One of the first places you might want to look to get an idea of Montana Democratic up-and-comers is on the MT Dems’ website.
When you click the elected officials tab you’ll get the following people:
And that’s it – four guys. The spring chicken amongst them is a ‘fresh’ 51-years-of-age.
There are no other elected Democrats in Montana, according to the Montana Democratic Party’s website.
Sure, we know that there are 18 Democrats in the Montana Senate, and 41 in the House…but they don’t matter.
If they did matter, the Dems would list them on their site. They should be proud to list them. But they don’t.
Why is that? I think the answer is simple – those names could take attention away from the ‘important’ Democrats, you know…the four guys we listed. Worse, giving those ‘lesser’ Democrats attention could divert some of the campaign funds from those main guys to these small, non-guys.
We just can’t have that.
So…who are some other names besides the top brass that Dems want you to know about?
We do have Jenny Eck, who’s the House Minority Leader.
Yeah…Virginia Jenny. She’s safe in her Helena district, but should she ever decide to do a statewide run, she’ll have no chance. Her only option for political advancement is to be appointed to head an agency. That or switching from the House to the Senate every 8 years for as long as she can.
Eck is a Hillarykrat, having headed up Hillary’s Montana campaign as the state director. She also loves her money, having raised over $5,000 for a legislative seat that saw her facing no opposition.
That’s one of the main similarities between the Hillarykrats and regular Democrats – both feel they need as much money as possible – even when they don’t – and despite the fact that nearly all voters vehemently hate how that money is spent to assault their senses.
Democrats call this process ‘winning.’
The next top Democrat in Montana is Tom Woods. He was the Minority Caucus Chair in the last legislature, and he’s currently running for U.S. House.
I’m unsure of what Tom Woods’ accomplishments are.
Besides that, we have Nate McConnell and Shane Morigeau – both of Missoula – and Casey Schreiner of Great Falls, as the Democratic Minority Whips in the legislature.
So we have Helena, Missoula and Great Falls represented in Montana Democratic legislative leadership. City folk.
Now…do the Dems have anyone else?
Well, yes and no.
Yes, we have candidates…but are they viable candidates?
The first place we might want to look is the U.S. House race. There we have John Heenan, Grant Kier, Lynda Moss, Jared Pettinato, Kathleen Williams, and Tom Woods.
We know that Kier is a Hillarkrat, so there’s no reason to go any further with him or his ideas – you know he won’t be helping you.
Heenan seems like he has a good shot at getting the nomination, though for the life of me I can’t figure out how he’d win the general.
Lynda Moss is someone that probably 90% of the state doesn’t know, nor will they get to know her over the next 6 months.
I have no idea who Pettinato is, nor do I have much desire to find out.
Kathleen Williams is another woman running, though I have no idea what the difference between her and Moss is.
And finally we have Tom Woods, whom we’ve already mentioned.
Really a lot to get excited about with that crowd, eh?
Still, running in a statewide primary is a very good way to build name-recognition, get some experience, meet some voters, coddle some donors, all while paving the way for the next run.
That’s why it’s good we have 6 Democrats in this race, and there’s a good chance a few more will jump in before the mid-March filing deadline.
When we go over to the U.S. Senate race, however, we see that there are virtually no Democrats running against Tester, at least none with any kind of viable chance of winning.
There’s Sarah Dean, who Wikipedia lists as a “businesswoman,” as well as myself, Greg Stranberg, who’s listed as a “writer.”
Neither of these people have a chance. I know for a fact that I haven’t paid the filing fee, and I wonder if Dean’s paid hers. I’m pretty confident I won’t have the money to pay it in March, and I don’t really like the idea of a few people giving me small donations, as I wouldn’t get enough to get up to $1,700, so I’d have to return that money.
I don’t think Dean will pay hers as her husband is also running for the Senate. That means their family would have to come up with $3,500 just for the privilege of losing.
But is it losing? Again, building that bench. It’s important. You saw the four guys the Dems have listed on their site, you saw the few names in leadership positions in the legislature.
The Party is really lacking in names that can move the Party forward in the future.
Besides the current elected officials, those in the legislature, and those running for statewide…who else is there?
