“Well Greg that Missoulian article on Quist's money problems is the nail in the coffin.
29 days till absentee ballots go out. No ads still. I can't see much money coming in now. What a mess! He should have came out early with all this. It's all about controlling the narrative and not being on defense.
Great work on party finances, by the way.”
Here’s an email I got a few days back:
“Prominent Democrats are upset Quist wasn't vetted according to associated press. What a bunch of assholes saying such stuff to destroy a campaign barely off the ground! Some people say it was GG people I'm wondering if wasn't Curtis supporters.”
I’ve heard that some Quist supporters are preparing to pull the plug…and these are people that have donated to him.
So let’s talk about this stuff.
Quist’s Medical Problems
The Billings Gazette is what I clicked on, and they have some good reporting up on Quist’s finances called Quist has 16-year debt trail, records show.
One of the first things we learn is that Quist is taking a $2,000 a month salary from his campaign.
Amanda Curtis did the same thing in 2014.
Besides that we learn:
- Quist has been “turned over to collections”
- He’s been “sued by a bank after not repaying a loan”
- A former band member accuses Quist of “fraud and deceit”
Quist blames the money woes on his “gallbladder operation gone bad in 1996.”
The surgeon “accidentally cut his bile duct,” and this “had to be repaired,” causing Quist to be “infection-prone ever since.”
Quist’s health was so bad in 2011, for instance, that he couldn’t work for the entire year.
Quist also blames his wife’s mercury poisoning, and subsequent 90-day hospital stay, for a large part of his financial problems.
The article really takes a turn for the worse when an excavator is interviewed, one that did some work to help build a “stage and dance floor behind their barn.”
He paints a picture of Quist being arrogant and I can see Gianforte using stuff like that in his ads.
That excavator talked to the press because he saw a TV report of Quist’s liens, and his wasn’t listed as one of them. So he talked.
It's not good. In fact, it might be the nail in the coffin. Poor workers shouldn't screw over other poor workers.
It wouldn’t be until May 2016 that Quist’s myriad debt problems were solved.
He sold off a “successful stretch of real estate,” which really just means a bunch of the land bordering his home.
The lawsuit from the former band member is about a box set of music that Quist released in 2011, but which that other member didn’t get royalties for.
That lawsuit was dismissed, probably because a deal was worked out to share royalties.
Quist blames that problem on his medical issues. To me, he’s just a guy scratching and reaching for whatever way he can make a little bit more money to pay off his debts.
Instead of tar and feathering someone like that, we should be happy they’re responsible.
We know that 80% of Americans are in debt and that 18% never expect to pay it all off.
All told, Quist made $13,798 last year…about $4,000 less than I did.
The Gazette tells us that he made more money from social security than he did from his music.
This often happens when you take the road less travelled.
Some people are like my parents, going to school, getting a business degree, and then working the same job for 25 years…in this case the State of Montana.
They make about $35,000 to $40,000 a year, eventually get retirement (with medical insurance) and a few years later social security.
This is smart, but not that adventurous or memorable.
When people like that die, no one really knows or cares that they were ever here to begin with.
Some people are like Rob Quist and I: maybe going to college, getting a ‘worthless’ degree, and then pursuing our interests and passions as opposed to a paycheck.
We’ll make about $13,000 to $17,000 a year, eventually work a ton of extra jobs over the years to help out, and then when we turn 65 we might get a little bit of social security.
This 'following your dreams' is a more dangerous route, but one that can catapult you to very high levels if you work real hard and maybe get lucky.
When people like that die, there’s a good chance that people the world over will take notice, perhaps mourn a bit.
So these are two life paths, and they have different results and are fraught with different problems.
- Lots of people are wondering why Quist wasn’t vetted well-enough.
- Some wonder why Schweitzer chose to endorse this person.
- Others are wondering how Dems can win the seat back from Gianforte in 2018.
I’m not one of ‘em.
I’d like to see Quist win, and despite knowing in my head that he probably can’t, in my heart I believe he can do it.
Heart has a lot to do with it.
Passion…commitment…desire…these are all key ingredients when it comes to putting our heart into something.
I don’t see a lot of heart put into GOTV efforts, like the door-knocking event in Helena today that’s only drawing 9 people (though 27 more are interested).
So it’s frustrating, I know.
- I have a Quist sign up in my window, one that 3 to 5 cars a minute are seeing as they head up my busy street.
- I’m ready to put a sign in my yard and a sticker on my bumper.
- I use this platform to get out my voice, hoping that it’ll make a difference.
