with the electorate from 2009 to 2017 for doing little except saying “no” to governing responsibly.

[zipplewrath]

26. Out come will be the same either way

Roughly the interpretation is that, using her current approach, one will end up with a Republican senator whether wanted or not. The only possible hope of any other outcome is to be vastly more democratic. The odds are better that she'll win if she stakes out a uniquely different position than her ultimate opponent, not showing how little difference there is.

[NurseJackie]

27. LOL

[inwiththenew]

8. The Republicans had a decent amount of success with that strategy during the Obama

Presidency. They threw up every roadblock they could. Ended up getting Supreme Court pick they shouldn't have. Turnabout is fair play right?

[uponit7771]

9. Does she think she's going to win over Trumpsters?

[geek tragedy]

11. She has to win about 20% of Trump voters to

get re-elected.

[geek tragedy]

10. Trump beat Hillary 2-1 in NoDak.

do people want her to lose to Kevin Cramer?

[HughBeaumont]

12. If all you are doing is kowtowing to Neo-Fascism out of political expediency . . .

. . . that makes you an accessory. In other words, less than useless.

[NurseJackie]

18. Would you feel the same way if she was the 51st Dem in the senate? That's not "useless" is it?

[HughBeaumont]

24. Counterfactual Fallacy.

If Ifs, Ands or Buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas.

Two Senate "Dems" are the reason we don't have multi-payer.

One of those Senate "Dems" is one of the top three reasons Gore lost 2000.

[NurseJackie]

25. LOL!

Hooray for purity and perfection!

All or nothing!

Pride before pragmatism!

Excerpt ------------------
Two Senate "Dems" are the reason we don't have multi-payer.
------------------
Without a majority we'd have had even LESS. But hey... purity and all that.

[dembotoz]

13. have not walked a mile in her shoes

as a dem she already has a target on her back.
lord knows it takes guts to be a dem in north dakota

perhaps she is our best option in that state

[mvd]

14. Chamber of Commerce? No wonder she doesn't want to resist

I'd be for a primary challenger if there is a viable one like in West Virginia. The resistance will go on without her.

[NurseJackie]

17. What if she was the 51st Dem in the senate? Would you still want to kick her to the curb?

[RhodeIslandOne]

16. Heidi is a fucking disgrace n/m

[mvd]

20. Even worse going to business and complaining about the resistance

IMO

[Cha]

19. Heidi sounds like a big "waste of time".

Glad she's opposed to his vile non health care plan.. that's big of her.

[mvd]

21. Hi Cha

We respresent different tactics sometimes but we both want Trump resistance big time.

[turbinetree]

23. Standing Rock Human Beings still need to drink water.....and we were the FIRST to RESIST.........

She also joined the GOP in voting for a repeal of an Obama-era regulation on coal mine pollution into streams and rivers.

And we have not forgotten.................ever, and "we" are the resistance forever, defending our Mother Earth, and our scared lands, and it is not a waste of time.................it is life

(Old Petition, that this person got, and did nothing, she did nothing)

http://pac.petitions.moveon.org/sign/senator-heidi-heitkamp


http://standingrock.org/

[JDC]

28. I'll bet she's in for a Primary challenge next go around