There are plenty of low-key Democrats, most of whom are from the cities. Few have any kind of chance outside of those cities, effectively preventing them from ever running for a statewide.
Often when we do get someone brave enough to run a statewide, they lose, get frustrated, and then lower their sights to a better target. We see this currently with Melissa Romano going for a legislative seat; John Lewis taking over a state agency.
Both built experience and name-recognition – not to mention a small fundraising network – and both have effectively thrown that away…for the time-being.
It’s frustrating.
I don’t think there are many Dems from rural Montana areas. They just can’t win there. A big reason for this is that people don’t care what they have to say.
Many voters in those areas are just anti-Democrat to begin with…even though the Republican Party doesn’t really look out for their interests (though they say they do).
Dems just don’t have a good message; haven’t had one in years.
Go look at those Dem U.S. House candidates and the issues pages on their websites. Cookie-cutter, tired ol’ Dem talking points.
No, there’s nothing to get excited about here. And when you do offer the suggestion that Dems try to take some of the GOP issues to make their own, boy…you get an earful.
We’re not Republicans-lite! We don’t abandon our minorities! There are more important things than winning!
One of the biggest problems in the Montana Democratic Party is the lack of free discussion, free from recriminations.
These people are few and far between in Montana. By my reckoning, you’ve got me, the guy that writes Logicosity, and to a very lesser extent, both James Conner and Jim Elliott.
Just 4 people in a state of over 1 million that are actively, and publicly, questioning the way Montana Democrats do things.
Considering Montana Dems haven’t had a single chamber of the legislature in 10 years, and both chambers in 25, you’d think more people would speak out.
But we see quite clearly what happens to those that do.
They’re vilified, labeled DINO’s, and cast from the Party. They’re banned from the blogs and have fake social media accounts created to mock them.
All because they saw problems and tried to remedy them.
That’s your Montana Democratic Party.
When you click the elected officials tab you’ll get the following people:
- Steve Bullock, 51-years-old
- Mike Cooney, 63-years-old
- Jon Tester, 61-years-old
- Ed Smith, 65-years-old
And that’s it – four guys. The spring chicken amongst them is a ‘fresh’ 51-years-of-age.
There are no other elected Democrats in Montana, according to the Montana Democratic Party’s website.
Sure, we know that there are 18 Democrats in the Montana Senate, and 41 in the House…but they don’t matter.
If they did matter, the Dems would list them on their site. They should be proud to list them. But they don’t.
Why is that? I think the answer is simple – those names could take attention away from the ‘important’ Democrats, you know…the four guys we listed. Worse, giving those ‘lesser’ Democrats attention could divert some of the campaign funds from those main guys to these small, non-guys.
We just can’t have that.
So…who are some other names besides the top brass that Dems want you to know about?
We do have Jenny Eck, who’s the House Minority Leader.
Yeah…Virginia Jenny. She’s safe in her Helena district, but should she ever decide to do a statewide run, she’ll have no chance. Her only option for political advancement is to be appointed to head an agency. That or switching from the House to the Senate every 8 years for as long as she can.
Eck is a Hillarykrat, having headed up Hillary’s Montana campaign as the state director. She also loves her money, having raised over $5,000 for a legislative seat that saw her facing no opposition.
That’s one of the main similarities between the Hillarykrats and regular Democrats – both feel they need as much money as possible – even when they don’t – and despite the fact that nearly all voters vehemently hate how that money is spent to assault their senses.
Democrats call this process ‘winning.’
The next top Democrat in Montana is Tom Woods. He was the Minority Caucus Chair in the last legislature, and he’s currently running for U.S. House.
I’m unsure of what Tom Woods’ accomplishments are.
Besides that, we have Nate McConnell and Shane Morigeau – both of Missoula – and Casey Schreiner of Great Falls, as the Democratic Minority Whips in the legislature.
So we have Helena, Missoula and Great Falls represented in Montana Democratic legislative leadership. City folk.
Now…do the Dems have anyone else?
Well, yes and no.
Yes, we have candidates…but are they viable candidates?
The first place we might want to look is the U.S. House race. There we have John Heenan, Grant Kier, Lynda Moss, Jared Pettinato, Kathleen Williams, and Tom Woods.
