Will she keep it in?
If Amanda Curtis does leave her nose ring in then it’s a good bet her GOP opponent will earn thousands of more votes than they normally would have.
Think that GOP opponent will be Greg Gianforte?
Perhaps, and that’d be really good for the Democrats – they know they can beat him.
They’ve done it before, they have the playbook, hell, I think even a few of the out-of-state ringers from Bullock’s campaign are still around.
So going after Gianforte will be easy.
I’m confident that Gianforte will beat Curtis just as the North beat the South in the Civil War – with one arm tied behind its back.
I’m not sure Gianforte will have as easy of a time with Rob Quist.
Quist will pick off those rural voters, it’s assumed, and it’s also assumed that many disgruntled Republicans will either not vote for Gianforte or perhaps vote for a rural Democrat.
I personally don’t think Gianforte has the political chops to win a statewide race, not after he lost to Bullock.
He should have won that race.
I remember in September when people contacted me about the Zumba instructor that Bullock had been involved with.
I did the research and I made the phone calls, just as DeHaven had done before me.
But Gianforte didn’t want to go that route.
I don’t know why – supposedly that affair was an open secret in Helena!
I wonder if he feels differently about that now, with the election over, Bullock starting his second term, and a few million dollars less in that billion-dollar bank account of his.
Maybe.
The point is, if he didn’t go after the low-hanging fruit last time to propel himself to a win, what makes you think he’ll be able to win this time?
Money won’t do it, that should be plain by now.
Money didn’t do it for Gianforte, and it sure didn’t do it for Hillary.
The money in politics game is over, in case you didn’t notice – it ended halfway through the 2016 cycle.
Maybe our corrupt congressmen will realize that, although I’m sure their corporate handlers will make sure that doesn’t happen.
No, money just doesn’t do it.
Hell, I raised $1,200 less in 2016 than I did in 2014 and I doubled the number of votes I received!
Hard work and determination trumps money every day of the week.
Throw passion in there and you’re nearly unstoppable.
If I was a Democrat I’d hope to hell that Gianforte is the special election candidate for the GOP.
The guy couldn’t do it last time and his own Party, although perhaps not knowing it yet, is ready to turn on him.
The only thing keeping them from doing so is their abysmal financial situation, one overseen during the tenure of Jeff Essman.
If I was a Republican I’d hope to hell that Curtis is the candidate for the Dems.
She couldn’t do it last time, either. Plus, there’s a ton of dossiers all ready to go on her that’ll paint her as a crazy, socialist witch that rural voters would be crazy to support.
I mean, c’mon – Curtis and Gianforte are known factors.
Now, if Quist gets in there, watch out.
Anything could happen.
It could be a monumental loss for the Dems – like it always is – or it could be a squeaker victory, one brought on by an energized voting bloc that’s angry at Trump and wants to be the first in the country to show he’s beatable.
This election is many things to many people.
As I said in a comment on yesterday’s post, I intend to get a bumper sticker for the Dem candidate and a yard sign. I might even give them $10.
After that I’ll be turning my back on the Democratic Party for good, and that’ll hold true even if Dems somehow pull off a win in this race (which I doubt).
2018 is just around the corner and Missoula will need some strong conservatives to pick off those rural/urban districts that Democrats for some reason think are safe.
If Amanda Curtis does leave her nose ring in then it’s a good bet her GOP opponent will earn thousands of more votes than they normally would have.
Think that GOP opponent will be Greg Gianforte?
Perhaps, and that’d be really good for the Democrats – they know they can beat him.
They’ve done it before, they have the playbook, hell, I think even a few of the out-of-state ringers from Bullock’s campaign are still around.
So going after Gianforte will be easy.
I’m confident that Gianforte will beat Curtis just as the North beat the South in the Civil War – with one arm tied behind its back.
I’m not sure Gianforte will have as easy of a time with Rob Quist.
Quist will pick off those rural voters, it’s assumed, and it’s also assumed that many disgruntled Republicans will either not vote for Gianforte or perhaps vote for a rural Democrat.
I personally don’t think Gianforte has the political chops to win a statewide race, not after he lost to Bullock.
He should have won that race.
I remember in September when people contacted me about the Zumba instructor that Bullock had been involved with.
I did the research and I made the phone calls, just as DeHaven had done before me.
But Gianforte didn’t want to go that route.
I don’t know why – supposedly that affair was an open secret in Helena!
I wonder if he feels differently about that now, with the election over, Bullock starting his second term, and a few million dollars less in that billion-dollar bank account of his.
Maybe.
