Posted on 12/02/2016 3:02:00 PM PST by Clintonfatigued
President-elect Donald Trump is set to meet Friday with North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a red-state Democrat, which could put Senate Democrats at a further disadvantage if she were to join the Trump administration.
Heitkamp told CNN Thursday she has no inkling of what the meeting may be about, but said she was open to discussing serving in a Trump administration.
News of the meeting set off a panic among top Democrats, some of whom began to privately make the case that Heitkamp should stay in the Senate rather than give up a seat that would likely be a GOP pickup. The incoming chairman of the Senate Democrats' campaign committee told CNN he had spoken with Heitkamp about the issue Thursday.
A transition source said Heitkamp could be a possibility for energy secretary.
"I think it's absolutely critical to have a conversation," Heitkamp said when asked if she would be open to being in the Trump administration. "It's good for my state. It's good for the work that I do here, to understand and share some priorities for the country and for the state of North Dakota and I look forward to having that discussion."
In a statement about the meeting, Heitkamp said she would work with both sides of the aisle -- whatever her role.
"Whatever job I do, I hope to work with the President-elect and all of my colleagues in Congress on both sides of the aisle to best support my state," she said.
While any position is far from a done deal, having Heitkamp in the Cabinet would be a double win for Republicans, and a blow to Democrats.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc-7.com ...
Never had so much fun in my life watching Trump in action.
I don't know which hurts me most
Schadenfreude...or..Winning...or Schadenfreude..or....Winning
so hard ...so sad....so cool it hurts.
WV Dem. governor would appoint a Dem. to replace Manchin.
Man....that’s a tough one.
LOL!
Yeah? Read this:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3500858/posts
She’s just taken herself out for good and from my perspective that’s good for the country. She was a one trip pony who blew smoke up everyone’s a$$!
This is for the Dumbocrats....b/c they took a huge bath.
Because her career options are getting limited. She is a democrat in a red state that is getting redder. She doesn't have much chance of keeping her seat. But a cabinet position looks great on a resume, and after the Trump administration she can enter the private sector more valuable than if she lost re-election. On our side, we get a good person qualified on energy issues and get to fill the seat with a republican. It is a win-win deal.
We’re going to need a longer playlist of feel good songs.
;>)
I’m dying to post my Andrea Bocelli videos.
this is great
She's from North Dakota. North Dakota has been as red as it gets and has been for decades. And yet she's won several statewide elections so I'd say she probably figures she has a better than even chance for reelection.
But a cabinet position looks great on a resume, and after the Trump administration she can enter the private sector more valuable than if she lost re-election.
She's just as marketable as a one term senator as she would be after a year or two in a minor cabinet post.
On our side, we get a good person qualified on energy issues and get to fill the seat with a republican. It is a win-win deal.
She knows the reason why and I doubt she'll fall for it.
I was unaware Palin complained about Carrier when I posted. You are correct. She is toast.
No special election? Ugh. OK, thanks.
Well, some members can make the jump from House to Senate after a single term. Steve Daines did it over in Montana, Tom Cotton in Arkansas is another. At the time, I had no particular reason to believe that Berg couldn’t pull it off. He did knock off Earl Pomeroy, which was no easy feat. Ed Schafer tried in 1990 (against Dorgan in his final House term) and was obliterated by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. That Schafer was able to make a comeback 2 years later and win the Governorship in a landslide was pretty remarkable.
However, some FReepers from both Montana and ND in their ground reports were sending out warnings that both Berg and Congressman Denny Rehberg (challenging Sen. Jon Tester) were not the shoo-ins that some of us thought they would be in 2012, and both ended up losing very winnable races.
Personally, I don’t think fmr. Gov. Schafer showed any interest in either Senate seat. I wish he had taken on either Byron Dorgan back in 1998 or Kent Conrad when Schafer’s 2nd term expired in 2000. That one seat was so important that it would’ve kept ZeroCare from being implemented back in 2009 in the Senate. Schafer was already 64 by 2012, a little on the older side to embark on a Senate career (why he would’ve been better off running at 50 or 52 in ‘98 or ‘00).
I had forgotten that Kevin Cramer had run in 2010 for the House, but he initially lost the nomination at the state convention to Berg (Cramer was perceived more aligned with the fledgling Tea Party while Berg was more establishment, which would be a contributing factor to his loss in ‘12, along with Rehberg in MT). In any event, Cramer won the open House race in 2012 by a 13% margin (far wider than Heitkamp’s 0.9% win over Berg), by 17% over ex-Gov. George Sinner’s son and by over 45+% last month (69%). That kind of a margin guarantees that Heitkamp is unlikely to get reelected over Cramer, indeed, a fluke victory over a weak candidate to begin with. Indeed, being offered a Cabinet post would provide her with a graceful exit.
The rumor may be out of date, though I heard she was being considered for Veterans Affairs Secretary. The presumption Palin would go to Energy has been going on for some time (same with the one that presumed Giuliani would be AG), but Trump is shuffling the deck with unconventional considerations. Personally, I’d like to see Palin at State. The media heads would explode.
Her statewide wins were well in the past (last was in 1996). She lost the race for ND Governor in 2000 and was nearly a second-tier candidate for the Dems in dusting her off a dozen years later. Freshman Rep. Rick Berg wasn’t able to solidify the party base and ran a mediocre race, but he still lost by not even a whole percentage point (in a race where virtually any other known Republican nominee would’ve prevailed). She’s facing a challenge from Rep. Kevin Cramer, who just won a 3rd term with nearly 70% of the vote. In other words, she’s toast in 2018.
Excellent Observations!
Well, the election for the seat is going to happen in 2018 regardless. Presumably getting Manchin out of the seat and a weak Dem appointee (the incoming Governor, Justice, doesn’t have many strong Dems to pick from) would assure the GOP probably picks it up (what I saw, the reelected Rep. Evan Jenkins from the Southern third of the state appears to be the potential leading contender to run). Manchin, if he stays and remains a Dem, is going to be tough to beat, even with the now heavy GOP lean of the state (where Zero in 2012 and Hillary in 2016 failed to win a single county).
WV has a Rat governor, who would replace Manchin with another Rat. Manchin seat is not up until I think 2018.
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