In 2016, I covered the North Dakota Republican Party's state convention alongside reporter Dave Weigel, then of the Washington Post, who currently works for Semafor. Weigel and I watched a gubernatorial candidate and political newbie named Doug Burgum take third in the vote of convention delegates behind his fellow Republicans Rick Becker and Wayne Stenehjem.

Burgum, of course, went on to shock North Dakota politics by upsetting Stenehjem in the June primary vote. On this episode of Plain Talk, Weigel recalled that convention, saying it proved to him that you don't bet against Doug Burgum, even when he's the underdog.

Weigel and I discuss what Burgum has to do to move from being a little-known governor to a true contender in the GOP's increasingly crowded 2024 presidential field. "It's all about Iowa," Weigel said, noting that he also, at the very least, needs to qualify for the GOP's first presidential debate to be held in Milwaukee in August.

Also on this episode, my co-host Ben Hanson, who attended Burgum's announcement in Fargo today, discuss the event.

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