Sen. Kent Conrad Sees the Writing on the Wall

North Dakota's remaining Democrat representative in Congress, Sen. Kent Conrad, will not seek another term in 2012:

North Dakota U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad said Tuesday he will not run for re-election in 2012, saying he will concentrate instead on reducing the national debt and dependence on foreign oil.

“It is more important I spend my time and energy trying to solve these problems than to be distracted by a campaign for re-election,” the Democratic incumbent said in a statement sent to supporters. He currently chairs the Senate Budget Committee.

Just a few weeks ago North Dakota had three Democrats in Washington (they only get three because of the small population). Sen. Byron Dorgan chose to retire and was replaced with Rep. John Hoeven, and Rep. Earl Pomeroy was ousted in the November election by Republican Rick Berg. The red state of North Dakota is finally looking like a red state in Washington.

I would guess that Republicans will have a good shot at this seat, which may explain why Conrad decided not to take the Pomeroy route.

Just for fun the Democrats ought to run Ed Shultz, the idiot MSNBC host and former Fargo-based liberal talk show host.  That would make for a truly entertaining campaign.