First, the bullshit:
“I encourage you to vote for legislators who understand the needs of your community,” Bullock told Montanans via the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
“We need to elect folks to office who believe Montanans should have access to the services they need…”
“…it requires a Legislature that believes in protecting the interests of all hardworking Montanans, rather than just the wealthy few or pledges made to out-of-state corporations and interest groups.”
Now the money:
Bullock formed a PAC called “Montanans Working Together, to hep out candidates in Montana. It reported raising only $13,500 last year and ended the year with just $3,600 in the bank.”
Bullock’s Big Sky Values PAC, however, “raised $464,000 last year” to help “boost” Bullock’s “national profile.”
Around 84% of the Big Sky Values PAC’s money “came from out of state, including almost half - $208,000 – from 30 individuals and families from New York and Connecticut.”
“Only $76,500 of the money came from Montanans,” with two-thirds, or $50,000, coming “from the Kenneally family in Butte,” who own Town Pump.
Finally, the analysis:
WTF?!?
We’ve got the governor bitching about the GOP legislature that he always has to deal with, but then when we look at his priorities vis a vis the money, we see that he’s not really concerned about the legislature at all.
He’s concerned with boosting his own profile so he can go on to…better things.
Montana has little to do with Steve’s ambitions anymore, aside from allowing him a springboard for his loftier goals.
I mean…$13,500 was raised to help turn the legislature?
That comes out to $90 for each of the 150 legislative seats.
Let’s say that we just focus on the Montana House. That’s $135 for each of those 100 seats.
My, that’s a lot of money, ain’t it?
I don’t even think it’d be enough to cover the cost of accessing the Democratic Voter Access Network, or VAN, which is the huge database of all loyal and leaning Democratic voters.
I used that in 2014 but wasn’t allowed to use it in 2016. I actually got more votes when I didn’t use it.
Mostly, though, I think we have a governor that’s proven himself a failed and ineffective leader time and time again.
Instead of realizing that, Steve actually thinks he’s done a good job and wants to try and help people in America as much as he’s ‘helped’ them here in the Treasure State.
He’s counting on rich people in the Hamptons and New Canaan to propel him to the national stage. Here in Montana he relies on a family that makes most of its money from gambling machines.
Montana Democrats feel this is the kind of leadership that America needs.
With viewpoints like that, I think we can see quite clearly why Democrats have been the minority Party in this state for years, and likely will be for years to come.
