1 November 2018 — 1051 mdt

Political briefs

North Dakota’s racist election laws. At Slate, Mark Stern has a detailed report on North Dakota’s attempt to disenfranchise voters living in that state’s Indian Country. The state’s election laws, revised after Democrat Heidi Heitkamp’s narrow U.S. Senate victory in 2012, are as ugly as anything devised during the Jim Crow era down south.

Independents appear to be breaking for Democrats. A post by Miami University poly sci prof Kevin Reuning at the WTHH blog reports that self-identified independent voters are breaking for Democrats by a two-to-one margin in early voting, a trend also identified in the MTN-MSU poll led by MSU political scientist Dr. David Parker. This could be evidence that the blue wave is building, and building strongly.

All still a-Twitter on the Breckenridge front. The debate over whether Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Rick Breckenridge endorsed Republican Matt Rosendale continues. I remain convinced that he did, and that he did so in a insouciant manner that contributed to the fog of politics, and aided the Libertarian Party’s efforts to control the damage done by a candidate gone rogue. My friends at The Montana Post disagree. There does seem to be general agreement that Breckenridge’s maneuver occurred so late in the campaign that it won’t help Rosendale. Update. At Montana Public Radio, Eric Whitney’s story on Breckenridge’s endorsement of Rosendale has a transcript of Whitney’s conversations with Breckenridge.

Union wins Three Fork lockout battle. The Boilermakers probably are tossing down a boilermaker or two in celebration. They should. Imerys Talc America met the union’s demands, and the men are going back to work. They had solid support from Gov. Bullock, Sen. Tester, PSC candidate Andy Shirtliff, and many others, and maintained their solidarity and spirits. Give them a well earned triple Hoorah! Give Imerys a well deserved Bronx cheer for its unwise attempt to strongarm the workers. The next time Imerys’ managers are tempted to start a lockout, they should instead take a powder.