| Pogie on Rehberg's vote against the GI Bill: "What's particularly egregious this time is that Rehberg is refusing to support our troops because he wants to protect the rights of Americans who make in excess of $500,000 per year. No, really."
Rehberg attacks Jim Hunt for wearing a uniform in a picture posted on Hunt's website. Dave Crisp joins those who think this is a dumb campaign move.
Lamnidae on Denowh et al's support for Democratic House candidate Judy Stang:
"I'm pretty sure that this is likely about gravel pit regulation, a topic that Rep. Clark has dealt with in the past in his work on the Natural Resources committee and elsewhere. It probably doesn't hurt that all that gravel hauling is pretty good business for the Motor Carriers Association members too."
Schweitzer's name is coming up pretty often in VP chatter. Still, conventional wisdom pegs Schweitzer as not wanting to walk away from his second term as Montana's governor.
Speaking of the Good Guv, he sure does interview well. Take this excellent interview on NPR. In it, he laid out some great foundations for reducing domestic energy use, while saving consumers money. He also lay the blame for the Iraq War where it belongs: ""If you want to find out who's responsible for this war, you need to look in the mirror. You are. You use oil, you've made us dependent on foreign oil." (Hat tip, Noelle Straub.)
The NRA endorses Schweitzer. That sucking sound you hear is Roy Brown's campaign. |
| Tester provided a retired judge with his records for an "ethics review." The records included our junior Senator's hiring practices, finances, expense reports, office policies, fundraising, and all of the earmarks Tester requested. He passed. Republicans snipe, but (a) invited Republicans denied to assist in the review, and (b) no Republican office-holder has matched Tester's commitment to ethics.
Speaking of Tester, we're seeing his name mentioned in light of Bob Barr's entry as Libertarian candidate into the presidential race. The general gist is that Stan Jones basically won Jon his Senate seat by stealing votes from Conrad Burns. But is that true? I've heard rumors that internal polls showing Jones "stole" as many votes from Jon as from Boss Hogg, which makes sense, given the ideological makeup of Montana. After all, Ron Paul's got plenty progressive support in this town.
And then there's Ann Coulter's weird attack on Jon Tester, accusing him of being...well...un-American. While Jack the Blogger falls victim to the argument that clothes should mandate a person's subservience to political ideas, Dave Crisp is right on in arguing that you can never tell a person's political beliefs based on appearance, especially in a place like Montana. Really, this is about Coulter trying to keep alive the idea that "normal" Americans are conservative, a Republican strategy since Nixon that the traditional media eagerly laps up. (And check it out - the right blogosphere went hysterical over a scarf. No, really.)
Here's a clear reason to vote for Obama next week: "Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama set his sights on the West on Tuesday, saying he will fight for states there that narrowly voted Republican in the last presidential election four years ago." In fact, Obama's election strategy depends on winning several key Western states, like New Mexico and Colorado. That means Western issues will play a role in the 2008 election, and that we'll probably see some real campaigning in Montana this summer. (Hat tip, Kari Chisholm.)
New West's Matthew Frank quotes a number of Western luminaries on why they think Obama is winning the West.
As the primary approaches, more candidates get their word out on local blogs. There's a guest post by HD82 candidate, Matt Cohn; a guest post by HD91 candidate, Dustin Hankinson; a guest post by HD100 candidate, Gary Brown; an endorsement for HD100 candidate, E. Willis Curdy; a guest post by Attorney General candidate, Mike Wheat; a guest post by Attorney General candidate, Steve Bullock; an interview with GOP Auditor candidate, Duane Grimes (in three parts);
JEFF gives the nod to Obama on the strength of his foreign policy statements: "Obviously, he's a politician and he's promised more than he can deliver. Some of his stances are annoying or just fluff. But he's not just the lesser of two evils, either. I think he's actually a good candidate."
Is Barack Obama a Muslim?
Wulfgar! examines the McCain-as-maverick meme and gives it the ol' Western flavor.
For a peek at what the real purpose behind "voter fraud" laws, just take a peek at Texas. |
