"It's a good day," Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said quietly after climbing into a car headed for the Bismarck Municipal Airport in August.

Conrad was reflecting on the good news that Bismarck will soon be home to a $10 million pea and lentil facility.

It was one of those events where a panel of politicians gave energetic speeches of how the facility would boost the state's agriculture economy.

For Conrad, the event signified some of the reasons he likes being a senator.

"I like visiting with people and Ilike working on projects," Conrad said.

Conrad said he worked with the the developers of United Pulse, the pea and lentil company, and others to help make the project possible at the Northern Plains Commerce Centre. He also said he authored legislation in the 2002 farm bill that secured federal support for pulse crops and helped get $3 million in federal funding for the NPCC.

His efforts gave him high marks from Bismarck Mayor John Warford.

"We wouldn't be here without you. You're the man," Warford told Conrad after all the speeches were done.

After swinging a golden sledgehammer to help pound a symbolic golden spike at the Northern Plains Commerce Centre, Conrad shook hands with other dignitaries and businessmen before heading to the next event.

His next stop was Grand Forks, where he met with sugar beet growers to talk about prices and trade issues before heading to the University of North Dakota to meet with Nicholas Sabatini, the Federal Aviation Administration's associate administrator.

The flight took about an hour aboard a small airplane that seats five or six passengers.

Even during travel, there isn't much idle time for a senator.

Conrad paged through a thick binder to prepare for the next meeting and scarfed down a lunch that included a cold tuna sandwich, pasta salad, fruit and dessert. His communications director, Chris Thorne, accompanied him and helped make sure Conrad had all the materials he needed to review.

He told the sugar beet growers that it is probably better to keep the current sugar provisions in the farm bill and try to expand them later, as opposed to starting with a new plan. Conrad also told the farmers how displeased he was with the Bush administration trade policies.

And like many of his presentations to groups, he injected some charts and graphs while he lectured the crowd on the budget and trade deficits.

Conrad told the group that the farm bill negotiations will be much different this year because, when the farm bill was crafted in 2002, the country had a $5.6 trillion surplus and $73.5 million was reserved for agriculture programs. Now, the country is running a deficit and will add more than $500 billion in debt this year.

"The debt is the threat," Conrad said.

He uses charts because he said it's the "only way to communicate financial matters."

Conrad has a financial background, with his bachelor's degree from Stanford University and an MBA from George Washington University.

After the meeting with sugar beet growers, Conrad did a quick interview with a radio reporter before stepping into a large van that took him on a short trip to the University of North Dakota's aerospace facility.

On the way to the university, Conrad said how important it is for UND, the FAA and the Air Force to work closely to develop the city's aerospace opportunities. The Grand Forks Air Force Base has been selected as a site for unmanned aerial vehicles, and Conrad would like to see more Air Force missions brought to the base. Conrad said he has developed strong relationships with Air Force officials that have helped save bases in Minot and Grand Forks from being closed.

After a 90-minute closed-door meeting with Sabatini and other officials, Conrad said Sabatini agreed to meet with him and Air Force officials in Washington about the possibilities of expanded missions at the Air Force base.

While at UND, Conrad ran into former UNDPresident Tom Clifford, a man who admires Conrad.

"He is very knowledgable, intelligent and analytical," Clifford said. "He's a great messenger."

Based on that day's events, Conrad seemed to be well liked.

But there are other indicators that Conrad's constituents like him.

He has ranked high in various surveys. In a recent Survey USA poll, he received a 74 percent approval rating. He also was named one of the top 10 senators by Time magazine.

Critics can discount the polls and magazine article, but they can't ignore Conrad's margin of victory in the past few elections.

Although he squeaked by Republican Mark Andrews by 2,135 votes to win his first term in the Senate in 1986, he easily defeated Republican Ben Clayburgh by 16 percentage points in 1994 and Duane Sand by more than 22 percentage points in 2000.

In his first foray into politics, he won the election to become tax commissioner in 1980 and was re-elected in 1984 with 79 percent of the vote.

"They've (voters) got a pretty good sense of what I'm like,"Conrad said.

He first entered politics in 1968 as a teenager, when he led a statewide campaign to grant voting rights to 19-year-olds.

Despite his election success, Conrad does not take his popularity for granted.

He has built up a $3.4 million campaign fund, as of June 30, according to information from the Federal Elections Commission.

Conrad said his opponent doesn't change the way he runs his campaign and he doesn't have much to say about his opponent, Dwight Grotberg, except that he is a nice person. He doesn't know Grotberg beyond having a few conversations with him at public events.

Issues

Conrad describes himself as a centrist, but he doesn't know how to compare his political views to Grotberg because he doesn't know Grotberg well enough.

Ken Karls, chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party, questions Conrad's centrist characterization.

"Does a centrist mean that you condemn the president for busting the budget and then come back to the state and talk about how much money you bring back to the state that comes from other states?" Karls said.

Conrad said he votes against a lot of spending, but he also touts the amount of money the federal government has given North Dakota. Conrad said that's not contradictory to being fiscally responsible because a large state with few people depends more on federal money than others.

Both candidates oppose gay marriage, but Conrad doesn't see a need to amend the Constitution to prevent it. Grotberg does.

"Idon't believe anyone should call it marriage when it is between two people of the same sex," Conrad said.

Conrad said there are ways same-sex couples can make sure they have legal rights without marriage.

Grotberg favors a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, and he also said it would be OK to amend the Constitution to protect the flag.

Conrad is opposed to amending the Constitution to prohibit flag desecration, but he is in favor of strengthening laws to prevent people from desecrating it.

Conrad voted against going to war in Iraq, but he favors hunting al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden.

"I do not favor an open-ended commitment to Iraq,"Conrad said.

Grotberg said Bush was right in sending troops to Iraq.

Although he is not a farmer like Grotberg, Conrad said he does a good job representing North Dakota's farm interests.

"What matters is not your vocation; what matters is that you produce for farmers and ranchers of North Dakota,"Conrad said.

Grotberg said having another farmer in Washington would help because he knows what they are going through.

They both have similar views on immigration. They both favor an increase in border security and a system to allow some immigrants into the country.

Like all North Dakota politicians nowadays, they both want to encourage renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel.

Future

Conrad will probably be around the Senate for a while, as long as he keeps winning. He and his wife, Lucy Calautti, live in Washington, D.C., but Conrad maintains an apartment near the Capitol in Bismarck. Conrad has a daughter, Jessamyn Conrad, from a previous marriage.

He said senators should quit when the physical demands of the job are too much. At 58 and in good shape, the physical demands are not an issue for Conrad.

He has not set a limit on how long he wants to serve.

He currently serves on the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, Finance Committee, Indian Affairs Committee and is a ranking member of the Budget Committee.

Conrad said being 28th in seniority out of 100 senators is something that helps put North Dakota at the table when big decisions are made.

"That means I'm in the room when decisions are made, rather than standing outside in the hall," Conrad said.

(Reach reporter Tom Rafferty at 223-8482 or tom.rafferty@;bismarcktribune.com.)