Sour Grapes, North Dakota Nice, and Minnesota Lakes

I really hate to be critical of my Governor. But c’mon, Doug, give us a break! Start acting like a Governor. (More about the lakes in a minute.)

The quotes from Burgum in Friday’s Forum Communications Company papers were as unbecoming of a Governor as anything I’ve ever read. Well, maybe I could drag out some old Jesse Ventura or Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes, but I wouldn’t want to put him in the ring with either of those guys.

Burgum felt it necessary to comment on Kamala Harris’s selection of his Next-Door-Neighbor-Governor, Tim Walz, to be, I hope, the next Vice President of the United States.

Start with this from Friday’s Forum, Grand Forks Herald, Dickinson Press and Jamestown Sun:

“She ended up picking somebody who is, at least from the way he’s governed as governor in Minnesota, is more liberal than she is,” Burgum said. “But I think that when people understand the liberal approach, the socialistic approach that’s being taken in Minnesota, they’re going to say, ‘that’s not what we want for America.’”

And this:

“Tim Walz has turned Minnesota into the California of the Midwest. His liberal policies are driving up the cost of living and act as huge taxes on working class families.”

That’s from Doug’s Twitter account.

Socialistic approach? California of the Midwest? C’mon, Doug. I know that calling people “socialists” is the buzzword form the orange guy running for president, but you don’t have to kiss up to him anymore, He didn’t pick you. Oh, yeah, I guess there’s still that Secretary of Something thing. But what’s wrong with being nice to a fellow Governor? Especially your neighbor.

When people from other places talk about us, they use the words “North Dakota Nice” and “Minnesota Nice.” I’d bet anything that if Tim Walz was asked to say something about Doug Burgum it would be . . . wait, I just spotted this in a story from Politico about one of the Republican debates:

“I do believe that Doug is probably the most normal of these — that’s a pretty weird group of folks going to be on the debate stage,” the Minnesota governor said Sunday during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“Doug’s a pretty good guy, but he’s trapped in a Republican Party with no ideas,” Walz added.

“We’re friends,” Walz said, a couple of months ago.

Well, probably no more. Minnesota Nice. North Dakota Not So Nice.

But still. This is North Dakota. And Minnesota. Neighbors and friends. We have to live next to each other forever. We go there. They come here. Heck, half the rich folks in Fargo have lake homes in Minnesota, And half of us North Dakotans have cousins in the Twin Cities. AND THEY’RE NOT SOCIALISTS! And I’m apologizing to mine right now. Our Governor does not speak for me. Or most North Dakotans.

I hate to say this, but I’m thinking this is just sour grapes on Burgum’s part. Tim Walz got picked. Burgum didn’t. Something’s happened to Burgum since this whole Presidential run thing. He’s changed. I used to be able to say what Tim Walz said about being friends with Doug Burgum. No more. Especially, I suppose, after he reads this. That makes me sad. What makes me even sadder is that I think there’s a chance he won’t even fill out his term, going away to his Minnesota lake home and leaving that shotgun-toting Tammy Miller in charge. That really makes me shudder.

Now, Minnesota has a pretty good track record in Vice President races. Our cousins over there lent Walter Mondale and Hubert Humphrey to their country to serve as Vice Presidents. And we’re pretty proud of that out in this part of the country. They were both nice guys. Tim Walz could be the third. And from what I could tell, he’s also a nice guy. When asked about the fact he looked older than his 60 years, Walz, a retired teacher, said something like “I supervised the lunchroom for 20 years. You do not leave that job with a full head of hair. Trust me.”

 How can you not like that guy?

And then Burgum took off on a Trumpian rant in the Forum papers, making up things that aren’t true. He told them, “North Dakota is now about the highest GDP growth in the nation. I think we’re in the top five states in terms of GDP per capita. And in Minnesota, GDP is falling.”

Well, he was right about Minnesota, according to a story in Friday’s Minneapolis Star Tribune. About North Dakota? Wrong.

“While real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased in 39 states and the District of Columbia between the fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, Midwestern states experienced just small gains or drops, according to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) data released Friday.

“The country’s biggest GDP decline was 4.2% in South Dakota; Minnesota saw a 0.8% loss. The BEA also reported declines in North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Illinois.” Well, finally we’re behind South Dakota in SOMETHING!

            But read that again. North Dakota doesn‘t have the “highest GDP growth in the nation.” North Dakota’s GDP is declining. While Minnesota GDP dropped 0.8%, North Dakota was next in line behind South Dakota with a GDP drop of 3.9%, according to that BEA analysis.

And those socialists over in Minnesota are doing pretty well financially as well. According to that same BEA report, personal income over in Minnesota during that same time period grew by 5.8%, while North Dakota’s grew by just 0.6%. In fact, we’re the weakest of the Upper Midwest states. Montana grew by 5.4% and South Dakota by 3.8%, while North Dakotans made less than 1 per cent more this year than last year.

Maybe the Governor’s office ought to subscribe to the Star Tribune to keep up with the government reports..

            And so while Burgum goes about lambasting Minnesota for not being a nice state, with a nice Governor, The Forum did a little checking on where he spends his free time when he’s not out campaigning for Trump. Friday’s story said:

“According to a records request conducted Thursday by Forum News Service, Burgum has two properties in Minnesota, one in Detroit Lakes and the other in Pelican Lake, although it’s unclear whether he still owns the one in Pelican Lake. He was unavailable to comment on his decision to purchase the properties.”

Ya think?

You might not be able to read that story if you’re not a Forum subscriber, because it’s behind a paywall, but believe me, it’s all there. Some excellent reporting by The Forum’s bright, new, young, Capitol Reporter, Peyton Haug. I’ll be eager to see more of her work.

Well, I wonder how Burgum’s properties size up with that owned by the face and voice of North Dakota Tourism, Josh Duhamel, who appears in lots of TV and newspaper ads promoting our state, but vacations in Minnesota. Remember Josh? He’s the kid from Minot who made it big in movies in Hollywood, and North Dakota has paid him more than a million dollars since 2013 to promote visitation to our state.

 “North Dakota’s tourism agency confirmed Tuesday to The Associated Press that the star of several “Transformers” movies will be paid $75,000 to be the face of the state’s tourism campaign for the next two years. (Josh) Duhamel already has earned more than $1 million since 2013 to help lure visitors to North Dakota, a state better known for its brutal cold weather than as a vacation destination.”

Uffda.

That’s a quote from a Fox News Channel story a couple years ago. And no, I’m not a Fox News regular, but I am a former North Dakota Tourism Director, so I have a little interest in things like that. And Josh gets an “F” for letting that last sentence appear on TV. But then, it is Fox News. Nobody’s watching THAT over in socialist Minnesota.

See, Josh bought a little place in Minnesota too. On a lake. 26 acres. Not so little, I guess. He even brags about it in a Bobcat commercial he shot at his lake place: “This is where my heart is . . . this is where I want to be.” In Minnesota. Not North Dakota, which is paying him a million dollars NOT to say things like that. And pitching Bobcat. A former North Dakota Company, a good one, started here, now owned by a South Korean congolmerate. Another nice check for Josh, I’d bet.

You can watch the commercial here. It’s a pretty good promotion. For Minnesota. That darn socialist state. Whose Governor just might be the Vice President of the United States. Sigh. (That was Doug.)