You know he’s overall someone who would appeal to the center. But this seems off.
Thoughts?
The stench of desperation is already in the air.
Going to make it up in volume I assume. (I know, I know, the reasoning is explained in the article)
And the million it may cost him is pocket change hidden under the lint. I just don’t see how that is not going against the straw donors rule. It is reimbursement and then more than some. Some large sum of some.
I’d like to see him on that stage though. No chance in hell any level of hell of getting the nod in today’s GOP but the contrast would be nice.
Doug Burgum used to have a spine. He did great things to build Great Plains and then sell it to MSFT for a ton of money. And it was prolly a good trade for MSFT.
I met Doug at a MSFT internal mid-year review for the Greater China region when I worked at MSFT in the 2000’s. Smart guy, friendly, didn’t say much since the review was on China and not really in his wheelhouse.
Say what you will about MSFT, but Doug would have been shit canned from MSFT for his views on
- abortion ban after roughly six weeks of gestation.
- He signed a law permitting government officials to ignore the preferred pronouns of their peers.
- In November 2021, Burgum greenlighted legislation restricting instruction of critical race theory in K-12 schools
He’s been accused of inauthenticity on those things, given that his record as a business leader was one of valuing diverse perspectives, in particular leadership at Great Plains included many strong women leaders. But to some degree whether or not his hateful views are authentic is immaterial: you say it and act on it then you are fairly judged by it.
Still he seems like a smart person who knows how to lead teams of smart people. And you don’t Gabe a good chance to win a GOP nom without claiming those views.
On the stump, he portrayed himself as a traditional, business-minded conservative…
Well, I guess that’s not what Republican voters want these days, as he got almost no traction on that sorta thinking.