The Great Falls Tribune had the story around 5 PM today.
Montana Democrats hire new communications chief, the story said.
That new communications chief is Roy Loewenstein.
This marks the second out-of-state hire in the past few months for key communications posts.
The first was Christ Meagher, who – like Loewenstein – is from New York.
For some reason Montana Democrats love hiring New Yorkers – you’ll remember that Tina Olechowski hails from there, and she was a Dem staffer before heading up Quist’s campaign.
Nancy Keenan was all bubbles of joy over this hire:
“We are excited to have Roy on board as we keep building our momentum heading into the next election cycle.
Montana Democrats hire new communications chief, the story said.
That new communications chief is Roy Loewenstein.
This marks the second out-of-state hire in the past few months for key communications posts.
The first was Christ Meagher, who – like Loewenstein – is from New York.
For some reason Montana Democrats love hiring New Yorkers – you’ll remember that Tina Olechowski hails from there, and she was a Dem staffer before heading up Quist’s campaign.
Nancy Keenan was all bubbles of joy over this hire:
“We are excited to have Roy on board as we keep building our momentum heading into the next election cycle.
Uh…what momentum?
- The 4/5 statewide losses last year?
- The minority status in the legislature…yet again?
- The recent special election loss?
Or was it the utter failure to come through on that blue bench strategy of getting more people to run for municipal offices before they embark on a legislative run?
The municipal filing deadlines across the state came at 5 PM today.
Checking the offices in Missoula, I see that only Jack Metcalf (Ward 2), Jon Van Dyke (Ward 3), and Jesse Ramos (Ward 4) filed to run either today or in the past few days.
I’m not sure if any of those folks are Democrats, but it still seems a pretty slim effort for this blue bench strategy…and that in liberal bastion Missoula!
I’d also like to note that we have a new mayoral candidate here in Missoula – Madison Schroeder, who filed on June 14.
I have no idea who that is.
But anyways…back to the recent Dem hires.
Loewenstein will replace Kristen Cates, “who has moved out of state.”
That’s a shame – Cates was actually from Montana, and knew a bit about the state. I even went to high school with her in Helena.
I just have to shake my head at these actions by the Montana Democrats.
What Party is this?
It doesn’t seem to be the same Party that rallied around Schweitzer in 2004…but then maybe it is.
Schweitzer was an outsider, and the Party always favored the coziness that Max Baucus showed Wall Street and Big Pharma and other corporate interests.
And why not – Max brought home the bacon…why complain?
But that was before Citizens United overturned our hundred-year-old campaign finance laws and made a mockery of our election process…at least a lot more than it was before.
Now the spending totals are immense, the advertising blitzes are nauseating, and the candidates are shit.
Candidates almost have to be shit – it’s the only way the corporate PAC interests will fund them, if they’re bland and boring and uncontroversial.
Really makes you want to get out and vote, eh?
Hence our always-low turnout numbers.
We crow about a 75% turnout in a presidential general, forgetting that half the state isn’t even registered to vote in the first place.
They just don’t give a shit, knowing nothing will change.
Maybe if we actually had candidates that came along and told them that – as well as other truths – they’d get interested.
I just don’t see anyone getting interested in what Chris Meagher or Roy Loewenstein have to say.
Lowenstein worked for over two years in the office of New York Democratic U.S. House Representative Nita Lowey, and before that, the office of California Representative Lois Capps.
He even did field organizing for Democrats in Nevada.
He graduated from Tufts in 2014 and is a native of Maryland.
The announcement of his hiring came today, but it seems he was hired on June 16.
I just don’t understand why he was hired. He was tweeting about Tester as far back as May 24 and had many negative tweets about Gianforte in May and June. He’s also been retweeting Bullock.
Why would a press secretary for a congresswoman from New York be doing that?
And how did she feel about that? Could Loeweinstein have been fired?
And does he have some kind of link to a Montana political figure, the Hilltop crowd…something?
<Deep sigh…slow exhale>
I just don’t know what to say.
First, I’d like to apologize.
- I’d like to apologize for the downright stupidity and utter incompetence of the Montana Democratic Party.
- I’d like to apologize for the continued losses in the legislature, and the bad bills and embarrassment that results.
- Finally, I’d like to apologize to all the people that have just given up, no longer call themselves Democrats, and have completely tuned-out. I know you’re not reading and probably never will, but sorry nonetheless.
Now, what to do about this utter cluster-fuck of a mess?
First, remember that the Montana Democratic convention to choose new leaders or retain the current ones will be in Helena on Friday and Saturday, August 11-12.
I don’t think it’ll do any good, but there’s a chance Nancy Keenan might be voted out and somebody with some ideas voted it.
I really don’t see that happening, and thus we’ll see another round of legislative losses in 2018, losses for Dems on the PSC, losses for county commissioner positions, substantive challenges to Dems on the MT Supreme Court, and maybe even a nail-biter for Tester.
Heck, maybe Tester will even lose…but I think that’s pushing it.
Anyways, the hiring season doesn’t end with the comms department.
MDLCC is hiring some financial folks, according to a good post that Logicosity did a few days back.
I’m sure those new staffers will be paid a lot while delivering little in the way of legislative victories come next fall (wanna make a wager that one of 'em's from the Big Apple?)
I do think many of the candidates they ‘work with’ will become disgruntled, feeling a bit used by the whole rigmarole.
Just more declines for MT Dems.
Oh…not in salaries department for top staffers, of course.
Don’t be silly!
We’ll get to those in a day or two when the June finance reports come out.
Until then, enjoy the fine Montana June.
