After John Walsh withdrew his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, the conventional wisdom had a seasoned Democratic elder such as Nancy Keenan or Dave Wanzenried replacing him on the ballot. That probably won’t happen. Keenan, reports the Flathead Beacon, told Pat Williams Friday she would not run. This morning, Montana Cowgirl reports her sources told her that Franke Wilmer, the sixtysomething MSC professor and state representative, has decided to continue campaigning for election to the state senate.
There’s now developing an argument that because there’s virtually no chance Democrats can hold the seat, the replacement candidate should be a younger Democrat with statewide potential who would gain valuable experience by running in a statewide election. Amanda Curtis, an obvious possibility for Montana’s Office of Public Instruction in 2016, fits that description. So does Jesse Laslovich, the ambitious law and order former legislator, who may covet a crack at Montana Attorney General in 2016. Democrats would, I believe, be much more enthused by Curtis than by Laslovich.
Modesty supposedly has virtue, but certainly not in politics. The louder a candidate toots his horn, the better known he becomes. The brasher, the better. It’s a lesson Republican Congressional candidate Ryan Zinke has learned well.
After he released some of his military records, he told reporter Charles Johnson:
“To suggest that my career was anything but brilliant is dishonest,” Zinke said.
He may be right, but Lord is he careful not to say things such as “I believe my Naval career was constructive and honorable” that could be construed as understatement.
He hasn’t released all of his service records, and probably won’t. In fact, he probably can’t. Some, I suspect, are classified; probably rightly so. But not releasing everything that can be released enables Democrats to argue that he’s hiding something.
Perhaps he is, but he’s not the type who hides his bushel under a basket.
At Intelligent Discontent, Don Pogreba just posted his take on Zinke’s release of some of his military records.