Democrats are trying to reassure the DC press corps that they are feeling good about 2014 in Montana, after losing out on all of their desired top-tier candidates.
Politico: Democrats feel good about Montana 2014
Montana Lt. Gov. John Walsh, the Democratic candidate for Senate, has hired several veterans of Sen. Jon Tester’s successful 2012 reelection campaign for his own team.
This helps gives the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee confidence that the former leader of the Montana National Guard can keep the race for the seat being given up by retiring Sen. Max Baucus, also a Democrat, competitive.
After touting the DSCC’s claim that Walsh has hired a team with “deep Montana roots,” Politico noted that his campaign manager is coming up from New Mexico. Montana Media Trackers previously pointed out that Mayorga is a former Planned Parenthood “organizer.”
When you know they’re stretching….the DSCC used the astro-turf protests by an Obama campaign front group called The Montana Organizing Project to justify their alleged opposition to Daines in Montana. Montana Media Trackers was all over that one too.
Meanwhile, Roll Call reports that Congressman Steve Daines (R-MT) will soon make his expected run for the US Senate official:
Rep. Steve Daines, one of the last remaining 2014 Senate recruit holdouts, is expected to announce his decision by the end of this year, according to a Montana Republican source familiar with his thinking.
To this point, Daines has refused to offer a timeline for a decision about whether to seek the Big Sky State’s open Senate seat, a top GOP pickup opportunity. He’s also noted that Montana voters want a shortened election season after a nearly two-year battle last cycle.
Whether he’s officially in or not, Daines is already raising money like a Senate candidate, bringing in $643,000 in the third quarter and ending September with more than $1.1 million in cash on hand.
The UVA Center for Politics’ Larry Sabato released his latest “Crystal Ball” report. Here’s what he had to say on Montana:
Out west in Montana, we’re keeping that race rated as Leans Republican, as new Democratic recruit Lt. Gov. John Walsh is very much a political unknown at this point, having been elected as a part of a ticket and having never held office previously. However, it’s worth noting that Rep. Steve Daines (R) has still not entered the Senate contest even though he is widely expected to. Like Cotton, Daines voted to end the shutdown and raise the debt ceiling; the nomination is basically his if he wants it, and all indications are that he does. He might be just delaying his entry into the race to put some distance between himself and the shutdown.
Speaking of Arkansas, they’ve got an important US Senate race there as well. As I first mentioned on Voices of Montana Wednesday morning, new polling indicates:
ARKANSANS BLAME DEMS FOR SHUTDOWN
A recent University of Arkansas poll indicates more Natural State voters blame Democrats than Republicans for the recent partial federal hutdown. The survey shows 37 percent blame Democrats while 26 percent blame Republicans, results that could bode well for Republican Senate candidate Rep. Tom Cotton. According to Washington Examiner, recent polls have Cotton in a statistical tie with Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., in the state’s 2014 Senate race.
The above summary came via the Fox News First morning e-mail Thursday.
Add to that, what about all of these Senate Democrats now advocating for a delay in Obamacare?
Jim Geraghty’s headlines at National Review say it all…”Conventional Wisdom Completely Reverses Within 48 Hours”…”That Extreme, Reckless, Unserious GOP Idea Is Now Absolutely Necessary”
When it comes to the crowded US House race in Montana, recently announced GOP candidate Matt Rosendale (R-Glendive) has been making the rounds, and took questions from the crowd in Great Falls.
The Fairfield Sun Times has this:
Asked if he supported state’s rights, Rosendale replied, “You bet! Thirty five percent of our land in Montana is [federal] public land. I support the efforts of the American Lands Council to return the federal land back to the control of the state.” He went on to say that the Heritage Act should be an issue left up to the state’s citizens.
A retired Navy veteran and former Homeland Security worker asked Rosendale if he supported the Second Amendment. “I agree with [Supreme Court] Justice Scalia,” Rosendale Replied. “The Second Amendment was not put there to protect the hunt deer. The Second Amendment is intended to protect against tyranny.”
When queried about protecting Malmstrom Air Force Base, Rosendale made it clear that the mission of the military must drive the debate, “The military can not be used as a tool of economic development.”