We know that Kier is a Hillarkrat, so there’s no reason to go any further with him or his ideas – you know he won’t be helping you.
Heenan seems like he has a good shot at getting the nomination, though for the life of me I can’t figure out how he’d win the general.
Lynda Moss is someone that probably 90% of the state doesn’t know, nor will they get to know her over the next 6 months.
I have no idea who Pettinato is, nor do I have much desire to find out.
Kathleen Williams is another woman running, though I have no idea what the difference between her and Moss is.
And finally we have Tom Woods, whom we’ve already mentioned.
Really a lot to get excited about with that crowd, eh?
Still, running in a statewide primary is a very good way to build name-recognition, get some experience, meet some voters, coddle some donors, all while paving the way for the next run.
That’s why it’s good we have 6 Democrats in this race, and there’s a good chance a few more will jump in before the mid-March filing deadline.
When we go over to the U.S. Senate race, however, we see that there are virtually no Democrats running against Tester, at least none with any kind of viable chance of winning.
There’s Sarah Dean, who Wikipedia lists as a “businesswoman,” as well as myself, Greg Stranberg, who’s listed as a “writer.”
Neither of these people have a chance. I know for a fact that I haven’t paid the filing fee, and I wonder if Dean’s paid hers. I’m pretty confident I won’t have the money to pay it in March, and I don’t really like the idea of a few people giving me small donations, as I wouldn’t get enough to get up to $1,700, so I’d have to return that money.
I don’t think Dean will pay hers as her husband is also running for the Senate. That means their family would have to come up with $3,500 just for the privilege of losing.
But is it losing? Again, building that bench. It’s important. You saw the four guys the Dems have listed on their site, you saw the few names in leadership positions in the legislature.
The Party is really lacking in names that can move the Party forward in the future.
Besides the current elected officials, those in the legislature, and those running for statewide…who else is there?
There are plenty of low-key Democrats, most of whom are from the cities. Few have any kind of chance outside of those cities, effectively preventing them from ever running for a statewide.
Often when we do get someone brave enough to run a statewide, they lose, get frustrated, and then lower their sights to a better target. We see this currently with Melissa Romano going for a legislative seat; John Lewis taking over a state agency.
Both built experience and name-recognition – not to mention a small fundraising network – and both have effectively thrown that away…for the time-being.
It’s frustrating.
I don’t think there are many Dems from rural Montana areas. They just can’t win there. A big reason for this is that people don’t care what they have to say.
Many voters in those areas are just anti-Democrat to begin with…even though the Republican Party doesn’t really look out for their interests (though they say they do).
Dems just don’t have a good message; haven’t had one in years.
Go look at those Dem U.S. House candidates and the issues pages on their websites. Cookie-cutter, tired ol’ Dem talking points.
No, there’s nothing to get excited about here. And when you do offer the suggestion that Dems try to take some of the GOP issues to make their own, boy…you get an earful.
We’re not Republicans-lite! We don’t abandon our minorities! There are more important things than winning!
One of the biggest problems in the Montana Democratic Party is the lack of free discussion, free from recriminations.
- Who are the devil’s advocates, arguing for the other guy’s position so that Dems can sharpen their own message?
- Who are the people that are questioning the established way of doing things, with the goal of winning a chamber of the legislature sometime in the near future?
- Who are the candidates that are going to stand up to the Party, telling them to go jump in the lake while they run the campaign they want, not the one the paid consultants want?
These people are few and far between in Montana. By my reckoning, you’ve got me, the guy that writes Logicosity, and to a very lesser extent, both James Conner and Jim Elliott.
Just 4 people in a state of over 1 million that are actively, and publicly, questioning the way Montana Democrats do things.
Considering Montana Dems haven’t had a single chamber of the legislature in 10 years, and both chambers in 25, you’d think more people would speak out.
But we see quite clearly what happens to those that do.
They’re vilified, labeled DINO’s, and cast from the Party. They’re banned from the blogs and have fake social media accounts created to mock them.
All because they saw problems and tried to remedy them.
That’s your Montana Democratic Party.
