There’s a lot going on in Montana politics this year, almost as much as in 2004. Will Jon Tester defeat Conrad Burns and take back the seat of legendary Senate majority leader Mike Mansfield ? Will Montana democrats retain control of the state legislature, or will some of the two dozen Constitution Party candidates that are running gain power and grind the legislative process to a halt? Will any of the right-wing constitutional initiatives pass and severely limit the state government budget? Will Governor Brian Schweitzer ever slow down and stop traveling and talking?
I will try to cover all these topics and more in these weekly state political roundups. Here’s the first short one below the fold.
Montana democrats are holding four Democratic Unity Day rallies around the state tomorrow on Friday, June 16th. The rallies will feature U.S. Senate candidate Jon Tester, congressional candidate Monica Lindeen, U.S. Senator Max Baucus, Governor Brian Schweitzer and State Auditor John Morrison.
The rallies will kick off at 9:45AM MST at the State Capitol Building in the Rotunda in Helena, and move to Missoula at 12:45PM at Neptune Aviation on Corporate Way, Great Falls at 2:30PM at the Holiday Inn on 10th Street, and finish in the state’s largest city Billings at 5PM at the Billings Depot on Montana Avenue.
This promises to be the biggest collection of state wide elected democrats gathered together in support of candidates for the U.S. House and Senate since the late 1970s. It makes an enormous difference when you have a charismatic governor who supports other dems, along with an electrifying candidate for Senate, Jon Tester. And I will happily eat my words that Max Baucus would never campaign for Jon Tester (long story).
Score: MT- Dems-1, Conrad Burns and Liddy Dole -0.
Be there if you can!
But sometimes our popular governor can talk a bit too much:.
John Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute in Washington, D.C., said Schweitzer’s statements about “sheikhs, dictators, rats and crooks” who run oil-producing nations are part of a wave of anti-Arab comments meant to find scapegoats in the face of rising energy prices.
Zogby said Schweitzer’s statements are especially disappointing because in 1999, while running for the U.S. Senate, Schweitzer had criticized U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., for calling Arabs “rag heads.”
“Now, sadly, it appears the governor has embraced Burns’ Arab-bashing ways,” Zogby wrote in a column that appeared Sunday in Gulf News, a news organization based in the United Arab Emirates.
Governor Schweitzer responds:
Schweitzer said Monday that many of the dictators and others to whom he referred are not Arabs, such as Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, leaders of Nigeria and the leaders of Kazakhstan, a country in central Asia.
Snip
The United States should choose its friends and enemies around the world based on whether they support our “way of life and our values,” Schweitzer said.
Although I understand the Governor’s point and the need to shock Americans into understanding how dependent our country has become on unsavory, unstable regimes, I believe a touch more diplomacy may be in order.
Score: John Zogby-2, Governor Brian Schweitzer-1.
In other news, $230K spent on ballot initiatives by anonymous donors. The three changes to Montana’s 1972 Constitution would limit state government spending to the rate of inflation (tried and failed in Colorado), allow the recall of judges for any reason (targeting the conservatively unpopular environmental and civil liberty decisions by certain judges) and prevent the state from condemning private land and transferring to a private party.
Signature gathering for these initiatives are being financed by unknown entities:
The money has come almost entirely from a recently formed political education group that isn’t revealing its donors, drawing criticism from opponents of the spending-limit measure.
“You see how the money is doled out, but you don’t know where it came from,” said Eric Feaver, president of MEA-MFT, the state’s largest employee union. “I think the public ought to know that.”
The campaign coordinator for the three proposed ballot measures, Winifred rancher and political activist Trevis Butcher, said Wednesday he’s confident the initiatives will get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot this fall.
Snip
He (Travis Butcher) also said MEA-MFT and AARP-Montana are part of a nationwide effort to oppose voter-approved government spending limits, so his forces need the help of paid signature-gatherers and consultants.
“We need to bring in (outside groups) to help coordinate our local people,” Butcher said. “If we’re going to have to go against their national effort to try to block this, we certainly need to be prepared to do what it takes to accomplish our goals and objectives.”
As for divulging his financial supporters, Butcher would say only that they are “organizations that believe in citizen-involved legislation and constitutional changes.”
I like how the right wing always has to hide their big buck supporters while they bludgeon voters into giving up their freedoms while hamstringing good government. There is a considerable push back against these initiatives within Montana, and I’m sure we will be hearing much more about them.
Score: Rightwing Fatcats-1, Transparency and Democracy-0.