The Bastiats, it must be said, are more hot air than substance.
11:09 am, Apr. 12, 2021
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State Rep. Rick Becker, R-Bismarck, set up a table and asked citizens to challenge his argument against North Dakota mask mandate. (Jeremy Turley / Forum News Service, via Twitter)
MINOT, N.D. — To call the spat in the
North Dakota Republican Party between the moderate-minded majority, whose competent governance is primarily responsible for the party's dominance over the decades, and the Trumpy
Bastiat Caucus, which has risen to the status of a noisy minority in recent years, a "civil war" would be overstating the case.
Still, there is an intraparty conflict going on, and it is hugely consequential for the power balance in state politics.