The Widening Schism in the Montana Democratic Party

This is a donkey in a bathtub

Do you think there’s a split happening in the Montana Democratic Party?
 
I guess the more appropriate question would be, do you think there’s a split happening in the Democratic Party in America?
 
Your answer likely depends on where you’re leaning in regards to the presidential race.
 

• If you plan on voting for Hillary on June 7 then chance are good you don’t see any split, or any problems at all for that matter.

 

• If you plan on voting for Bernie, however, well my goodness – not only do you probably think there’s a split in the party at the national level, but chances are good you think there’s a widening fissure at the state level too.

 
A lot of it comes down to that damn Margot Kidder.
 
Oh, the gall of that woman.
 
Couldn’t she just stay in Livingston, living happily each month off her Superman film-franchise earnings?
 
Hell, she’s from Canada too – let’s start pinnin’ some labels on her there!
 
Clearly she doesn’t have Montana values at heart.

​Why else would she be rocking the boat, making things difficult for the Montana Democratic Party brass that sold themselves to the Hillary Victory Fund for the whopping total of $64,100?
 
Oh, the gall of that woman!
 
In August 2015 Kidder hosted the “Billings for Bernie” event in conjunction with the Yellowstone County Democrats. It was clear back then that she wasn’t onboard with the Hillary for Montana folks.
 
But we knew Kidder was a bit feisty anyways.
 
Thankfully Montana Democrats have another feisty woman just waiting to pounce on Kidder, and that’s Nancy Keenan.
 

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We’ll get to Nancy in a bit, but first let’s discuss what prodded Nancy from her silent perch, the one that allowed her to stay above it all for the past 18 days.
 
That something that prodded her was George Ochenski.
 
Things heated up on April 18 when the Missoulian ran George Ochenski: Lois Lane and the Hillary Victory Fun.
 
Now, I’d been harping on the MT Dems selling themselves out to Hillary since I first read the Kidder letter on April 3 or 4.
 
It was nice to see some local reporters get in on it Monday and Ochenski had a lot to say of the “controversial bombshell article” and what it revealed.
 
Mainly, we know that Montana’s delegates went to a Minneapolis convention in August 2015 and sold their votes, along with 33 other state democratic parties.
 
Here’s what Ochenski says:
 

“The problem, according to Kidder, is that all this pledging of superdelegates, which are basically top Democratic Party officeholders and officials, took place almost a year before Montana will hold its primary election in June. That raises the question of how Montana’s superdelegates could possibly pledge their support and votes to Hillary Clinton before the people they represent have even voted on the candidates.”

 

Ochenski makes it clear that “if the Democrats in any of those states decided to support Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary Clinton, they could expect the tap for the kickback funds to go dry.”
 
When we say “kickback funds” we’re talking about the money that Hillary’s campaign will funnel back down to the state parties…should they do what they’re supposed to and vote for her at the convention.
 
Ochenski tells us that none of this would have come to light had not Bernie challenged Hillary for the nomination, “if the Hillary Clinton coronation had gone as planned.”
 
Alas, we have things like the April 14 Bernie rally in New York that drew 27,000 people. At the same time “Sanders has managed to rejuvenate young people who are justifiably excited” about him and his policies.
 
Ochenski tells us that Kidder’s “revelations of back-door political chicanery deserve serious attention if the vote of the people is to be honored by Montana’s Democratic superdelegates.”
 
Will it be honored?
 
That’s where Nancy Keenan’s rebuttal to Ochenski comes in, something she issued on the same day as his column.
 
In an April 18 article on KGVO News Talk we hear from Keenan. It’s called Listen – Democratic Party Head Says State Money For Hillary NOT Dark Money.
 
Keenan tells us that the money going to the Hillary Victory Fund is “perfectly legal.”
 
I’m sorry…but what money?
 
The “scores of $10,000 donations” that “came in from out of state” that Kidder tells us about in her letter.
 
Yeah, that money came in after the August convention in Minneapolis where the promise that Montana would go for Hillary was secured…at least the delegates (we all know the popular vote didn’t matter in November, but I guess the same goes for June as well).
 
Keenan tells us that this money is legal and that “this is not new.”
 
We’re also told that “Hillary Clinton’s campaign took advantage of this year’s joint fundraising” and that Bernie never called Montana.
 
I've personally tried to call Nancy Keenan about 5 times and, despite leaving messages, have never had a call returned.
 
So I can believe that there was 'no contact on the part of the Bernie Sanders campaign.'
 
The most telling aspect is the final sentence by Keenan, the one where she tells us Montana’s superdelegates “are not bound to vote for the candidate chosen by Montanans in the primary.”
 
In other words, they could vote for Bernie should he win, but chances are good they’ll vote for Hillary. After all, she paid them to.

And let's consider this:
 

• Bullock was head of the Democratic Governor’s Association, a huge slush-fund style organization that funnels money from you to candidates to print and media companies.

 

• Tester is still head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is a huge slush-fund style organization that funnels money from you to approved candidates, who then give it to print and media companies (maybe a bit to the Post Office).

 
That’s what campaign spending is. Our superdelegates are not only bought and paid for by Hillary but they excel at raising money to run elections on top of it.
 
Good ol’ Boys Club, the Elite, the 1%...whatever you want to call 'em, this is the establishment doing what the establishment does!
 
They have every desire to keep things just as they are because they profit from it.
 

• The war in Iraq and the maimed and dead Montanans it creates? They profit from that and its continuation.

 

• The service industry economy that we have in this country and that we tout as a success? They profit from it and hope it grows.

 

• The massive poverty that stretches across the land, encasing young and old alike in misery and frustration and resentment? They profit from it and hope that it gets worse.

 
For never forget, for these people at the top, the ones looking down from their golden perches and high castles, our misery is what pays their bills.
 
We have to get rid of these people, for no matter how much they tell you that your life will get better, with them at the top it never will.
 
Do you think there’s a split happening in the Montana Democratic Party?
 
I think it’s painfully obvious that there is.