Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who would be an ideal POPULIST Majority Leader and has sought leadership positions unsuccessfully in the past, already has announced he'll retire this year--because a popular Republican governor would run against him in his solidly Red state.
Are there any Democratic Senators from Blue states that could be as populist as Dorgan, who in 1999 eerily predicted that bank deregulation he and just eight other Senators voted against would ultimately lead to deep recession and huge federal government bailouts?
Does any other Senator have the kinds of credentials listed below?
WHAT'S YOUR OPINION?
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From
http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Byron_L._Dorgan :
During his 17-year Senate tenure, the Democrat has remained popular in North Dakota by demanding that the government strengthen trade and banking laws to protect consumers. A staunch advocate of fiscal responsibility, Dorgan has lobbied against free trade and deregulation. Dorgan has been a vocal opponent of deregulation, and has often opposed measures that offer less oversight for financial markets. Dorgan voted against former President Bill Clintons 1999 Bank Deregulation Act along with only eight Senators. At the time, he said that deregulation would lead to a Great Depression-like crisis, a claim that now seems prescient.Altaffer, Mary, "Washingtons Invisible Hand," New York Times, Sept. 26, 2008 He also voted against the $700 billion economic bailout bill because he said there were not enough watchdogs in place to prevent a repeat of the economic meltdown. ... He has since requested a GAO study into the use of foreign tax shelters by banks who received a bailout.
(Leonnig, Carol, "Bailed-Out Firms Have Tax Havens, GAO Finds," Washington Post, Jan. 17, 2008)
In 2004, Dorgan was named the co-chair of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. Though he had hoped for a more plum assignment, Dorgan threw himself into the position. Unhappy with Senate GOPers weak oversight of the executive branch, he called for a series of hearings to expose corruption in the post-Hurricane Katrina clean-up and use of contractors in Iraq. When the Democrats regained the majority in 2006, Dorgan worked with other leaders to set a new agenda. He pushed to ban all products made in sweatshops, to allow low-cost prescription drugs to enter the U.S. from Canada, and to re-open trade with Cuba, a big potential importer of North Dakota grain. ...
Dorgan has long hoped to break into the upper-echelons of Democratic leadership, but so far hasnt succeeded. In 1998, he considered a run for Minority Whip, but backed down when he realized Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had the votes. He tried again in 2004, but was defeated by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), in part because the Democratic leadership wanted someone who hailed from a blue state. Despite these setbacks, Dorgan made the most of his appointment as Policy Committee chairman. He has used his position to investigate the executive branch, which he said Senate Republicans were afraid to do. Though Dorgan has no subpoena power, his efforts prompted investigations into the governments work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and whether Halliburton had been offered illegal contracts in Iraq. ...
He ran for an open Senate seat in 1992, and was re-elected in 1998 with 63 percent of the vote. In the 2004 race, Republican Mike Liffrig ran harsh attack ads against Dorgan. In one, pairs of women and men embraced at an altar in a reference to gay marriage. The narrator said you can kiss our North Dakota values goodbye, or you can kiss Senator Dorgan goodbye. But Dorgan defeated Liffrig soundly, winning 68 percent of the vote. ... Dorgan was born in Regent, a town of 250 people, and graduated from a high school class of just nine students. He went on to the University of North Dakota and ... business school at the University of Denver. At 26, he was appointed to Deputy State Tax Commissioner, which made him the youngest constitutional officer in North Dakotas history. He ran for State Tax commissioner in 1969, and held the position until 1980, when he won a seat in the House. ... He jumped to the Senate in 1992, and has won reelection twice. But the Democrat's grasp on
the seat could have been weakened by a possible challenge from popular Gov. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) in 2010. ... Giving Republicans a chance at the seat, Dorgan announced on Jan. 5, 2010, that he wouldn't seek reelection ...
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