Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.
But they are, led by the party’s executive committee, and with a glee and meanness that tarnishes the party and probably helps Steve Daines shine more brightly. A determination to punish Bohlinger and Adams for having defied the wishes of the party’s grand pooh-bahs not to have a U.S. Senate primary in Montana is driving this foolishness, which sends to the rank-and-file, the Democrats who vote in the primaries, the message that they are not to be trusted with their votes.
The leadership’s argument that Bohlinger and Adams are not true Democrats stinks of moral decay. Bohlinger and Adams are, figuratively speaking, lately-come-to-Jesus Democrats, sinners who renounced their transgressions and now embrace the true faith. They’re being flogged not because of a past flirtation with the Republican Party, but because they didn’t genuflect to Harry Reid and the other Democratic honchos who fear a primary.
Three days ago I wrote:
The party’s endorsement of John Lewis for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House is a different matter. Lewis’ primary opponent, John Driscoll, is a rogue Democrat who won the 2008 Democratic primary in a flukey situation, didn’t campaign, and in the end, in as lowdown an act of political sabotage as ever committed, endorsed the Republican, Denny Rehberg. Treachery like that must not be forgiven, should not be forgotten, and cannot be ignored when a reprise is attempted.
Lewis, a strong candidate, will beat Driscoll, but he’ll have to spend money to do it. That could weaken him in November if his fundraising efforts are weak, which may be Driscoll’s plan. The party’s executive committee was right to endorse Lewis.
The executive committee’s endorsement of Lewis may have been at variance with most interpretations of the party’s rules. But it is consistent with the principle that a political party has an obligation not to help candidates who stand convicted of trying to sabotage an election, and clearly are running to reprise that foul deed. A party’s rules are not a political suicide pact.