Kent Conrad: a senator with a few principles

Senator Kent Conrad is a Democrat from North Dakota. He's served for 24 years and is retiring. I know very little about him and this post isn't about his policies. I know that he's a moderate who gets mixed ratings from both right and left wing groups, but the principles I see in him have nothing to do with his political stances.

Something caught my eye in a MinnPost story posted Tuesday about his retirement announcement. Eric Black said,

One more cool thing to know about Conrad: He was first elected to the Senate in 1986, as a deficit hawk, and pledged that he wouldn't seek reelection if the federal deficit didn't decline during his first term. It didn't decline, which wasn't Conrad's fault, but -- despite polls showing that North Dakotans wanted him to renege on his pledge and seek another term, he kept his word and "retired." When the state's other Senate seat came open soon after, he felt he could run without violating his promise, and he did run and he won.

I see politician after politician make campaign pledges, especially when trying to unseat an incumbent (as Conrad was), and renege on those promises. Conrad didn't do that.

No matter where you stand on any issues, a politician who keeps his word, particularly in such a difficult arena as politics in which to do that, deserves recognition.