Montanan's Vote

Democrats face off in U.S. Senate race 5/10/06 Three Democratic candidates in the race for U.S. Senate debated Tuesday for what's expected to be the final time before the June primary. Questions of ethics and who is best qualified to take on Republican Sen. Conrad Burns provided the liveliest exchanges in an otherwise friendly forum.

For months, Burns' ties to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff have been political fodder for his opponents. But questions of ethics have emerged within the Democratic field following recent news stories about State Auditor John Morrison's handling of a securities investigation close to a woman with whom he once had an affair.

Morrison said Tuesday he is proud of the work he and his office have done, from progress in making health insurance more affordable to protecting senior citizens from fraud and scams. Missoulian

Why the Morrison Affair Matters 4/20/06 Earlier this month, newspapers across the state reported that State Auditor John Morrison had a 1998 affair with the wife to be of a man his office later investigated for securities fraud. Superficially, the story is that Morrison, a Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful, once had an extramarital affair, but he says it didn’t influence his work.

But as Morrison rails against incumbent Republican Sen. Conrad Burns for alleged ethical missteps (see the Morrison campaign site www.bootburns.com for example), the affair and its fallout in the Auditor’s office raise questions about Morrison’s own conduct. Missoula Independent

Democrats in...Montana? 4/20/06 In this issue’s election preview, TL previews Montana’s competitive senate seat. For those of you that read the preceding sentence and did a double-take at the phrase “Montana’s competitive senate seat,” hear me out. Despite voting for Republican presidential candidates overwhelmingly, including delivering its three electoral votes for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004 with over 60% of the vote, Montana is becoming a purplish state. In fact, other than their devotion to Republican presidential candidates, Montana might look rather progressive. Democrats have just taken over both the State House and Senate, hold one of the two US Senate seats, and in 2004 Montanans elected Democrat Brian Schweitzer to be Governor. Schweitzer first gained recognition nationally by taking on Republican Senator Conrad Burns and narrowly losing by a 52-47 margin. Now Schweitzer is a leading advocate of alternative fuels to improve America’s economy and environment. Turn Left

Montana Congressional Candidate on Leading Edge with Online Campaign 4/20/06 We've been tracking how political candidates in Western states are utilizing the Web in their campaigns and by far, Eric Jon Gunderson, a Frenchtown Democrat running for Montana's single House of Representatives seat wins for most dynamic Web site with his www.gunderson4congress.com. New West

Candidates for Democratic Senate nomination hold first debate 4/18/06 Democrats have keyed on Burns' links to disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the focus of a Justice Department investigation into possible congressional influence-peddling. Tester, John Morrison and Paul Richards are all seeking their party's nomination to run for Burns' seat. The primary election is June 6. Helena Independent Record

Constitution Party gains strength 4/10/05 The conservative Constitution Party, which calls the Republican Party too liberal, has fielded a record 20 state legislative candidates for this fall’s election, a turnout that some Republicans worried could hurt their own party.

Although still little more than a political curiosity, the Montana Constitution Party is already influencing, at least to a small degree, campaign decisions made by Republicans this year.

In one legislative district, Republicans didn’t even offer a candidate because they didn’t want to split conservative votes with the Constitution Party candidate and end up handing a the seat to a Democrat.

And worse, Republicans say, the Constitution Party could steal enough conservative votes to give Democrats wins in two other districts.

With the House currently tied 50-50, even just one loss in a conservative area could really sting. Helena Independent Record

Republican hosts Baucus event 10/12/05 A lobbyist, one-time top aide to Republican Sen. Conrad Burns and Cabinet secretary under two Republican Montana governors is hosting a $2,500-a-person "NASCAR Fundraiser" for Democrat Sen. Max Baucus in Georgia this month.

Leo Giacometto, Burns' chief of staff from 1995 to 1998 and former Cabinet member for Republican Govs. Marc Racicot and Judy Martz, confirmed Wednesday he is hosting the fundraiser in Atlanta on Oct. 30.

Neither Giacometto nor Baucus would provide a copy of the fundraiser invitation. However, The Hotline, an online Washington, D.C., political journal, detailed the invitation in its Tuesday edition. Billings Gazette

Beltway Bucks 10/9/05 Desolate Carter County is where the blacktop ends. Literally.

About 20 miles south of Ekalaka, the county seat, Highway 323 — the north-south route that connects Ekalaka to the county’s other town, Alzada — becomes a gravel road. On a wet day, it’s gumbo, usually impassable.

After trying for almost half a century to get federal money to pave the road, Carter County two years ago joined a growing number of state and local government entities in Montana and hired a Washington, D.C., lobbyist. Since then, the county has spent $92,250 in public and private money on lobbying in Washington for the road project.

