Posted on 06/27/2024 10:05:44 AM PDT by Kazan
I haven’t seen anyone asking serious questions about North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. Instead, those in charge of vetting Donald Trump’s potential vice presidential pick seem to be relying on voters’ impressions of an affable Midwest guy. But some North Dakotans who know better can’t stand the thought of Bill Gates’ friend anywhere near the White House.
To be fair, Burgum, a top surrogate for Trump, has a super cool self-made-man story. Chimney sweep, bet the farm and won, worked his way up and became friends with his boss at Microsoft, sold his company for $1.1 billion and stayed on to help things along.
The problem is with the vetting.
It would be nice to have confidence that the vetting went beyond mere Wiki searches and phone calls to people who have been employed by the guy.
He seems folksy. Genuine. He wore jeans to his inauguration and emceed the event himself like a Ted Talk.
Burgum’s Record During Covid
But why doesn’t anyone ask how he really did in his state during Covid? South Dakota and Florida governors’ performances were certainly pored over, but Burgum gets a pass.
He financed and promoted a tracking app for North Dakotans with Covid. One month after the Covid panic hit the state, Burgum announced a partnership with the North Dakota Department of Health and an in-state developer known for creating the Bison Tracker app. He repeatedly pushed the people of his state to use Care19, an app that “more efficiently and effectively” identified people who might have been in contact with others who had tested positive.
I doubt President Trump would be thrilled by these surveillance efforts.
Burgum’s Lack of Endorsement
Burgum has always taken his own path. He’s definitely his own man. He poured copious amounts of dollars into the media in the state, twice crafting his narrative and building his brand, and it worked. When bombarded with his messaging, North Dakotans took a chance on him twice.
Burgum is about to complete his second two-year term and is eligible to run for a final term, but he announced early in the cycle he is not running again as governor.
Interestingly, he was never endorsed at a single North Dakota Republican convention. Few have asked why. He not once but twice completely skipped the regular process of being nominated by his party at the state convention, opting instead to leap right to the primary. This is seen as an affront to Republicans who believe attending a convention is their opportunity to vet their candidates in person. It’s the process as it is meant to be — and one could argue that by going right to the primary, you are signaling that money and advertising are more important than the constituents you serve.
Trump consistently gets over 60 percent of the vote in North Dakota. But, tellingly, Burgum was not chosen as the delegation chair from North Dakota for the Republican National Convention in July. It is longstanding tradition that with convention delegations, the highest-ranking Republican is the individual voted by the delegation to be the delegation chair and the one to have the honor of being the face of “roll call” for your state on television.
State convention voters not only relegated Burgum to alternate status and seating at the convention, but two U.S. senators and the state’s single congressman preceded him on the alternate list. He cannot be elected delegate chair by the delegation if he’s not a delegate.
Yes, a sitting governor and former presidential candidate is not elected as a delegate by his own party to the 2024 national convention — and there is only silence on the matter. This shows that Burgum is more popular with people who know little about him than the grassroots of the party in his home state.
Foreign Influence
One of the most troubling lapses of the vice presidential vetting process is Burgum’s allowing foreign influence in North Dakota.
Burgum was in favor of placing a Chinese-owned wet corn milling plant (Fufeng) just 12 miles away from a sensitive and strategically important North Dakota Air Force base in 2022.
Then he ran for president of the United States. He was all in for the economic development gains for the state until the political winds changed. Then he joined the citizens of Grand Forks and the rest of the state in calling for more vigilance at the local level.
He’s still all-in on the eminent-domain-for-private-gain scheme of piping other states’ carbon dioxide emissions deep into the North Dakota soil. We’re used to pipelines here, but CO2 at 2,183 psi in a 24-inch diameter pipe traveling 2,500 miles — built by a company new to such pipelines — is an asphyxiant of mammoth proportions, to say nothing of private property rights.
Economic opportunities appear to cloud his judgment on security and safety.
There are far more questions that need to be answered.
North Dakotans want people to make their own decisions, but we should do some on-the-ground investigation before jumping on the Burgum bandwagon.
