So what are we to make of the fact that a new president who just released his budget and is attempting to sell the country on it is coming to Fargo – a community of about 150,000 and far from the center of anything – to do it?.

Monday, March 12, 2001

So what are we to make of the fact that a new president who just released his budget and is attempting to sell the country on it is coming to Fargo – a community of about 150,000 and far from the center of anything – to do it?

We can thank the writers of the Constitution, for one.

When the Constitution was written, it called for each state to elect two senators – no matter what the state’s population is. North Dakota, one of the least populated states, can elect only one representative based on the number of residents living there, but two senators.

Because their two senators – Democrats Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad – have been in the Senate a long time and have earned leadership positions in the minority party, George W. Bush will have to get his budget by them in order for it to pass.

Because Conrad and Dorgan take their leads from their bosses – North Dakota residents – those in the Bush camp believe a trip to Fargo to sell residents on the tax cut is worth it.

Meanwhile, residents of Minnesota and North Dakota get the rare opportunity to see a president while he’s in office, and the national media will focus its spotlight on Fargo.

Considering we’re usually ignored, we’ll take the attention, and thank the founding fathers for it.