Will The DSCC Try To Force A Weaker Candidate On Montana Democrats Again?

Having been mercilessly smeared for 6 years by right-wing media, Obama is now profoundly unpopular in red states. The ultimate "gotcha" moment for Republicans was when they were able to paint the president as dishonest in the "you can keep your healthcare if you like it" statement. Anyone who ever wanted to hate Obama now has all the reason they ever wanted. In Montana, his approval rating has sunk over 10 points since Tester and Obama were running for reelection last year and is now a dismal 34%. Democrats in red states and red districts aren't mentioning him. Smart ones, like former Montana Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger, an ex-Republican now running for the Senate as the progressive in a 3-man primary, are following the lead of progressive thinkers like Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley, Sherrod Brown and Bernie Sanders. Watch that video up top: "The first bill that I will sign onto," promised Bohlinger, "is S 897, Senator Elizabeth Warren's bill, titled 'the Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act'."

Bohlinger, who is running on a platform that highlights core progressive values-- from single payer universal healthcare (basically, Medicare for anyone who wants to buy it) to a tough position against unconstitutional domestic spying, is slightly ahead of the Baucus machine candidate, John Walsh, in head to head match-ups against likely Republican nominee Steve Daines. Daines leads both but his margin over Walsh is 52-35% but only 51-36% over Bohlinger. Ironically, it is progressive Democrats-- self-described liberals-- who are most wary of Bohlinger, knowing only that he's an ex-Republican and not that he's the progressive in the race while Walsh in the conservative corporate Dem with a cozy relationship with sleazy lobbyists and entitled Big Business executives.

Bohlinger would like the DSCC to stay out of the primary and let Montanans decide for themselves who their nominee should be, the way they did when they picked Tester over a Wall Street-oriented schnook named Morrison the DSCC tried dumping on them in 2006. As Gov. Schweitzer said last week, "Don't listen to the bullshit you hear in Washington, D.C. If the election were held today, John Bohlinger would win 2-to-1 over John Walsh. He's not going to raise the money Walsh is because D.C. has selected Walsh as their candidate. ... But the election isn't right now, it's next year, and the Democratic Senate machine in Washington, D.C. has their sights set on John Walsh, so he'll have a lot more money than John Bohlinger."

Yesterday Bohlinger launched a petition at MoveOn urging the DSCC to stay neutral until after the primary.

Montana Democrats should decide our senate nominee, not Washington, DC party bosses.

We believe the DSCC should abide by the Montana Democratic Party's ban on party intervention in the primary.

Philosophically, it makes no sense for political parties to boss political primaries.

But the objection is not just philosophical, it is pragmatic: DC usually backs the wrong candidate.

Here in Montana, our state party rules ban intervention in primaries. We let the voters decide and it is a smart policy.

But the Washington, DC based Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is trying to boss our 2014 senate nomination. The Senate Majority Leader even tried to prevent voters from even having a choice.

Adding insult to injury, new Public Policy Polling results show the candidate the DSCC is backing has *worse* poll numbers for the general election, in a race that could decide control of the US senate.

Washington, DC wants somebody who won't rock the boat. Washington, DC wants somebody who won't mention "single-payer" and talk about health care as a fundamental right. Washington, DC wants somebody who won't mention "Snowden" and talk about the need to restore the Fourth Amendment. Washington, DC wants somebody who will follow orders, not fight to fix the filibuster.

Montana voters deserve a choice. And Montana Democrats should be the only ones deciding who will represent us in the November general election.