The investment seems to be paying off. Congress gave more than $8 million for the project in 2003 and allocated another $9.6 million this year, a total of more than $13,000 for every one of the county’s 1,324 residents.

Not bad for a sparsely populated county in Montana’s extreme southeast corner, where the U.S. Census Bureau counts 0.4 persons per square mile. Helena Independent Record

Crowley, Engen offer contrasts in first mayoral forum 10/01/05 Mayor candidates John Engen and Lou Ann Crowley are both progressives, avowed Democrats with social consciences and members of the Missoula City Council.

But how are they different? Please be stark, a news media panelist asked them both at a forum at the Caras Park Pavilion on Thursday evening.

Thank you for asking, the candidates told the panelists and an audience of barely 50 people who attended the forum. "To be blunt, and stark, I've got 20 years on this guy," said Crowley. Missoulian

Group names Burns one of Washington's "most corrupt" politicians 10/01/05 Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., has been named one of the 13 "most corrupt" members of Congress by a Washington, D.C., group that Republicans accuse of having close ties to the Democratic Party.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington cites Burns' relationship with Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who has been indicted on criminal charges. It specifically points to Burns' involvement in awarding a $3 million federal grant for poor tribal schools to the Saginaw Chippewa tribe of Michigan, one of the nation's richest tribes and Abramoff's client.

It also cites a trip two of the senator's staffers took to the Super Bowl on a jet leased by Abramoff.

CREW spells out its charges on the Web site www.beyonddelay.org. The title is a reference to House Majority Leader Rep. Tom Delay, R-Texas, who was indicted on campaign-finance charges earlier this week. Bozeman Chronicle

Rolling Stone picks Schweitzer as nation's 'hot' governor 10/01/05 Rolling Stone magazine ranks Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer as the nation's "hot governor" in its 2005 "Hot List" issue, but a planned story about Schweitzer and his photo wound up on the editing room floor.

Instead, Schweitzer received his mention in the crawler running across the bottom of one of the 50 pages in the Rolling Stone's 20th annual "Hot List" issue. Someone from the magazine called Schweitzer a couple of months ago and interviewed him briefly, and the Rolling Stone requested photos. Missoulian

Portrait bound for U.S. Capitol pays tribute to Montana congresswoman 10/1/05 The Montanan who was the first American woman elected to Congress is perhaps best remembered for casting the sole vote in the U.S. House against entering World War II.

But the late Jeannette Rankin would rather have been remembered for being the only woman in Congress to vote to give women the right to vote.

On Thursday, she was honored at a ceremony in the Library of Congress to unveil her portrait, the newest addition to the House arts collection. The painting by New York artist Sharon Sprung will hang in the U.S. Capitol, among a sea of faces of white men.

The Montana native was first elected in 1916 — at a time when few states had given women the right to cast a ballot. She served another two-year term in 1940. Great Falls Tribune

To Help Gulf Coast, Town Tries Returning Pork Barrel 9/28/05 How it started, no one is exactly sure. Tracy Velazquez says she bolted awake in the middle of the night during the Labor Day weekend with a thought:

Why not give back Bozeman's share of the federal money that some have derided as pork in the recently signed $286 billion transportation bill, and use it to help rebuild the ruins left by Hurricane Katrina?

The money, by the standards of the $62 billion already appropriated for hurricane measures, is small change - $4 million for a parking garage.

To some fellow Bozemanites, the proposal was a pipe dream. Nobody gives back money to the government. But there was life to the idea. New York Times

Recount expected as 3 votes separate Crowley, Badenoch in mayoral primary 9/14/05 Missoula native and City Councilman John Engen landed far ahead of the other five candidates for Missoula mayor in Tuesday's primary election.

But whether he will campaign against Lou Ann Crowley or Geoff Badenoch may be up in the air: The two candidates finished three votes apart, Crowley in second place and Badenoch in third. Missoulian

Judge grants Jore hearing over assets 9/13/05 A judge Friday granted a hearing on Rick Jore's request to exempt his assets from a $15,600 judgment against him by the law firm that won for his opponent in the tug of war over the House District 12 seat.Missoulian

Justice goes missing in Lake County 9/9/05 No one should lose his property because he lost an election. Not in Montana. Not in America. The results of last year's House District 12 election are finally complete. Justice lost. Missoulian

Montana Democrats select veteran operative 9/7/05 Jim Farrell, a political consultant and former spokesman for the late U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, was named Tuesday as the new executive director of the Montana Democratic Party.

Farrell, 41, succeeds long-time party executive director Brad Martin, who left to work for the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C.