I’m not sure it will.
Regardless, I won’t give up until the night of May 25.
Still, at that point I’m planning on putting up a post-mortem post describing how Quist lost and how a future loss can be prevented.
Head vs. heart, right?
Well, I need to tell my head to take a backseat for the time being. Quist can still win this!
No one thought Trump would win, but he did.
Thankfully public lands week will be over tomorrow. Then Quist can start talking about the issues that really matter to the majority of Montanans – money.
Quist has a lot of experience with money woes.
The good news is that most Montanans do too.
It’s time to talk about that Rob…everywhere and to anyone that’ll listen.
Oh, and did these Lee Newspapers stories about your finances make you mad, Rob?
Good.
Let us see it.
Let us see that anger.
But don’t just let us see it, funnel and direct that anger at Gianforte and everything he stands for.
It’s time to take the gloves off, Rob.
They never should have been put on in the first place.
Forrest Anderson’s Medical Problems
Yes, I’m talking about Governor Forrest Anderson, who served Montana from 1969 to 1973.
Can’t remember that far back? No problem – most don’t.
Heck – my mom and dad were still in high school when he was in charge, getting ready to go to MSU and Carroll, respectively.
Back then it cost about $1,500 to go to college for a year.
My how times have changed!
Anyways, back in October 1971 Anderson announced that he’d not be running for a second term as governor. The reason was his health.
He’d undergone a hernia operation in 1969, though experienced digestive problems afterward, problems that were “aggravated by the busy schedule.”
He’d had the operation at a Seattle hospital and later sued them, “saying doctors mistakenly removed his pancreas.” He lost the lawsuit.
Anderson made it clear he’d be going back to his law office. “I just can’t quit,” he said. “It’s not in my nature. I’ve got to do something.”
He was still relatively young, at 58-years-old, but made it clear he’d not be backing any candidate in the primary election. “I don’t believe in the crown prince system,” he said. “I personally don’t like it and it never works in Montana and I think that’s healthy.”
“The heir apparent,” the Billings Gazette told us upon Anderson’s sudden announcement, would be lieutenant governor Thomas Judge. It was Judge that won in ’72 and Anderson stepped down in ’73. He’d served in all three branches of Montana government – the executive, legislative, and judicial.
On July 20, 1989, Forrest Anderson was “in good spirits” in his home in Helena, according to his wife Evelyn. She headed out on an hour-long outing and that’s when Anderson shot himself in the stomach with a .38 caliber revolver. He’d been suffering from cancer.
“I would think he just got damn tired of being sick,” Gene Daly, a former State Supreme Court Justice and longtime friend said of it. “I know he was unhappy about being incapacitated.” A note was left but the contents were not divulged. Forrest Anderson was 76 years old at the time.
You can learn more about our state’s recent history in my 352-page book Soldiers and Statesmen.
What Else?
Well, there’s probably a lot.
Here in Missoula I thought I’d mention that the new, 488-bed, $38 million student housing complex being built across from the library is going to be managed by a Texas company.
So not only will UM lose residence money from students that go live in this new complex, but private landlords and property companies will lose it too.
They’ll lose it to Texas, where most of that money will go. So much for keeping it local, eh?
Nationally, it looks like Trump and Ryan can’t get rid of Obamacare.
I like Trump’s style – move on and try something else. I wish George W. Bush would have taken that tact instead of wasting so much time on privatizing social security.
Imagine how much worse your life would be right now if Bush had gotten that through.
It’s been about 10 years…do you think social security would even have any money in it still if the rich 1% had had their way with us?
I doubt it.
The good news to me is that we’re moving closer to single payer.
It’s an inevitability, though it might take another decade.
Once the Baby Boomers have all died then we know the Gen X’ers and Millennials will have a clear road to get the job done.
Finally, I’m really looking forward to April 20.
No, not because it’s a huge pot smoking holiday.
That’ll be the day the next MT Dem finance report is out.
I’ll look at the GOP one as well, but the Dem one is where we have problems.
Remember, while Quist struggles with getting enough campaign donations to make a viable run, the MT Dem Party spent $780 on eating out in February, $20,000 on salaries for 7 people, and transferred $25,000 to the DNC.
So I can’t wait for April 20 so I can hold them accountable again.
Will it make a difference?
I doubt it, but I do have a feeling that an email has already been sent out telling people to not eat out so much…or at least cover up those expenditures better.
Ah…MT Democrats – so much potential, and yet so weighed-down by a lack of honor and integrity.
But at least they have their big paychecks. My how they love those, even more than winning!