Walsh drops out of race for U.S. Senate/ Schweitzer, Bullock won't replace Walsh in Senate race

[Ptah]

Walsh drops out of race for U.S. Senate
HELENA – Montana Sen. John Walsh said Thursday he was pulling out of the Senate race because his campaign was distracted by the controversy over allegations that he plagiarized a U.S. Army War College research paper.

Walsh, a Democrat, said he decided to drop out of the race after canceling campaign events this week so he and his family could gather in his Helena home to decide his political future.

Walsh will serve out the rest of his Senate term, which ends in early January 2015.

The New York Times reported July 23 that Walsh had plagiarized large portions of the research paper in 2007.


http://missoulian.com/news/local/walsh-drops-out-of-race-for-u-s-senate/article_4963ce38-1e6b-11e4-9ba0-001a4bcf887a.html

Schweitzer, Bullock won't replace Walsh in Senate race
HELENA – A number of Democrats expressed interest in seeking their party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate to replace Sen. John Walsh, who ended his campaign Thursday.

And a number of prominent Democrats ruled themselves out, including Gov. Steve Bullock, former Gov. Brian Schweitzer, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau and state Auditor Monica Lindeen.

The Montana Democratic Party will call a state central committee nominating convention in the coming days to select a candidate to replace Walsh on the ballot and face off against Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Daines and Libertarian Roger Roots in the general election.

The two Democrats who lost to Walsh in the June primary, rancher Dirk Adams of Wilsall and former Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger of Helena, said they’re interested in the nomination, although Bohlinger said he’s not actively seeking the appointment.

http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/schweitzer-bullock-won-t-replace-walsh-in-senate-race/article_d65f142c-1e99-11e4-9676-001a4bcf887a.html

[VA_Jill]

1. BAD!

Montana Dems, in other words, are conceding the seat to Repugs. Great. And if every person who ever plagiarized something had to quit their job or post, there would probably be 50 vacant seats in the senate, 250 in the House, and God only knows how many empty slots in the military officer corps. Just saying.

[BlueMTexpat]

2. Not necessarily ...

some even believe that this could be a good thing, although it certainly is not a best-case scenario.

A current poll - with not too many respondents yet(!) - has three good women candidates in the running. See http://mtcowgirl.com/

Amanda Curtis currently leads six potential candidates in the polling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Curtis

Linda McCulloch, the current Secretary of State, currently ranks 4th. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_McCulloch

Franke Wilmer, formerly head of the MT Human Rights Commission, is currently ranked 5th. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franke_Wilmer

IMO, any one of these could be excellent.

[VA_Jill]

3. ONLY

if they can get elected! They are starting out significantly behind!!

[BlueMTexpat]

4. True ... but they are well known

in Montana ... even if no one here on DU knows them. That is where it counts.

But I was primarily responding to your earlier comment that MT Dems were just giving up. They have to play the hand they are dealt and Max Baucus leaving what would likely have been a sure seat and Brian Schweitzer refusing to run for the seat when everyone thought he would in the first place didn't leave them with much to play with.

Whoever was supposed to have vetted Walsh should have remembered the Karl Rove School of Dirty Tricks and ticked the "plagiarism" box along with anything else one could possibly ever think of. Plagiarism counts against a candidate - at least if that candidate is a Dem - no matter what a person has done with his/her life since.

Is it fair? No, but what in our currently dysfunctional political system is?

[brooklynite]

5. You're placing your hopes on a web poll by a political blog?

Walsh's chances were limited before this happened. Personally, I've written off MT and am focusing my efforts elsewhere.

[BlueMTexpat]

6. I think that you may be overstating what I said or at least meant, which was

that MT Dems are not necessarily ceding the seat. I certainly take your point about web polls. But if you had gone to the comments section in the link where there are some good comments by Montanans themselves, you might not be quite so dismissive.

It's early days yet with this new dynamic, although certainly late in this campaign year. Frankly, I never "write off" any race anywhere and no true liberal should. That's one reason why we Dems lose so easily in places where with some real "gumption" and good organization we could win or come close enough to make the GOP nervous - even in so-called "red" states. Howard Dean is one of the few Dems who really understands that - and it was Dean's DNC strategy that won Dems the most seats in recent years. So soon we forget ... sigh.

One reason why Walsh's chances were limited from the outset was because he was never the choice of MT liberals. And, as in most US elections, Montanans truly begin focusing on candidates in later months, so all is not necessarily lost. If anything, an election with a liberal Dem alternative (which Walsh wasn't) could still be a win-win situation, even if that candidate loses - as is more likely than not - at least right now.

My name should give you an idea that I do know a bit about the state. I will actually be in MT later this week. We'll all know more by then.

[VA_Jill]

7. I suspect

that MT liberals are few and far between. My brother and his wife may be the only two where they live (Hamilton), and they're immigrants from Washington. Near as I can tell, Montana is a pretty weird state politically. Schweitzer could probably have won in a walk, had he decided to run, but he's not exactly what I'd call a liberal; only on some issues.