Lost in the Storm

How Regular Americans, Agriculture, and the Truth Lost the First Presidential Debate.

I began watching the first presidential debate of 2024 in a Dickinson, North Dakota restaurant. The emergency alert system went off repeatedly as my party was seated, and the city’s warning sirens sounded. The impending disaster wasn’t the presidential debate. It was an approaching severe thunderstorm, then tornado, then back to severe thunderstorm. When it passed, we walked outside to air scrubbed clean by the rain and blue skies with scattered clouds still lit by a sun nowhere near setting at well after 9:00 PM. 

The debate, while not a twister, certainly did nothing to clear the air. It left behind panic among some Democrats, but I am distrustful of knee-jerk reactions. A Marine Corps brigadier general once told the pilots in my helicopter squadron that the first thing an aviator should do in an aircraft emergency is wind their clock. That action provides a little space that might otherwise be filled with an immediate response that puts the aircraft and crew in greater peril. A hasty response in this case could put democracy in peril.

The WTF caution light is certainly on, but we can keep flying with that for a while, no immediate action required. The bigger problem for North Dakotans is the Ag warning light. Neither candidate in last night’s debate addressed the critical issues plaguing U.S. agriculture. They said nothing about securing the future of the small and middle-sized family farms and ranches that give our state its unique flavor and keep our small towns and our rural schools afloat. 

It’s clear that no president, from either party, is going to fix this. It’s going to take the proverbial—and actual—act of Congress to get anything done, and we know that won’t happen if Republicans hold the majority in the U.S. House. Unconstrained by an approaching election, the same caricatures of congressmen who made 2023 one of the least productive years in the history of the legislative branch will be back at it. They wore out the adults in Republican rooms, many of whom decided not to seek reelection. Newcomers hoping to replace those departing representatives in the Main Street Caucus or similar groups will find they have become part of a vestigial organ dangling uselessly from the colon of the House Republican Conference while, up above them, the usual actors are busy creating a blockage or pushing through the kind of stuff that normally gets pushed through a colon. Either we take the House this year and act decisively to protect our family farms and ranches, or we leave it in Republican hands and nothing is done to rein in corporate consolidation and the unfair trade practices that are decimating our rural communities. 

Agriculture wasn’t the only issue that was lost in the debate, of course. Everything of substance was given short shrift, and outrageous lies were left unchallenged. The economic disaster of across-the-board tariffs and currency devaluation and the structural disaster to our republic of the Republican 2025 plan were lost in the storm. 

No president is going to save us, and we can expect no relief from a Supreme Court that has decided that bribes paid after the fact are just gratuities, and it’s perfectly legal to tip your public-servant server $13,000 after he steers a million-dollar contract your way. Congress will have to take back their power and take action on behalf of everyday Americans, and there’s only one way that happens. 

I’m running for Congress to give power back to everyday Americans, to protect rural communities, and to end the grandstanding and culture-war intrusions that distract Congress from implementing real change. If you support this vision, please consider donating to my campaign.

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With the U.S. House seat open, the race for North Dakota’s sole congressional district has never been more competitive.

Trygve Hammer is a Navy and Marine Corps veteran, a former public school teacher, and a freight rail conductor. He was appointed to the Naval Academy from the fleet and served as a Marine helicopter pilot, forward air controller, and infantry officer. 

From bunking down in oilfield camps to engaging disinterested teenagers in the classroom, Trygve’s career has been a tour of duty in the trenches of American life. Trygve Hammer’s commitment to public service is unwavering. He lives by the ethos “Officers Eat Last” and is ready to serve as North Dakota’s next Congressman, putting the people's needs first.

Trygve’s Campaign Launch Video Here