Party Chairman Dennis McDonald, who announced the appointment, called Farrell a "seasoned political operative" who has broad experience helping elect Democrats and a "commitment to expanding the Democratic Party's grass-roots support." Billings Gazette

Greens petition to get on ballot 9/6/05 The signatures need to be handed in for validation in early March, 82 days before the primary election on June 6.

Frazier is the Montana Green Party's statewide coordinator; it dispenses with titles like chairman. Greens in Bozeman, Missoula and the Flathead Valley are also collecting signatures.

"We need someone in Butte and Great Falls," she said. "I'd like to have some help." Anyone interested about helping can contact her at greenfuture2000@yahoo.com. She can send an electronic copy of the petition for those who want one. Billings Gazette

Image, gift of gab pay off for Montana's governor 9/6/05 The Democratic governor of this red state was discussing his "God-given" political gifts while seated in his gubernatorial aircraft.

"You know, if John Kerry could do what I do, he'd be president," said Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who was a mint farmer until last November and is now being talked about as the kind of brassy populist the Democrats need to win back the White House.

Schweitzer, broad of shoulder, red of face and sure of self, was barnstorming in Big Sky country, sweet-talking local Republicans, praising random Montanans for the excellence of their dogs and slapping backs in barrooms. He was advertising all that he has done for the 917,000 people of his state since they elected him as their first Democratic governor in 16 years. Schweitzer won by 4 percentage points, while Kerry lost here by 20 points.

In the airplane between the mining town of Butte and the ranching town of Dillon, Schweitzer diagnosed the big picture: how Democrats could change their losing ways, seize the levers of power and be, well, like him.

"Be likable, be self-deprecating, don't be a know-it-all using a lot of big words," said Schweitzer, 50, who mixes plain speaking with blue jeans, a bolo tie and cowboy boots.

"In politics, it doesn't matter what the facts are," he said. "It matters what the perceptions are. It is the way you frame it." Seattle Post Intelligencer

Putting the Big Sky In a Populist Frame Montana's Rookie Democratic Governor Shows Party What It Takes in Red State In Montana, he continued, the best way to frame an issue is to get horses and guns into the picture. Schweitzer arrived at this epiphany, he said, after getting beaten in 2000 in a race against Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.). Washington Post

Strategic pep talk shows why Dean's the life of the party 7/17/05 Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean wowed a partisan crowd here Saturday night, telling Democrats they can take back the country "vote by vote, door by door" by standing up for their convictions on health care, social justice, moral values and other core issues. Great Falls Tribune

State Democrats vie for top post 7/16/05 Montana Democrats decide today who will lead the party the next two years, and although they have a real contest on their hands, they vowed Friday that they'll unite behind the winner to build on their historic electoral wins of 2004. Great Falls Tribune

Bargaining for A Health Care Breakthrough 7/15/05 On June 30 four Senate heavyweights, Republican chairmen Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Mike Enzi of Wyoming, and the ranking Democrats on their committees, Max Baucus of Montana and Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, introduced a pair of bills to address two of the fundamental problems in the health care system. One would put the government squarely behind the effort to bring information technology into the struggle to reduce medical costs and eliminate clinical errors. The other would begin rewarding health care providers who can demonstrate improved quality of care. Washington Post

Horse sense: Baucus, Schweitzer back rancher 7/03/05 In an unusual move, two of the state's leading Democrats - U.S. Sen. Max Baucus and Gov. Brian Schweitzer - have thrown their weight behind Melville rancher Dennis McDonald to become the next chairman of the Montana Democratic Party. In addition, three veteran Democrats - labor leader Gene Fenderson of Helena, marketing businessman Pete Talbot of Missoula and former congressional candidate Tracy Velazquez of Bozeman, are vying for the post at the party's convention in Great Falls July 15-16. Bob Ream is stepping down as Democratic state chairman after eight years and helping restore the party to power. Billings Gazette

Democratic hopeful makes campaign stop in Bozeman 6/24/05 A Democratic state lawmaker hoping to unseat U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., stopped in Bozeman Thursday to say she will work with both sides of the aisle to pass legislation good for Montanans. Bozeman Daily Chronicle

BPA consultant gets more than $350,000, but for what? 6/20/05 The Bonneville Power Administration, which forced managers last year to make deep budget cuts and is under pressure to raise rates, has spent more than $350,000 since 2001 on a well-connected Capitol Hill consultant whose mission and results have been largely undocumented. Seattle Post Intelligencer

Regional primary would deliver clout Howard Dean, former Democratic presidential candidate and now the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, traveled to Montana this month to speak to the Western Democratic Caucus. He found Western Democrats heartened by their recent electoral gains, especially in Colorado and Montana, and he asked them to bring that Western energy to bear in helping the national party shape its message. We're way ahead of him: Western Democrats have already been calling for a coordinated Western primary or caucus. Denver Post

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