The point is, if he didn’t go after the low-hanging fruit last time to propel himself to a win, what makes you think he’ll be able to win this time?
Money won’t do it, that should be plain by now.
Money didn’t do it for Gianforte, and it sure didn’t do it for Hillary.
The money in politics game is over, in case you didn’t notice – it ended halfway through the 2016 cycle.
Maybe our corrupt congressmen will realize that, although I’m sure their corporate handlers will make sure that doesn’t happen.
No, money just doesn’t do it.
Hell, I raised $1,200 less in 2016 than I did in 2014 and I doubled the number of votes I received!
Hard work and determination trumps money every day of the week.
Throw passion in there and you’re nearly unstoppable.
If I was a Democrat I’d hope to hell that Gianforte is the special election candidate for the GOP.
The guy couldn’t do it last time and his own Party, although perhaps not knowing it yet, is ready to turn on him.
The only thing keeping them from doing so is their abysmal financial situation, one overseen during the tenure of Jeff Essman.
If I was a Republican I’d hope to hell that Curtis is the candidate for the Dems.
She couldn’t do it last time, either. Plus, there’s a ton of dossiers all ready to go on her that’ll paint her as a crazy, socialist witch that rural voters would be crazy to support.
I mean, c’mon – Curtis and Gianforte are known factors.
Now, if Quist gets in there, watch out.
Anything could happen.
It could be a monumental loss for the Dems – like it always is – or it could be a squeaker victory, one brought on by an energized voting bloc that’s angry at Trump and wants to be the first in the country to show he’s beatable.
This election is many things to many people.
As I said in a comment on yesterday’s post, I intend to get a bumper sticker for the Dem candidate and a yard sign. I might even give them $10.
After that I’ll be turning my back on the Democratic Party for good, and that’ll hold true even if Dems somehow pull off a win in this race (which I doubt).
2018 is just around the corner and Missoula will need some strong conservatives to pick off those rural/urban districts that Democrats for some reason think are safe.
Let’s take a moment to talk about our feelings.
Frustration
Can someone please ask HD 94’s Kim Dudik to stop wasting so much paper?
That’s what most of her bills end up being – a waste of paper.
6 bills tabled so far.
Take HB 378, which went down in defeat yesterday, mainly along party lines.
It’s always along party lines – it’s why I harped so much for the past 2 years on Dems winning the legislature.
If they don’t win it, we see what we see with Dudik – wasted paper.
Sure, HB 378 is a good idea – it attempts to reduce or eliminate child prostitution.
Who doesn’t want to do that?
Well, Montana Republicans, that’s who.
Why?
I have no idea.
- Maybe they thought the bill would have too many administrative costs.
- Maybe they thought the bill would limit the freedom of Montanans.
- Maybe they thought it was just more government paperwork and bureaucracy and they didn’t want that.
So we get a waste of paper.
That’s what most Democratic bills are – wastes of paper.
First they print them on white paper then yellow then blue then green then red.
Well, something like that. I suppose HB 378 only made it to a couple colors before going down.
Ultimately, however, it and so many other bills will just be wasted paper.
They’ll never see the governor’s desk. Republicans control the legislature, and will for years.
People like Dudik will be termed-out long before the Dems ever take back the legislature.
It’s frustrating, but there’s nothing they can do about this, and for the simple reason that they refuse to change and talk about things that most of the state’s voters care about.
Until then, most of what legislative Democrats do will be nothing more than a waste of paper.
Sadness
I just don’t understand why Montana’s legislative Democrats chose a woman from Virginia to lead them.
Yes, Jenny Eck is from Virginia.
Jenny from Virginia has been steadily working her way up in state government, mainly via the AG’s Office.
She’s a big supporter of Carol’s List.
Last session Jenny from Virginia got 5 bills through, most dealing with financial issues.
This year she has tons of revision bills drafted, and we’ll see what happens to them.
I have a feeling most will end up about the same as Kim Dudik’s bills did – wastes of paper.
Hey, Jenny from Virginia is an urban Democrat.
- She had no opponent in 2016, either the primary or the general.
- In 2014 she beat her GOP opponent by nearly 1,000 votes.
- In 2012 she beat her GOP opponent by over 400 votes.
That was the year she raised over $29,000 to run for a Montana House of Representatives seat.
Jenny from Virginia – keep an eye on her.
She’ll be moving up in state government, and perhaps she even thinks she has a shot at winning a statewide some day.
I’d love to see her run – guaranteed win for a Republican.
No, more than likely she’ll weasel her way into a cabinet position.
Jenny from Virginia leading a Montana state agency.
Well, why not? I doubt it can get anymore dysfunctional in the Queen City.
