The Ides of February: State and National Politics in Fargo, North Dakota

On February 15, 2012, Ryan Taylor (D), a candidate running in the North Dakota gubernatorial race, held a press release at the Depot in downtown Fargo, North Dakota, and later that evening Rick Santorum, a GOP candidate vying for the Republican presidential nomination, appeared at the Holiday Inn also in Fargo. For the sake of Digital History and Web 2.0, below are two clips I captured from both events. The first is a two minute clip of Ryan Taylor, and his thoughts on the directions North Dakota might take — primarily to make the political situation more inclusive on the northern Plains. Taylor ends with some paraphrased remarks from one of his favorite philosophers, Will Rogers. The second clip is less-than 20 seconds in length, and it was taken from the east side of a room increasingly filling with individuals waiting to take in a Rick Santorum (R) appearance. While I did not get any coverage of Santorum himself, Kevin Cramer and Jack Dalrymple did provide the introductory remarks (I only captured still photographs of Cramer and Dalrymple). Here is a link to some post-stage remarks between Rick Santorum and KFGO’s Joel Heitkamp.