Those Damn 2018 Races Already?

All I can say is…


Um...really?


I’m supposed to be interested in the 2018 U.S. Congressional race for Gianforte’s seat now?


Even the U.S. Senate seat that Tester wants to hang onto so badly?


Really...I’m supposed to care about this shit?


It’s summer.


We’ve got municipal elections still, and then it’s Thanksgiving and Christmas and finally the New Year.


Can we not wait until then?


I guess not.


I see ID has two posts up on someone named Troy Downing.


I have no idea who that is.


Well, now I remember - after googling his name it comes up with ‘storage company owner files to run against Tester.’


This is the rich Californian that preys upon poor people with his storage unit business. I guess the only thing worse is if he owned a payday loan or rent-a-center business.

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Then there’s Grant Kier.


Flathead Memo had a post up on him the other day. When Logicosity mentioned him mid-week I thought...Grant Kier...who the hell’s that? After that I thought of the Grant Kohrs Ranch.


I read the Missoula Current’s post on Kier, and pardon my ignorance...but what exactly is it that this man does?


I should say did - he left his job when he felt it would further his future ambitions.


He’s an out-of-stater that managed land trusts and then came here to manage land trusts.


Again, pardon my ignorance...but what exactly is it that this man does?


Manage a land trust? So he sits in an office and...looks out the window all day?


Yep, the land’s still there, no one’s messing with it, now pay me my high salary.


Maybe there’s more to it than that. Again, my ignorance.


And then there’s John Heenan.


Maybe you got the email, too.


I sure as hell got it.


It came on Wednesday morning.


Logicosity has a good look at it, too.


What we’re talking about is the unsolicited email that U.S. Congressional-hopeful John Heenan’s campaign sent out to get people to support them...which really means give them money.


I immediately unsubscribed from this email list...one I’d never subscribed to in the first place.


In the world of content marketing, putting random people onto an email list is a big no-no.


But Heenan did it...or at least those running his campaign.


I say ‘those running his campaign’ because I don’t think he’s the one doing it. What makes me think that are both the cookie-cutter email and the cookie-cutter website.


To me, these have the MT/Nat’l Dems’ fingerprints all over them.


And that is not a group I’m interested to be a part of.


It’s one of the reasons I was so surprised to get this email in the first place. I mean...who the hell is still keeping me on Dem email lists?


Well, new people that are desperate for money and attention.


Heenan is that man.


James Conner took him to task for not contacting the blogs.


Rob Quist did this in January, and he was smart. He got James Conner on board and he got me on board soon after...just with simple, 20-minute phone calls.


Heenan chose not to take that route, and I feel sorry for him because of that.


It’s a blown opportunity, both to get your name and message out there and to firm up support early, while tamping down on ‘negative’ blog posts that might appear...say, when you send out an unsolicited email.


My main response to Heenan was to send him a reply email. It went just like this:

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Well hell's bells, wouldn't ya know it...I'm in too!

In fact, you can donate to my campaign by sending a check to:

Greg Strandberg
610 High Park Way, Apt. A
Missoula, MT  59803

or check out my site and find the Act Blue Donate button.

John, we need all the money we can. The election is in November and absentee ballots go out October 12.

Can I count on your support?

Yeah, yeah...I know - a little childish, a little spurious, and quite a bit annoying.


But isn’t that what campaign emails are, even if they’re not supposed to be?


I mean, we hate getting this shit in our inbox! Alas, it must be working, as they paid-Party-hacks keep sending ‘em.


Mostly, why would I give Heenan money when he has no plans to give me money?


We’re both running for office, after all, though his election is a full year after mine.

Hell, I even run my own campaign, and serve as my own treasurer. I see Heenan has his law partner in that role.

Quick aside - if you can't even manage your own books, how the hell are you going to manage to make my life better?

​Anyways...


If I were Heenan I would have had a better campaign rollout, with lots of friends in a public place, and hopefully some media there as well. You’d need to sent out press releases for that, but it’d pay off with some TV coverage, radio coverage, and a bit in the newspapers the next day.


That’ll get your name out there and it’ll get you some fundraising...hopefully.


Instead Heenan went the email route. Oh well. I emailed him again on Friday to see if he wanted to support my campaign. Again, no response.


Mostly, I’m not excited about any of these guys, and I’m not sure why I should be.


So you won’t be hearing a lot about the race against Gianforte on this site. I’m not that interested in it, and no matter if it’s a D or R in there, it’s not going to impact my life.


Maybe it bothers you that I say that, that I don’t take on more of the ‘victim mentality’ that so many seem to lean on these days.


Well, I’m not a victim. Most of the aspects of my life have come about because of the choices I’ve made.


These asshats running for the U.S. House aren’t going to do anything to better my life or make it worse.


They’ll sure better their lives, however, and that’s the main impetus for them jumping in.


I mean, they’re not Jesse Laslovich types, that’ve been around for nearly 2 decades, starting on the lowest rung and working their way up.


They’re not Pat Noonan’s, people who are in office then out and then in again...or at least trying.


By they way - have you noticed that Noonan is constantly at the top of #mtpol’s ‘people’ list whenever you log on?


No, this crop of recent House candidates isn’t anything like them. They’re not those types.


They’re opportunists.


And they see a chance to advance quickly. Maybe with Nancy’s Blue Bench strategy they’ll even get $100 or $200 kicked their way.


Hey, she expects to gain “some seats” next year.


And why not - she’s paid nearly $5,000 a month...win, lose or draw.

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But back to the House.


For those on the Dem side, it’ll be one more loser on a pile of losers stretching back to the 1998 election.


For those on the GOP side, it’ll be a lot of sour grapes and a spoiled future in the Party. Hey, you’re running against GG.


At this point I have no doubt that Gianforte will keep his seat, and easily. Dems will run against his assault on a reporter.


They won’t run on the issues that matter to you and your family.


So they’ll lose, again.

​And once again they’ll piss and moan and make it seem like the world’s ending once this happens, but your life will continue as it has for years.


Welcome to American representative democracy.

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