With Iowa and New Hampshire out of the way, the big primary now looms. The media horde must be pointed in one direction.
North Dakota.
“It’s our first experience with a real primary,” Rep. Earl Pomeroy said of the March 2 presidential primary. “The one we had tried before was in June, after California, and was non-binding. Nobody paid a lick of attention.”
“So we decided to combine ours with South Dakota’s and get candidates to focus on the needs of the Great Plains states and get some attention.”
North Dakota?
Not knowing a lick about the place, it seemed practical to contact Pomeroy, an amiable two-term Democrat who has a distinctly Alfred E. Newman “What, Me Worry?” look and is the only House member from his state (population: 640,000).
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Just think: Reps. Cardiss Collins, Bobby Rush or Michael Flanagan probably can take the Chicago Transit Authority all around their big city districts. Pomeroy’s task is tougher: His district, namely the state, is 70,665 square miles.
“OK,” he said. “We’re the No. 1 producer of wheat, sun flowers and barley. The largest city is Fargo. The capital is Bismarck.”
“Our legislature meets for three months every other year. I thought that wasn’t enough until I was a state official (the insurance commissioner). We also elect more state officials than any other state. It’s a strong populist strain. We didn’t trust the governor.”
It’s got the only state-owned bank, the Bank of North Dakota, which was inspired by the Non-Partisan League, a progressive third party that took control of government in 1919. Pomeroy, who is the son of a food retailer and went to law school, got his student loan through the bank (he’s now got his money in the federal credit union).
Over half the economy is tied to agriculture. But farms continue to consolidate because “people on the land for generations are leaving, and small towns and retail centers that were vibrant, when the average farm was 500 acres, now struggle as the average farm is 1,400 acres.”
There are four TV markets–Minot, Grand Forks, Bismarck and Fargo–and the biggest paper is the Fargo Forum, though “nobody covers me here,” other than an Associated Press regional reporter who “sometimes calls.”
“Let’s see. We rank 50th in violent crime, 50th in incarceration rates per 1,000 and near the highest high school graduation rate. Our state flower is the wild rose, the meadowlark is the state bird, though it’s a bit early to hear that.
“We don’t have any major-league sports teams and, generally, the market we look to is Minneapolis, so we suffer heartache with the Vikings, Timberwolves and Twins. But we do have minor league baseball, with the Bismarck Rattlers and the Minot Mallards.”
There’ll be more: “Fargo is building a Roger Maris Stadium–he was a native–and will have a team there, the Fargo Red Hawks.”
The state’s politics are, for sure, notable, especially given the rich tradition of ticket splitting.
These days, there’s a Republican governor and GOP-dominated legislature, but its congressional delegation is Democratic: Pomeroy and U.S. Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan (Conrad managed Dorgan’s first congressional campaign, back in 1974, and Pomeroy served as driver).
Then, there’s this: “The largest university is the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks. . . . Grads include Phil Jackson, coach of the Bulls, whom I saw play for the Fighting Sioux. He’s a local boy made good but hasn’t run away from his roots.”
Fighting Sioux. Hmmm. Might be verging on political incorrectness.
“A change has been considered but rejected,” said Pomeroy, a Chicago White Sox fan who planned to leave politics and split to the Peace Corps with his wife in 1992 when the House seat unexpectedly became vacant and he was prodded to run.
Pomeroy, 43, who was an industry critic as insurance commissioner, has gained a reputation for candor and integrity, willing to take politically unpopular “tough” votes, given his constituency, such as supporting gun control. Longer than most Democrats, he’s felt the party had to come up with an alternative budget, rather than wait for Speaker Newt Gingrich and the Republicans to politically hang themselves.
He’s backed many reforms and spending cuts, but protected agricultural interests back home by opposing NAFTA and deriding the Canadian Free Trade Agreement as a threat to the state’s wheat growers.
Now, as far as vacation spots, I’m not sure you should ditch those Hawaii plans just yet.
“Well, there’s General Custer’s house in Mandan, the fort where he was based and from whence he left on his ill-fated rendezvous with Sitting Bull” in Montana. “He was doing fine when he left North Dakota.”
The capital has been an adjustment for Pomeroy, his wife and a child they adopted. “I’ve had my car broken into three times. There are just too many people out here. I prefer the vast expanse of prairies.”
Please, voters of North Dakota, get the guy The Club.
Gridiron gallivanting
If Pomeroy likes to get away, maybe he should join the Gridiron Club.
The Gridiron is the Victorian bastion of establishment journalism, confined to 60 active print journalist members, and best known for a white tie and tails dinner in March at which the political, corporate and media elites mingle.
But it may not be enough.
“President Nelson and your officers hope we are not imposing dinner overload,” reads the letter to members, referring to Jack Nelson, a Los Angeles Times reporter and former longtime bureau chief.
“But it would greatly assist our planning purposes if you would please take your mind off the March dinner for a moment and think ahead to the December dinner.”
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That dinner is usually held in Washington. But now the Gridiron boys and girls, many of whom were presumably once ill-paid, ink-stained wretches, content with a burger and beer after work, plan to split for a nifty weekend: to the fabled Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., where they’ll be treated just like the propertied class.
“The Greenbrier is an elegant get-away that offers gracious dining, really good shopping, a glorious decor and winter activities that include an indoor pool, massages, exercise classes, billiards, bowling, indoor tennis courts, golf, and horseback riding,” informs the letter.
“A special train car could be reserved for us if there is interest,” it states. Even better: “We calculate the cost at very little more than in 1994 because the Greenbrier has welcomed us back with open arms and is making every effort to give us a bargain.”
So newsies who sometimes snare pols for special breaks can split to the resort for $676 a couple, which brings two nights, Friday dinner, Saturday and Sunday breakfast and “free use of the tennis courts, golf course, sleigh or carriage rides, horseback riding and most sporting facilities. This is in addition to a lavish cocktail reception and formal dinner Saturday night.”
If there were doubts, “You could not come close to this price if you simply went to the Greenbrier on your own.” For sure, the regular nightly room rate that weekend is $382 and, for example, horseback riding $37 an hour and tennis $32 for an hour of singles.
Oh, the Greenbrier has a long-secret bomb shelter built for the president and top government officials and “now available for touring,” according to the letter.
Whew. If the Big One is launched from Moscow, it’s good to know we can roust Gridiron members from the spa and into the shelter, saving them for the March dinner.