Early in my career at The Minot Daily News, I wrote a column bemoaning the state of North Dakota politics. Between the rancor growing in the ranks of the GOP and the Dem-NPL’s descent into irrelevance due to the toxicity of the national party, the situation seemed bleak.

I prescribed a tonic for the moribund North Dakota Democrats, to listen to their constituents and differentiate from party dogma in favor of focusing on the actual concerns and issues of North Dakota voters. Like that was ever going to happen.

For being called Democrats, there’s not much that was “democratic” about the treatment of Mark Haugen, the would-be House congressional candidate for the North Dakota Dem-NPL. When the party held its anemic convention in Minot earlier this year, Haugen was the only one willing to brave the arena and mount a serious campaign, despite facing almost certain defeat in November against incumbent Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R).

While there was some consternation over Haugen’s endorsement given his pro-life position, the reality was that they didn’t have much of a choice. Who else was going to volunteer as tribute to the rabidly red electorate?

Unfortunately for Haugen, a leaked draft ruling from the Supreme Court was published by Politico, setting off a cultural atom bomb as the prospect of Roe v. Wade’s repeal became all too real. Now thanks to this culture war dragon, an existential threat to what most Democrats and liberals believe is fundamental right has been wiped away for millions of Americans.

This was great news politically for the Democratic party, but all it did was put Haugen under the crosshairs of his own supposed allies. How could North Dakota Democrats run a pro-lifer in 2022 and maintain their credibility in such an increasingly inflamed sectarian climate? They probably couldn’t, not without utilizing nuance and compromise, notions that are alien to the way that these political entities operate.

Apparently, the power elite of the party were not content to just grit their teeth and bare it, wasting no time to capitalize on the opportunity that the celebrated Cara Mund’s independent bid represented for them. Mund claims she was ultimately driven to seek office because of the lack of pro-choice candidates on the ballot in the House race, and therein lies her appeal to the queen-makers behind the scenes.

According to reports, it would appear everyone from party Chairman Partrick Hart to party luminaries like Kent Conrad, Earl Pomeroy and Heidi Heitkamp has been quietly leaning on Haugen to get out of the way of Mund to avoid splitting the vote in November. Haugen would eventually give in, and announced he would be removing his name from the ballot.

Regardless of who the drivers of this campaign were, they have done the state, their party, Haugen, and even Mund a disservice. Rather than let Mund forge her own path and political identity, the cowards of the Dem-NPL have glommed onto her over one issue, rendering all other policy positions she may have irrelevant. Due to their partisan blindness, they are unable to see how their actions reek of the same toxic elitism that made their party poison in this state in the first place.

If the Dem-NPL had fielded a pro-choice candidate, Mund would be nothing more than a former Miss America dipping her toes in politics. A neat story to be sure, but far from the shining savior that the left wing of North Dakota punditry has been going gaga over. She may have not even run at all in favor of cultivating experience and cache for future campaigns. Instead, she was privileged enough to have a fundraiser to be hosted in the home of former Dem-NPL party leader Tom Dickson, and play patty cake with Heidi Heitkamp’s brother Joel on the radio.

At the deadline, Mund was able to turn in over 2,000 signatures to secure her name on the ballot. It’s a safe assumption that a great deal of those who signed their names on her petition and the checks she’s cashing aren’t doing it because they believe in a strong non-partisan presence in our state’s politics.

What’s the point of being a party member, participating in a convention, and endorsing a candidate if a few power brokers behind the scenes can make a few calls and essentially undo the entire process? In succumbing to the allure of hyper partisan preening, the North Dakota Democrats have rejected the legacy of pragmatism that allowed the Nonpartisan League to shake up state politics about a century ago, and should probably abandon the label altogether.

Given the outrage from within the party over the pressure campaign against Haugen, the Dem-NPL may have succeeded only in making their tent in the state even smaller than it was already.

Hopefully, they don’t get too wet when it starts raining.