My Political Future as a Republican

I’ve always viewed my conservatism as one of my strengths.
 
For more than a decade I’ve told people I’m fiscally conservative and socially liberal.
 
I thought that ideology would be fine for the Democrats…after all, no one likes wasting money and most of us don’t care what others do so long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else.
 
It’s the ideology I figure my grandpa used on the Hi-Line to win his Montana Senate seat back in the early-90s.
 
Sadly, politics in America has changed.
 
This has trickled down to Montana, and it’s even found its way into Missoula.
 
No longer are conservative principles smiled upon, at least in the Democratic Party.
 
The news yesterday that the DNC will be going with an Obama and Hillary loyalist instead of one that Bernie Sanders supported is just another indication that the Party is turning its back on the majority of Americans.
 
Please, listen to Perez talk.
 
Do you really think this man sounds like a leader?
 
I don’t.
 
He’s got a gravelly and nasal voice. When he talks, people want to stop listening.
 
What’s especially sad is that this man was once Labor Secretary.
 
What did he do?
 
Last time I looked, the labor situation in America is terrible. Here in Montana we talk up our labor shortage, but jobs still pay poverty wages.
 
I guess employers aren't that desperate yet, huh?
 
Anyways, I feel the Democrats should care about workers and try to increase worker wages and benefits and all the rest of it.
 
But they don’t.
 
They instead try to get gay people more rights and transgender folks the bathroom of their choice.
 
That’s why I’m going over to the Republican Party.
 
Here’s a Party that cares about workers. Wasn’t always the case, but the 2016 Election changed that.
 
The Democrats turned their back on workers, and we saw that in the Rust Belt states when voters there turned their back on Democrats.
 
Many looked to the DNC election yesterday as a signal.
 
Would the Democrats change…going against their failed 2016 election policies in favor of something that might win back their historic base…or would they continue the same tired politics that earned them their historic losses just 4 months ago now?
 
With Perez, we know they doubled down on the failures of 2016.
 
I wish the Party luck. Many others are as well.
 
We’re just sick of it, sick of this fake Party that tries to hoodwink us that it actually cares about us and our concerns.
 
Save that bullshit for your minorities.
 

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So I’ll be joining the Montana Republican Party now (wish I wouldn’t have tossed that membership form I got in the mail a couple weeks ago!).
 
Should have joined 'em a long time ago – nearly everyone in the Montana Democratic Party told me to do so.
 
So I will.
 
The 2017 Missoula City Council primary election will be on September 12…if one is required.
 
The general election will be on November 7.
 
These are non-partisan races but the media always seems to screw that up.
 
With these races you have to run in the ward you live in and I’m in Ward 4. Currently, Jon Wilkins is in that seat.
 
Also representing Ward 4 is John DiBari.
 
You might remember that DiBari took offense to me calling the City Council members idiots a year ago.
 
That was back when I confronted Harlan Wells about his inability to challenge the City Council and the mayor.
 
Remember, the City Council used to have conservative members. Wells ran and took over for Adam Hertz. But then Wells got a job with Corey Stapleton in Helena so that was it for the conservative viewpoint on the Council.
 
I hope to bring that conservative viewpoint back starting January 2018.
 
That’s when I’d assume office, should I pay the $150 filing fee to run and should I win the race.
 
I think the chances of me unseating Wilkins are pretty damn slim, however.
 
Still, you never know.
 
A few days ago, for instance, Wilkins admitted that the boondoggle pedestrian bridge that was put over Reserve Street to block megaloads will necessitate an increase in Missoulians’ taxes.
 
The bridge cost $4.2 million, if you can believe that.
 
Many thought the thing would be paid for with the $42 million we pissed away on the Parks and Trails bond.
 
Sadly, that’s not the case.
 
What’s especially sad is that the South Crossing tax district – whose residents will pay for this boondoggle – was supposed to sunset this year, but the bridge “extended the special district by another 30 years.”
 
We already know that the city is $88 million in debt, though I think that number has increased since I reported on it last summer.
 
We have the some of the highest housing prices in the nation and we have the highest taxes in the state.
 
Policies and procedures in Missoula aren’t working and haven’t been in a long time.
 
Perhaps we’ll be lucky and see every incumbent on the City Council choose not to run again, like happened in 2015.
 
It’s clear they’re doing a terrible job. Grade school kids could probably do better.
 

 
When you look at Missoula in the legislature you see that just a few seats will come open in 2018.
 

 
The nice thing is that I no longer have to worry about stepping on toes like I did when I was a Democrat.
 
Back then I had to wait for open seats. Now I can run against the Democrats.
 
I think that’ll be easier, as we know the rural/urban fringe districts are flipping over to the Republicans.
 
We saw HD 92 and HD 96 do that just a few months ago.
 
So in 2018 there are lots of options.
 
For one, both Ellie Hill and Bryce Bennett will be done. One of them will go for SD 50 as it becomes open, but only one will win.
 
I expect Hill will be the victor here. Bennett is already winding down, as evidenced by his failure to secure a leadership position in the House this session.
 
The problem is that those seats are safe seats for the Democrats, being in the locations that they are.
 
Going for the center of the city won’t work for Republicans in Missoula, at least not yet.
 
No, it’ll be much easier to pick off one of the districts that butts-up against the rural/urban fringe.
 
That’s why I might try for HD 98 again, like I did in 2014.
 
HD 99 is also an option, as it does have lots of rural area. Perhaps it's more conducive to a GOP win, as it has a richer class of residents, the kind that are sick of non-stop property tax increases.
 
I personally think that HD 95 could become a GOP seat if there’s a good GOP candidate.
 
The problem here is that Shane Morigeau raises money hand over fist. I can tell why Dems want him to have a future in the Party. Plus he’s a minority – double win!
 
I don’t know enough about HD 89 to guess at how it might go. No, it seems that the two districts I ran in before – 98 and 99 – might be the easiest for me to win in.
 
We’ll see how it goes.
 
If I can scrape together the $150 filing fee for the City Council, I’ll run for that.
 
If I lose that race – which is a strong possibility – I’ll just turn around and pay the $15 to run for the legislature again, with the goal of picking off one of those old, retired teachers that can never seem to keep their name in the news despite serving in Helena.
 
Now, about the money.
 
I made it a point to go over all the financial reports of the Missoula GOP legislative candidates last time.
 
That way I know which Republicans donated to those candidates.
 
Since we know that no Democrats will ever donate to me after I continue to write about their misdeeds, it makes no sense for me to continue to run as a Democrat.
 
The question is, will the Republicans donate to me?
 
I kinda feel I’m in a no-man’s land here.
 
I’ve spent years pointing out the hypocrisy of the GOP, so they don’t like me.
 
I’ve spent years pointing out the hypocrisy of the Dems, so they don’t like me.
 
Those are exactly the reasons I feel most Montanans would love me, however – I see bullshit and I point it out and then shout really loud so others can see it to.
 
That’s what responsible Montanans should be doing.
 
It’s the right thing to do.
 
Since I’m 35-years-old, there’s a good chance that I’ll be doing it for several more decades.
 
Eventually Montana will notice and eventually I’ll get elected.
 
That’s what inevitably happens when you don’t give up.