| I've already voted for Dennis, and I'd be so proud if he were our Representative in Congress!
Dennis McDonald has raised more money (yes, I'm talking about total amount raised), has more ads up, has more name recognition, and has the right profile to beat Rehberg--and not just in Missoula. McDonald also has the backing of the post powerful constituency group in Montana, the AFL-CIO.
Like Jay said below, the candidates are pretty similar on their policy positions, where they differ is in experience, who they are as people, and ability to win.
He came out for single-payer when no one else had the guts, and you can be sure the Republicans want his opponents to beat him, as they've already proven by running ads against him. You can bet they've seen polling that shows him to be the stronger candidate against Rehberg.
I've known Dennis McDonald and his wife Sharon for several years and you won't meet anyone with bigger hearts. They and their four children own and operate the Open Spear Ranch in Melville, where they raise angus-cross cattle and performance horses. Dennis has long been a leader in addressing agriculture and trade issues critical to Montana's farmers and ranchers.
He has experience successfully passing progressive legislation. He pushed for laws such as the Country of Origin Labeling Act and the Montana Certified Natural Beef Program. He also founded the Beef-On-Every-Plate program, which has provided hundreds of thousands of meals to needy Montanans. His hard work led to his appointment in 1998 to the President's International Trade Advisory Committee for Livestock, for which he traveled extensively through the western hemisphere. In this role he fought against the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which he felt placed Montana farmers and ranchers at a competitive disadvantage.
He also lead efforts to raise Montana's minimum wage in 2006. Under his leadership, he made sure the Dems were key players in helping this pass, directing organizing staff and volunteers to collect signatures.
His vocal role as an advocate for the Ag community-he is founder of R-CALF, Montana's progressive ag organization-led to greater involvement in state politics when, in 2005, he was chosen chairman of Montana's Democratic party. His efforts to revitalize the party, particularly in rural areas all over the state, helped to elect Democrat Jon Tester to the U.S. Senate in 2006.
He know's what it's like to face true hard times. Early in his life his family lost their home in Kansas and moved to northern California to start over. To pay for college, he worked summer jobs in a cannery as a member of the Teamsters Union and as a Forest Service firefighter.
In his legal career, Dennis focused on representing injured individuals in cases against insurance companies and big corporations. One of his clients referred organized crime figure Jimmy "The Weasel" Fratianno to Dennis. Dennis helped Fratianno turn state's evidence against other mobsters. After contacting the FBI, Dennis worked with Rudolph Giuliani's anti-corruption taskforce and Fratianno's testimony eventually sent 26 high-ranking gangsters to jail.
He's been outspoken on women's rights, authoring a guest editorial in 2005 on the importance of the right to choose - before he was elected chair of the Democratic Party.
He's the only candidate that's visited all 56 counties, and he's the only candidate that hasn't attacked his primary opponent.
Overall, he has the experience, character, policy views, and backbone to be our next member of Congress. I've already voted for him, and I expect him to win tomorrow. |
