It’s been a really good couple of days.
Saturday morning I went down to the Missoula Farmer’s Market and gathered signatures to get marijuana taxed and regulated.
That’s I-178 and it didn’t go that well – just 25 signatures in about 2 hours.
Oh well. Maybe I’ll fare better on Tuesday when I hit up the Fairgrounds election office.
I got home around 1 PM and had some lunch and then hit up some apartments in my district.
Yep, three days until the primary and I’m still getting out there.
I’ve changed my strategy, going around to apartments. Because these are a bit tricky, I just leave my card in the door and go on.
It’s fast, but perhaps not that effective.
Like I said, knocking on apartments is tricky, however.
Typically you have two doors right near each other and sometimes when you knock on one the other one answers.
Also, people in one apartment can hear you outside, so if you give your spiel you have to turn around and give it to someone that just heard it through the door.
It’s weird. I saw Willis Curdy hit up my area and even my door the other day. He didn’t knock, just left his card.
He’s smart.
He’s done this many times before and knows that many of the houses have voted absentee. It’s the apartments and those people that are a bit more itinerant that you want to hit up this close to the primary.
So I did that from about 2 to 3 yesterday afternoon and stuck 170 of my cards in 170 doors.
Wow, that was great…and used up just about all of my cards.
Saturday morning I went down to the Missoula Farmer’s Market and gathered signatures to get marijuana taxed and regulated.
That’s I-178 and it didn’t go that well – just 25 signatures in about 2 hours.
Oh well. Maybe I’ll fare better on Tuesday when I hit up the Fairgrounds election office.
I got home around 1 PM and had some lunch and then hit up some apartments in my district.
Yep, three days until the primary and I’m still getting out there.
I’ve changed my strategy, going around to apartments. Because these are a bit tricky, I just leave my card in the door and go on.
It’s fast, but perhaps not that effective.
Like I said, knocking on apartments is tricky, however.
Typically you have two doors right near each other and sometimes when you knock on one the other one answers.
Also, people in one apartment can hear you outside, so if you give your spiel you have to turn around and give it to someone that just heard it through the door.
It’s weird. I saw Willis Curdy hit up my area and even my door the other day. He didn’t knock, just left his card.
He’s smart.
He’s done this many times before and knows that many of the houses have voted absentee. It’s the apartments and those people that are a bit more itinerant that you want to hit up this close to the primary.
So I did that from about 2 to 3 yesterday afternoon and stuck 170 of my cards in 170 doors.
Wow, that was great…and used up just about all of my cards.
I have about 25 cards left out of the 500 that I got in April.
I’m quite pleased with that, and for the most part, today was my last big campaign push.
I still have my signs, although the two that I’d put in abandoned lots have been taken away.
Where? I have no idea.
Perhaps they got me a few more votes.
I’ll certainly be telling you the results on Tuesday night.
The Campaign This Year
Running in 2016 has been a lot different from running in 2014.
Two years ago Democrats abided me, now they just hate me.
I still remember my wife coming home and telling me of a dinner she went to that had a leading Missoula Democrat, not an elected type, but someone that runs operations and does legislative stuff.
He told my wife that when I first filed in 2014 they thought I was a Republican.
It was only a little bit later that they figured I was alright.
Wow, I was really shocked to hear that, this vetting that goes on, this automatic suspicion.
Because I’d chosen to run for an open seat, I was seen as a traitor.
Right off the bat, right from the get-go.
Hell, I was cursed right when I started, the system rigged against me!
That’s Montana Democrats for you – putting on the front that they care, making it clear in private that they do not.
Hey, look at all those private fundraisers Democrats hold. The thought of talking to real people scares the piss out of them.
So I figured I’d have an uphill battle this time, even though I’m going for an open seat and even though I filed my C-2 way back in November.
It would be uphill because Democrats hate me.
I hate what they've become – they never work for the common man anymore, just the rich and well-off.
That did not stop me from running a campaign.
As you know, I ordered 10 yard signs for about $180. I used the rest of my campaign war chest ($89) to order 500 campaign business cards and get some gas.
I wasn’t sure what my opponent was doing but I figured it out pretty quick when I found a bunch of her old flyers abandoned on the doors.
Two years ago Democrats abided me, now they just hate me.
I still remember my wife coming home and telling me of a dinner she went to that had a leading Missoula Democrat, not an elected type, but someone that runs operations and does legislative stuff.
He told my wife that when I first filed in 2014 they thought I was a Republican.
It was only a little bit later that they figured I was alright.
Wow, I was really shocked to hear that, this vetting that goes on, this automatic suspicion.
Because I’d chosen to run for an open seat, I was seen as a traitor.
Right off the bat, right from the get-go.
Hell, I was cursed right when I started, the system rigged against me!
That’s Montana Democrats for you – putting on the front that they care, making it clear in private that they do not.
Hey, look at all those private fundraisers Democrats hold. The thought of talking to real people scares the piss out of them.