Anger
Who is Merv?
I’ve been seeing a lot of comments from Merv on MT Cowgirl lately.
To me they sound a lot like LK and his comments, but I think LK would be using his real name…if he can still comment on that site.
I’m not Merv, as my IP address has been banned from commenting on the site.
Even MT Cowgirl/boy blocked me on Twitter (about a week or two after they’d followed me but I didn’t follow them back).
So I’m not the one.
Who is?
It’s pretty clear that Merv is getting on a lot of people’s nerves.
He’s very quick to throw out the ‘troll’ label on anyone that doesn’t agree with him, or just anyone that chooses to engage with him in a dialogue on the site.
To me Merv just looks silly.
It’s clear that he’s a big-time Curtis supporter and very anti-Quist.
There’s a bit of truth in what Merv has to say, but the way he’s saying it just turns people off.
Hey, kinda like my site!
Personally, I feel that Merv is actually an older person, one that does indeed support Quist but is acting like they don’t.
We’ve got a anti-devil’s advocate here, one talking-up all the ways that Quist will lose and why young people won’t vote for him.
I think that makes our aged and decrepit and many times fossil-like Democratic special convention delegates angry.
It makes them want to show those young whippersnappers that they’ve still got some fight in ‘em, still got some get-up-and-go, gosh darn!
It makes them want to support Quist.
But maybe I’m just digging into it a little too much.
So far Merv hasn’t been banned from the site, like so many of us that speak our minds have been.
And that might give us a better understanding of who Merv is than anything.
Futility
I feel the campaign staff for our special election candidates should be looking at these areas:
I’ll go ahead and stop there.
You get the idea.
Will the campaigns?
Who is Merv?
I’ve been seeing a lot of comments from Merv on MT Cowgirl lately.
To me they sound a lot like LK and his comments, but I think LK would be using his real name…if he can still comment on that site.
I’m not Merv, as my IP address has been banned from commenting on the site.
Even MT Cowgirl/boy blocked me on Twitter (about a week or two after they’d followed me but I didn’t follow them back).
So I’m not the one.
Who is?
It’s pretty clear that Merv is getting on a lot of people’s nerves.
He’s very quick to throw out the ‘troll’ label on anyone that doesn’t agree with him, or just anyone that chooses to engage with him in a dialogue on the site.
To me Merv just looks silly.
It’s clear that he’s a big-time Curtis supporter and very anti-Quist.
There’s a bit of truth in what Merv has to say, but the way he’s saying it just turns people off.
Hey, kinda like my site!
Personally, I feel that Merv is actually an older person, one that does indeed support Quist but is acting like they don’t.
We’ve got a anti-devil’s advocate here, one talking-up all the ways that Quist will lose and why young people won’t vote for him.
I think that makes our aged and decrepit and many times fossil-like Democratic special convention delegates angry.
It makes them want to show those young whippersnappers that they’ve still got some fight in ‘em, still got some get-up-and-go, gosh darn!
It makes them want to support Quist.
But maybe I’m just digging into it a little too much.
So far Merv hasn’t been banned from the site, like so many of us that speak our minds have been.
And that might give us a better understanding of who Merv is than anything.
Futility
I feel the campaign staff for our special election candidates should be looking at these areas:
- HD5: Hillary beat Trump by 299 votes (435 3rd Party votes)
- HD14: Hillary beat Trump by 141 votes (28 3rd Party votes)
- HD15: Hillary beat Trump by nearly 600 votes in the Glacier County portion of this district and by about 225 in the Pondera County portion.
- HD16: Glacier County is overwhelmingly Democratic, going for Hillary by 1,274 votes over Trump.
- HD18: This portion of Glacier and Pondera Counties are Republican.
- HD23-26: These Cascade County districts went for Trump by narrower margins than other areas of the state. HD23 has the most potential, with Trump having taken it by only 264 votes over Hillary. The other three districts are closer to 400 to 500 votes over Hillary.
- HD31: Roosevelt County went for Hillary by 474 votes, and there were 224 3rd Party votes here. Still, the Valley County portion of the district went to Trump by 216 votes.
- HD32: Hillary won the Blaine County portion of this district by 409 votes and there were an additional 137 3rd Party votes. The Phillips portion of this district went to Trump by about 90%, however.
- HD41: The Big Horn portion of this district went to Trump by just 10 votes, with 51 3rd Party votes. The Rosebud portion of this district went to Hillary by 154 votes, with 85 3rd Party votes.
I’ll go ahead and stop there.
You get the idea.
Will the campaigns?
2016 MT Governor's Race
