Final Nail: Will Walsh Resign from the Senate?

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Aaron Flint posted on July 24, 2014 14:21 :: 9088 Views

Even liberal columnists are now saying this was the final nail in the coffin for the Walsh campaign.  Will Montana Democrats name a replacement for appointed Sen. John Walsh (D-MT)?  Will he resign?  If so, the clock is ticking for Montana Democrats. 

For those who missed it yesterday (I was on the road and was limited to Twitter and Facebook posts), The New York Times delivered a scathing report documenting plagiarism by Walsh.  Click here for the original story, and below you will see the spin that is now coming from Walsh.

The full page by page breakdown is here:

Breitbart’s Dan Riehl has this:

Well, that didn’t take long. Although, to be fair, the Huffington Post turning so quickly on a military man isn’t exactly a shock. At this point, one has to wonder when the calls will begin for Walsh to withdraw.

Huffington Post: Chalking Up Montana As A Democratic Loss

I had intended to write a column today to take an overview of all the close races for Senate seats. Every so often, I like to take a look at what the chances are for both parties to make gains in November (or, this year, to see whether the Republicans are going to gain a majority, realistically). Instead, after seeing the recent news from the New York Times, what is now called for is kissing goodbye any chances that the Montana Senate seat up for grabs will stay Democratic. To be blunt: there is now exactly zero chance of that happening, and we should all chalk up one guaranteed Republican gain in the Senate. The revelations that John Walsh plagiarized a major paper in college have now completely torpedoed his chances for retaining the seat. To be fair, there was little chance that Walsh was going to win in any case. But the difference between “little chance” and “no chance” can be measured in hope. There is now no hope for Democrats in Montana, this year.

Of course, this wasn’t your typical college- and he was 46 at the time…

And here’s more from the left, as Slate’s David Weigel writes: Plagiarism Probably Just Ended a Senate Race in Montana

OK, Democrats, here’s the good news: Montana Sen. John Walsh was not likely to win his race this fall. No poll showed him winning; the only ray of hope, recently, came in a PPP survey that showed him trailing Rep. Steve Daines by 7. This was not seen by anyone as a jump-ball race like North Carolina’s or Colorado’s. The Democratic “firewall” had been built elsewhere.

The bad news? Jonathan Martin’s reporting has revealed that Walsh, formerly adjutant general of the state National Guard and formerly the state’s lieutenant governor, clearly plagiarized sections of the essay that completed his degree from the Army War College. The story gets more brutal with every paragraph, but strong men may start weeping (or laughing, depending on partisan affiliation) when they see that the essay in question was 14 pages long.

CNN:

 

 

The Daily Beast: Dems Have Time to Find a New Candidate

Montana Democrats shouldn’t expect Brian Schweitzer to save them from the plagiarism scandal swirling around incumbent John Walsh, but they do have a little time to find a new candidate if they want to replace him.

Under state law, Walsh has until August 11, 85 days before the election, to withdraw from the race and allow the Montana Democratic Party to select a replacement. However, a source close to the former Montana governor told The Daily Beast that “there is no chance” that Schweitzer would replace Walsh on the ballot in November.

Walsh, who was already trailing in the polls, received what one Montana political insider called “the final nail in his coffin” when the New York Times revealed Wednesday that he had plagiarized his final paper for his master’s degree at the Army War College.

AP: Bullock Stands Up for Walsh Amid Plagiarism Report

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said Thursday he had no knowledge that Democratic Sen. John Walsh had plagiarized his master’s thesis when he appointed the former lieutenant governor to the Senate in February.

Bullock joined national Democrats with a statement supporting Walsh, whose apparent plagiarism was first reported Wednesday by The New York Times. Walsh is now campaigning to keep the seat in November.

You can also expect an angry backlash from some veterans for Walsh trying to blame PTSD for his 2007 plagiarism.

Breitbart.com: Senator says he had PTSD when he wrote thesis

Sen. John Walsh of Montana said Wednesday his failure to attribute conclusions and verbatim passages lifted from other scholars’ work in his thesis to earn a master’s degree from the U.S. Army War College was an unintentional mistake caused in part by post-traumatic stress disorder

Here’s what one retired senior enlisted soldier who served under Walsh had to say via Twitter:

The NRSC has a full compilation posted here as well:

New York Magazine explains, “this was not the youthful foibles of a naive twentysomething but the shady work of a 46-year-old who apparently did not know how well Google works. …And, no, it wasn’t just sloppy footnoting or missing quotation marks: “In other instances, Mr. Walsh swaps a synonym for a word in the original document, and condenses sentences.” In other words, Senator Walsh’s excuse (“This was unintentional and it was a mistake, there were areas that should have been cited differently but it was completely unintentional,”) is completely and utterly false.

WashingtonPost.com: On what academic planet does a 14 page paper merit John Walsh an M.A.?

Also, this Breitbart.com piece is now on The Drudge Report- Senator says he had PTSD when he wrote thesis

Political scientist David Parker of Montana State University said Walsh’s thesis combined with the reprimand raise questions about the senator’s integrity.

“If this were it, in isolation, I don’t think it would be a big deal,” Parker said. “But now we’ve got two issues of honor and competency.”

Post by Bob Brigham.

Thursday, July 24, 2014 10:01 PM

“Uncle Jimbo” over at BlackFive.net stole my thunder and summed it up best when he wrote (quoting):

“If you were an honest person before you went to war then coming back with PTSD wouldn’t turn you into a cheat.”

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2014/07/plagiarizing-senator-claims-ptsd-made-him-do-it.html

It is my considered opinion that any former military member who voluntarily enlists to march under the democrat-socialist banner has already abrogated their Oath to the Constitution.
…evidence: jean-françois kerrì, chuck hagel (yeah, he used to be a republican), wes clark, john murtha, al gore, charley rangel, ted kennedy, jimmy carter…..

For that matter, some of former military “progressive” republicans aren’t any better:
john mccain, lindsay graham, chuck hagel (yeah, started out in the GOP)….

A background of military service is NOT necessarily an unimpeachable recommendation for political office.

I’ve often said, “Wearing the Uniform doesn’t make you a Sinner OR a Saint.”

Remember that when you vote this November.

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