Lori Hinz lives in North Dakota.
I would love to see Rick Santorum as the VP. I think that he would be a great choice. Don’t know if it would guarantee Pennsylvania, though. Nevertheless, still a great choice.
Trump needs no one to win. The only trait his VP needs is to be able to continue Trump policies. People need to think long term… not who’s gonna get me a few $million in campaign contributions or left handed queers votes.
Yup!
I have friends and family in ND. None like Burgum, most dislike Burgum, all love Trump.
I don’t trust hair streak. Once a lib, always a lib.
You realize Gabbard is really no different than former Dem Trump. The align quite well, similar transition, and she's been supportive of him since around 2020. That's as much as one can say for Vance, Burgum and others, definitely longer than Ramaswammy.
She's a lot like the Trump, period -- a patriot that opposes the corruption of the political class, someone principled en enough to leave the Democrat party even though she could have continued to elected as long as she wanted to in Hawaii.
Your goal, however, is promote establishment hacks like Ron DeSantis, who only cares about getting elected and groveled at the feet the GOP establishment and its donors, while proving to be one of the worst campaigners in the history of Presidential politics.
Do you see anyone talking about DeSantis except yourself and a few others still hung up on him?
Trump needs to win, and frankly Idk what Burgum brings to the table, help with battleground states ? no, black vote? no, hispanic vote? no, women’s vote? no, great debate capabilities/loyalty to Trump ? ?? . The only thing I see is that Trump will never pick somone who might upstage him and Burgum fits that role
But Trump wasn’t “out there” left like she was at times.
Trump could change his legal residence to another state if he wanted to pick a Floridian who is currently holding office (and therefore unable to move). But I’m not convinced that any of the Floridians being currently mentioned would be the best choice.
Yes, Donald Trump can still change his state of residence even though he has filed to run for president and has the nomination pending. There are no federal laws or regulations that prevent a presidential candidate from changing their state of residence during the campaign. However, the candidate must meet certain requirements, including:
Meeting State Residency Requirements: Trump would need to establish a new domicile in the state he wishes to move to, which typically involves proving intent to make the new state his primary and permanent home. This can include obtaining a driver’s license, registering to vote, and changing his address on official documents.
Compliance with the 12th Amendment: The 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that the president and vice president not be residents of the same state. If Trump were to change his state of residence, he would need to ensure that it does not conflict with the state residency of his running mate.
Historical precedence shows that presidential candidates and even sitting presidents have changed their state of residence. For instance, Donald Trump himself changed his official residence from New York to Florida in 2019.
In summary, while Trump can legally change his state of residence, he would need to comply with the residency requirements of the new state and ensure it aligns with constitutional provisions related to the presidency.
Take that with a grain of salt as the answers vary if you repeat them, sometimes has made up info, or just rewords the question into an answer.
To nitpick: the Constitution does not forbid the President and Vice President from being residents of the same state. It does forbid electors from voting for two persons who are both residents of their state. So in practice a ticket always has a Presidential candidate and a VP candidate from different states. Dick Cheney was a resident of Texas in 2000 but changed his registration to Wyoming so that the Texas electors could vote for both Bush and himself.
No, but now that you mention it, yes.
He just looks slimy to me. And has greasy looking hair.
That’s a good thought. I always liked him.
Good post.
I have a good friend in ND who says he’s worse than Romney.
Who the hell do you think you're fooling?
Do you support and will you vote for Trump in the upcoming election? If not, you should be zotted off this site.
Get the Trump train on the tracks.
The Republican party either remains a MAGA party going forward or needs to cease to exist.
Why are you still hung up on DeSantis? Do you see anyone discussing him? And before you embarrass yourself further, why don’t you look comments. When is the last time I supported DeSantis over Trump? Do you not see that I support Trump for the past several months? Or, are you simply ranting for whatever has your panties in a twist without thinking.
Are you embarrassed you supported him? You should be.
And, why don't you answer the question I asked: Are you voting for Trump?
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