Last week, Democratic North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp made her feelings known about the anti-Trump resistance movement. It’s a waste of her time. The senator was speaking to the Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce last Friday, where a question about health care was asked. She noted that Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) are against it due to the some aspects in the cost benefit analysis. She also said that she doesn’t share that view and added that Democratic Sens. Coons (D-DE), Kaine (D-VA), King (I-VT), Donnelly (D-IN), Tester (D-MT), Carper (D-DE), Warner (D-VA) are some Democrats who could be persuaded to work in support of the Senate’s health care bill.
But the real obstacle that she said faces Congress on anything is the anti-Trump Resist movement, which, unlike the Tea Party, just wants Democrats to stop anything Trump does. That’s not an agenda. Love them or hate them, the Tea Party pushed for smaller government, lower taxes, and less wasteful spending. How controversial.
Heitkamp added that it's just a waste of her time to say “no” and be in a perpetual state of opposition, noting the problems with drafting and working on legislation on the Hill as of late. She added that the resist at all costs war cry isn’t persuasive as well.
Right now, with 2018 on the horizon, North Dakota’s race is a tossup for Democrats. Heitkamp barely won in 2012. It could be a good pick-up opportunity, though Heitkamp’s approval rating isn’t terrible, hovering around 50 percent. She’s found a way to win before and she could find another path to victory next year. It depends on who emerges on the Republican side.