Democrat House Candidate Says “I’m An Independent” In First Ad

“My first ad is here!” wrote liberal House candidate Pam Gulleson in a fundraising email sent out to supporters yesterday. “I’m dying to show it off, but my staff says I can’t show it to you until we raise the money to keep it on the air through August.”

This from the same candidate who was begging supporters for money to fix her car earlier this year. Anyway, after all that build up, apparently Gulleson’s supporters ponied up enough cash to see the ad. Which turns out to be the same set of cliches every single North Dakota candidate has used since the beginning of television.

But some of the words Gulleson stresses during the ad are sort of interesting. Like the “I’m an independent” part toward the end.

Both Gulleson and liberal Senate candidate Heidi Heitkamp have worked long and hard to distance themselves from their national party and its leadership. Heitkamp has had a tougher time of it, given her well-documented and outspoken support for Harry Reid, Barack Obama and Obamacare in the past, but it’s clear that Gulleson wants no part of her national party either.

Which makes me wonder, if these two truly felt that way, why don’t they actually run as independents? Sure that’s a tougher course to take. You don’t get the support of the state or national parties and all their resources. But it’s clear that Gulleson and Heitkamp are ashamed of being Democrats – at least, that’s how they portray themselves to the public – so why are they still members of that party?