So I figured I’d have an uphill battle this time, even though I’m going for an open seat and even though I filed my C-2 way back in November.
It would be uphill because Democrats hate me.
I hate what they've become – they never work for the common man anymore, just the rich and well-off.
That did not stop me from running a campaign.
As you know, I ordered 10 yard signs for about $180. I used the rest of my campaign war chest ($89) to order 500 campaign business cards and get some gas.
I wasn’t sure what my opponent was doing but I figured it out pretty quick when I found a bunch of her old flyers abandoned on the doors.
Greg Strandberg and his opponent for House District 99 in Missoula in the 2016 Democratic Primary
I could show you one of those but it’s not my job to educate you about my opponent.
My job is to get elected.
Nothing scares the Montana Democratic Party more, aside from possibly Gianforte winning.
Remember, the Montana Democrats call me an anti-semitic Republican...not once, but twice.
The first time was with their anonymous attack site, the one that most Democrats in the state follow without question.
Personally, I’m not a big fan of following anonymous attack sites, but that’s just me.
I’m of the opinion that if you can’t look someone in the eye and tell them how stupid they are, you have no business being in politics.
That's why we never see Bullock publish his schedule for Missoula - he knows I'd show up and walk right up to him, look him in the eye, and shake his hand before proceeding to chat him up.
Scares the hell out of him.
MT Cowturd, unfortunately, cannot attack without remaining anonymous. I feel that hurts you more than helps you.
When the Montana Democratic Party is not attacking me they mostly just ignore me.
Remember, the MT Democratic Party refuses to return my phone calls or emails and will not allow me access to their Voter Access Network (VAN).
That’s why my campaign strategy was to knock on doors in high-traffic areas, asking people if I can put up a sign.
I figured 100 doors, maybe I'll get 5 signs in my district. I'd put the other 5 signs in "heavy-sign spots" that have many candidates in the same yard.
So that's my 2016 campaign strategy.
So far I’ve done quite well and about all I can do now is wait for voting to commence on Tuesday.
Continuing the Fight Regardless
When Wednesday comes around we’ll continue the fight.
Many people do not like this fight, they do not want to see it continued.
Many people do not like this fight, they do not want to see it continued.
Not sure who all those people are? Don't worry - most people don't know who they are or how those people help their lives.
I could probably find some more people that block me on Twitter, afraid of what I say, but what’s the point?
- When you speak your mind, people will always hate you.
- When you try to help the less-well-off, people will always hate you.
- When you point out the corrupt system and those that profit from it, people will always hate you.
Hell, sometimes you just have to write a post telling people who these folks are. Boom - you must be blocked!
Oh, the silliness.
Ha - folks, never forget that those high school days are not far over your shoulder, that people will continue to act stupidly, just as they did then.
My continued fight will be heavy on Democratic attacks, for just because the primary is over it doesn’t mean the MT Democratic Party is helping you anymore than they were before.
That’ll go double for November, when all the voting is done and those assholes are safe and secure for another four years.
We know Bullock will win because Gianforte is such a dumbass.
Remember, my opponent raised $12,000 for the HD 99 race and I raised $340, but I’m still giving her one helluva run for her money.
For Gianforte, however, he has unlimited amounts of money.
Alas, that cannot buy your way out of stupid.
Gianforte is pure stupid, and his actions with streams, robocalls, and out-of-state spending proves he cares nothing for you.
We know Zinke will win because the national Democrats are throwing Bernie under the bus via the super delegate process.
This all but ensures that Democrats like me will vote for Trump, go third-party, or just not vote.
That’s why we get the desperation of the Hillary camp.
You can tell the Hillary camp and all the Hillary supporters don't know what to do. Oftentimes Trump supporters just want to go and listen to the guy. It's typically fringe groups that then protest and cause problems for police.
Most times on social media you see the Hillary camp and Hillary supporters attack Trump supporters. We know that Dems and GOPers have their minds made up already, so it's just convincing swing and stay-at-home voters.
Tell me, how the hell does yelling at me, telling me I'm stupid, or saying I just don't see the truth or don't understand the world, how is that going to convince me to vote for Hillary?
It just makes me want to vote for Trump more.
We'll see if their tactics continue 'till November or if they figure something else out. Mainly, the only thing is for Hillary to change and much like an addict, that's the thing that scares her the most.
Because of this utter contempt for Hillary by a huge swath of Democrats, and because of the silence of down-ticket candidates like Denise, those down-ticket races will lose.
I’m sorry if you don’t like this. I don’t like that Bernie is not winning, or the corruption of the process via Hillary.
We’ll see what the price of that is come November.
It ain’t gonna be pretty.
Despite this, nothing will change.
Nope, the Democratic Party, nationally and in Montana, will remain just as corrupt, will raise just as much dark and rich-man money, will say they care about you while doing everything to show they do not.
So the fight will continue, as it must.
