Say Anything

Fargo Forum editor Matt Von Pinnon talks about his paper's opinion that North Dakota needs to elect more Democrats. State Senator Erin Oban talks about being the only Democrat elected in western North Dakota. Madison Rodgers talks about ROTC students in North Dakota who have had the rug pulled out from under them on tuition.

Senator John Hoeven talks about the path ahead for the rest of the lame duck Congress, and the new Congress to be seated next year.

"I want to start on that immediately." That's what Senator-elect Kevin Cramer said on my radio show today when asked by a listener if he'd keep a campaign promise to address federal policy with regard to marijuana. Cramer has said consistently that he'd like to move the issue out of the sphere of federal policy and squarely into the domain of the states. "Schedule 1 is not the place for marijuana," he said, referring to the federal drug scheduling system. Congressman-elect Kelly Armstrong was also on the show. I asked him how he was going to handle a new Democratic majority, some factions of which have said they want to impeach President Donald Trump. "I'm going to fight them," Armstrong said, adding that he hopes "cooler heads prevail."

We went down the ballot on the radio show today, taking calls and predictions on every candidate and measure.

On the radio show today, Congressman Kevin Cramer took calls and questions during his last appearance on the show before election day. Eric Trump made the case for sending Republican majorities back to Congress to support his father's agenda. Also North Dakota and Minnesota U.S. House candidates Kelly Armstrong and Tom Emmer talked about their respective races.

On the radio show today, we talked a lot about efforts by North Dakota Democrats to confuse voters. From their phony-baloney mailers promoting an independent candidate in the Secretary of State race to Facebook ads trying to scare hunters away from voting. Also state Rep. Shannon Roers Jones, a Republican from Fargo, and attorney Mark Friese talk about a legislative proposal as an alternative to Measure 3, and independent Secretary of State candidate Michael Coachman talks about the aforementioned efforts to confuse voters in his race.

On the radio show today, we talked about the national furor over North Dakota's voter ID laws which are nearly two years old but only became important to left wing activists in the weeks before an important midterm election. A pollster from the Trafalgar Group talked about their most recent polling in North Dakota's Senate race showing Congressman Kevin Cramer with a 9 point lead over incumbent Democrat Heidi Heitkamp. U.S. House candidate Kelly Armstrong talked about his campaign, his closing argument to voters, and issues like health care and trade. Cramer joined for his last open phone segment before election day.

On the radio show today we talked a lot about President Donald Trump proposing to make changes to birthright citizenship policies through executive order. Some callers also complained about the treatment they got from canvassers for Senator Heidi Heitkamp calling them on their phone. Justin Luke Riley of the Marijuana Accountability Coalition spoke about his group's opposition to North Dakota Measure 3. Also former Trump adviser Marc Lotter talked about the midterms.

U.S. House candidate Mac Schneider talked about his closing argument for voters in the final days of his campaign. He says he's going to remain focused on issues important to North Dakotans and not the"partisan clown show." Cass County Sheriff candidate Mike Kjera was also on to make the case for his candidacy. Former Trump campaign adviser Michael Caputo talked about the politics around the Pennsylvania shooting and mail bombs, as well as the midterm elections.

James O'Keefe from Project Veritas was on the radio show today to talk about undercover footage his group published showing staffers for Senator Heidi Heitkamp saying, among other things, that she's not the moderate she's campaigning as. Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse was also on the program to discuss the North Dakota Senate race, as well as the pipe bomb situation in Washington D.C.

Medal of Honor recipient and North Dakota resident Clint Romesha was on the radio show today and endorsed Congressman Kevin Cramer in his race against Senate incumbent Heidi Heitkamp. "When he tells you he's going to do something, he does it," Romesha said of Cramer's work on issues related to veterans. Romesha also recounted an incident where Senator Heidi Heitkamp was in Minot to re-dedicated a memorial to Medal of Honor winners and delivered what he felt was a campaign speech. Dina Butcher and Ellen Chaffee, backers of Measure 1, were also on to make their case for the ballot measure. Minnesota Democrat Collin Peterson, the incumbent in Minnesota's 7th U.S. House District, was also on to talk about his campaign.

Former Trump campaign manager and chief strategist Stephen Bannon was on the radio show to talk about the midterms. Asked about recent polling showing Senator Heidi Heitkamp with a 16 point deficit to challenger Congressman Kevin Cramer, Bannon says the Kavanaugh fight made "the Trump base wake up to the importance of the moment." He says holding on to control of the House is possible for Republicans. "If you vote I think we can hold the House by one or two seats," he said, adding that he feels Republicans have "broken the back of this blue wave. State Auditor Josh Gallion also joined to talk about his opposition to Measure 1, a constitutional amendment creating an ethics commission and new restrictions on political activities. "We have to stop treating our constitution like a playground for out of state interests," he said adding that over 90 percent of the contributions to the Measure 1 campaign are from out of state.

On the radio show today Jordan Loftis, the organizer of an open letter with more than 700 signatories asking Governor Doug Burgum to undo a "brand refresh" he announced for the state's tourism logo, explains why so many people are upset about it. Loftis says the logo will be used in tens of millions of dollars worth of marketing, and the state deserves something better. Republican state Rep. Tom Beadle and former Democratic state Rep. Ben Hanson also joined to talk about health care reform. They're advocating on behalf of the Partnership for America's Health Care Future. Dave Hughes, the Republican candidate for the U.S. House in Minnesota's 7th Congressional District, also joined to talk about his campaign against Democrat Colin Peterson.

On the radio show today Secretary of State Al Jaeger, and his Democratic challenger Josh Boschee, each gave their sides of the story about a problem with misprinted ballots in Mercer County. Jaeger says the mistake was made at the county level. Boshcee says it's Jaeger's fault, and part of a pattern of errors coming out of his office. Korrie Wenzel, publisher of the Grand Forks Herald, also joined me to preview tonight's U.S. Senate race debate between Heidi Heitkamp and Kevin Cramer.

On the radio show today we took calls about Senator Heidi Heitkamp's "open letter" ad fiasco. Geoff Simon, chairman of North Dakotans for Sound Government, made the case for opposing Measure 1 on North Dakota's November ballot. Congressman Kevin Cramer took calls.

Senator Heidi Heitkamp appeared on the radio show today for the first time ever and apologized for a recent campaign ad which named sexual assault victims without their permission. Also, some of the women named in the ad said they are not victims. "All I can say is at the end of the day when I put my head on the pillow I know that I caused hurt...this was incompetent. This was wrong," Heitkamp said. "This should have never happened." Asked if she felt her campaign had any legal liability for naming these women, Heitkamp said she wasn't sure. "Some people who are lawyers would say the worst thing you can do if you're worried about lawsuits is admit culpability or negligence and I'm admitting it right here," she said. "This is a very flagrant error of the campaign and I own it." Eve Lancaster, one of the women wrongly named in the ad, also was also on the show. "I had no idea what this open letter was open. I'm not even into politics," she said. "I had nothing to do with this and I saw that my name was on there