Political Quotes

“I want to talk for just a few minutes about Senator Heidi Heitkamp, but first I want to start by talking a little bit about why North Dakota is so important to me. My grandfather and grandmother lived in Argusville, in West Fargo, and moved to the place where I farm in about 1910, so I have always had a kinship with North Dakota. Before I came to this body--even before I got into the State legislature--I always looked at North Dakota with envy because they had two U.S. Senators by the names of Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad. I thought they were incredibly effective people, and when I got to this body, I found out that in fact they were. Byron used to talk about Rosie the Riveter and trade and Kent used to talk about the budget. Then there was this lady by the name of Heidi Heitkamp, who decided to run when Kent hung up his cleats. I remember sitting in caucus as the campaign unfolded in 2012. As a candidate, especially in a tough State like North Dakota is or a tough State like Montana is, you always worry about different issues as they are coming down the pike and how you were going to deal with them and how you were going to message them. Healthcare was a big deal in the 2012 election. I saw one of the ads Heidi had offered up. She didn't step away from the issue. She laid into the issue. That was a sign of what was to come when she got into this body.…”