Clockwise from top center: Map of 2014 election, Curtis, Trump, Jim Larson, MT Cowgirl/boy, Pogreba, Scow, Gianforte, Quist
The special election for Montana’s U.S. House seat ended last night.
Greg Gianforte officially entered the race, claiming he has the support of 100 delegates, “enough to win a majority at the convention.”
And in my book, that ends it.
Democrats no longer have a chance, if they even had one to begin with.
They sure came out of the woodwork on Twitter last night, putting up all kinds of anti-Gianforte posts and memes and what have you.
It’s painfully obvious that they’re scared.
Let’s discuss it all.
Greg Gianforte officially entered the race, claiming he has the support of 100 delegates, “enough to win a majority at the convention.”
And in my book, that ends it.
Democrats no longer have a chance, if they even had one to begin with.
They sure came out of the woodwork on Twitter last night, putting up all kinds of anti-Gianforte posts and memes and what have you.
It’s painfully obvious that they’re scared.
Let’s discuss it all.
“Well, I think the demos are screwed now with GG throwing in his dino eggs.”
That was a quote that someone sent me this morning via email.
I like it because it points out two things:
- First, Dems are screwed now that the state’s billionaire Republican threw his hat into the ring.
- Second, Dems are going to rely on the same tactics to try and defeat Gianforte as they used last time.
Yes, the creationist museum, the sales tax, the out-of-state aspect, the views on refugees, views on gays, views on religion…you name it.
And why not?
As I said, it worked last time.
But that was with Bullock. Will it work with Quist or Curtis?
Those are the only two that have a shot at winning the Democratic nomination for this special election.
To my way of thinking, only one of them has a chance against Gianforte in the general.
“I sure don't see Curtis beating him and maybe Quist does better in rural areas but I think party elite already crowned her.”
That was another quote I got in an email today.
The person mentioned that “Quist made a big error” when he sat down with Bozeman reporters and said that he didn't see anything wrong with registering guns like cars.
That’s not something you really want to say.
Sure, it might be common sense and might even help the country, but the Republican right will kill him on that.
Overall, Quist still has the better shot. He’s more of a rural Democrat whereas Curtis represents the urban Democrats.
Quist might appeal to swing voters. Curtis will have a harder time doing that.
Over on ID, one commenter said that “if we are serious about running a progressive candidate with a chance of winning we need to eliminate the wrangling inside the party and get behind Amanda Curtis.”
I think this person is exactly right – if we are serious about going with a progressive, then Curtis is the one.
Sadly, I think if we go with a progressive we’ll be giving Gianforte a guaranteed trip to Washington for 2 years, and then a helluva start for him to go after Tester’s seat in 2018.
That’s what an Amanda Curtis run will result in – the Democrats losing this House seat for the 11th time in a row.
Now, will Quist do any better?
I’d like to think so.
For one, I just don’t know how he’ll do. I do know that Curtis already has one statewide loss under her belt.
A progressive candidate like Curtis simply won’t fly in eastern Montana. She needs to move more to the center, and she’s begun to do that, most recently with her Saturday official announcement video where she pointed out the similarities between her and Trump.
Still, that might not be enough. I just doubt that any Democrat can win this race.
Well, one could, but Brian's not running.
Hey, I like Brian. Again, we cannot continue to rely on this one man to be the savior of the Party, however.
He’s not running now, and what will we do in 10 or 15 years when he’s out of the game for good?
Democrats need to come up with a viable message that appeals to rural voters and they need to come up with candidates that can spread that message in an appealing, entertaining, and fun way.
Many, many commenters around the state are saying how clueless the leaders of the Montana Democratic Party are right now.
They sit in their Helena headquarters and…do what, exactly?
It’s now been nearly 3 months since the November losses, but despite that, we as a Party are not changing course, changing leadership, or even talking about what went wrong.
Instead we ignore what happened in November.
That’s not quite true.
We do march in the street the day after the inauguration.
Democrats are very pumped-up about that showing, as they should be.
Getting around 6,000 people to march in Helena on a cold Saturday is impressive.
Sadly, those 6,000 people aren’t going to win the special election. Most of them come from the cities that are safe ground for Dems anyways.
What we need is more of a push in the rural areas.
Again, we have to have a viable message that rural voters might be interested in.
What is that?
I’m not sure, exactly – let’s start talking about it!!!
I can tell you what that message doesn’t look like, however.
It doesn’t look like the writings that Carol College student Faith Scow keeps putting up on ID.
This young woman is clueless.
Is another abortion post really what voters in rural areas want to hear?
I know a lot of our women’s march voters love to hear this stuff.
Remember, these are the same people that can’t figure out why Dems keep losing in the state.
Honestly, at one point she justified having an abortion because “not only is raising a child expensive, but the expense of a pregnancy itself is a huge financial burden.”
She also mentions that “some women aren’t emotionally ready to raise a child.”
So why’d they get pregnant?
You’ll remember that I pointed out the exact same stuff back in June of last year that Scow is now pointing out. I earned my very own hate post from Pogreba for doing that.
It’s alright for Scow to point out the same things, however.
I can’t help but think Scow is the former debate student of Pogreba’s that he’s been rumored to be romantically involved with.
I think it’s clear with posts like those from Scow that these people have learned nothing from the November losses.
Perhaps other Democrats have.
The only ones that matter are the 135 or so that will be voting in the special election.
You and I will just be expected to vote for whoever they throw at us.
And don’t be afraid of voting for Gianforte if you don’t like the Dem choice.
Don’t be afraid to stay home and not vote at all.
Personally, I voted for Gianforte in November.
I did that because I thought he’d do a better job than Bullock. I felt he was a better human being than Bullock…more decent.
That’s why I can’t promise I’ll be voting for a Democrat this special election.
I’d vote for Quist…but Curtis?
I can’t promise that.
I see the Dems have started up their fake social media account to mock me again.
Why do I even care about this Party?
The Montana GOP sent me a fundraising membership letter a few weeks back.
I threw it away.
Maybe I shouldn’t have.
Come spring when this special election is over, I think it’ll be clear if the Democratic Party has any chances in the state anymore.
If they lose this one, I don’t see any reason why they’d have continued viability.
It’ll be interesting to see what the 135 or so important Democrats decide what’s best for all us unimportant Democrats to do.
As many already feel, it’ll probably be Curtis.
Remember, there’s nothing that says you have to keep voting for a losing Party.
Keep an open mind about the Republicans.
I sure will.
