Amanda Curtis doesn’t have a U.S. House campaign website or Facebook page.
She does have a Representative Amanda Curtis page, and it has 11,982 likes.
Curtis is vlogging again this session, though it doesn’t look like she’s making the videos from the House floor this time.
As I scroll down the Facebook page I get a feeling for what many people are probably talking about – Curtis won’t appeal to the wider electorate.
We know this from last time, when she energized the base and got them out.
That’s admirable, especially for an off-year like 2014.
Despite that accomplishment – one made even more impressive because of the tight time frame – Curtis failed to garner a large portion of swing voters, Independents, and especially Republicans.
How is she going to change that in 2017?
That’s the big question, though one that’s being drowned out by the MEA-MFT-sponsored Facebook ads in favor of Curtis.
There was good analysis of Rob Quist’s problems in regard to MEA-MFT in today’s Logicosity post.
One sentence in particular caught my attention:
“Exactly how much longer the D’s will look the other way while Eric [Feaver] calls the shots on these maters is open to question.”
That spurred quite the round of comments, the last one being the most interesting.
I’ve been speaking out against Feaver and his undue influence for about two years now.
I’m glad others are beginning to come around.
Let’s face it – Logicosity is one of the best political blogs in the state, if not the best.
The site’s anonymous writers suggest that Quist “might just be the new face the D’s need but don’t know they’ve been looking for.”
We know that Zinke’s confirmation hearing will be on January 17.
It’s safe to assume that things will move quickly after January 20 and that Zinke could be Interior Secretary the following week.
Dems and GOPers both say they’ll nominate a candidate as quickly as possible after that happens and Bullock calls the special election.
So…who’s it gonna be?
It comes down to the delegates and who they choose.
Logicosity things there might be as many as 135 of them.
Wow, that’s a lot!
Right now if you’re a candidate it’s all about keeping your name in the media.
“It’s becoming clear none of the mainstream D’s…are generating much of a buzz,” Logicosity said today.
That’s not surprising – none of them are interesting.
That’s one peril of being a public official – people get used to you and they get bored of you.
Even Amanda Curtis isn’t getting as much excitement as she perhaps should in this race.
Perhaps it comes down to the money people, the ‘Bullock bubble,’ and the leftovers from the Montana for Hillary campaign.
We know Jenny Eck has a very prominent spot in the Democrats’ legislative team.
She was one of the main people for Hillary in Montana.
I wonder what kind of pull people like her have, as well as her counterpart, Carol Williams.
Both pushed for Hillary, both came up short.
For Eck she has the legislature to keep her busy, but what about Carol?
Where will she turn her energies and attention to next…Curtis, a young woman that she can perhaps mold and shape into what she’d like and someone that will carry forth the agenda she agrees to?
I guess what I’m getting at is…who controls the Montana Democratic Party, and if no one does, what are the main factions and who has the most influence within them?
I sure wish there was a political manual that had all this information. Maybe someday.
Until then, we wonder. We wonder who’s going to shape the agenda and craft the candidate that we’ll be expected to vote for come late-spring.
Right now candidates are scrambling for attention, especially those not named Curtis or Quist.
It’ll be hard for them.
For instance, Casey Schreiner has 509 likes on his Facebook page.
Kelly McCarthy has 540 on his, though it’s still his legislative campaign website.
Mostly, it’s gonna be tough for these guys. It’ll be tough for just about everyone…and we’re not even talking about the general yet.
So, here are my suggestions to those that are running. I call it my 6-point nominating plan.
Twitter Campaign
- 10 to 20 crafted tweets
- A ‘No Reply’ policy
- Clear posting schedule driven by content calendar
Facebook Campaign
- Paid Advertising
- Links to Website
- Links to Act Blue
- Collection of relevant statewide links about you
Press Release Campaign
- Weekly/daily events emailed to newspapers and TV stations
Legislative Campaign
- Testify on key issues
- Keep your name in the press
Blogging Campaign
- Guest posts on MT Cowgirl, Last Best News, and Missoula Current
Website
- Pre-planned content calendar
- Issues Page, or what could be called a blog
- Detailed event calendar
- Event photos
- More personal experience stories (could be blog posts)
- More ‘regular Joe’ stories
- Donations page/links
Those are just some ideas for those that might want to do this on their own.
I know people like Casey Schreiner are doing it on their own – sending out their own tweets, doing their own mail, posting to Facebook…and that’s while he’s in the legislature.
Logicosity is right that those not serving in the legislature have an edge right now.
We’ll see how it goes.
I think Quist is an affable fellow that doesn’t have any baggage or people wanting to grind an axe.
I can’t think of any real negatives when it comes to Quist.
Perhaps one of the biggest positives right now is how much in disarray the GOP side of things is.
There doesn’t seem to be a front-runner there.
I guess it’s because Gianforte hasn’t said ‘yes’ or ‘no’ yet to the rumors and speculation that he might run.
Mainly, everyone’s waiting.
We’re waiting for Trump to get in, for things to get rolling.
It won’t be long now.