DownWithTyranny!: Senate Developments: Hawaii And Montana

The news from Hawaii yesterday was great. Progressive Senator Brian Schatz beat corrupt conservative New Dem Colleen Hanabusa in the two Puna precincts on the Big Island that didn't vote in last weekend's primary because of Tropical Storm Iselle. Schatz went into yesterday's vote with a 1,635 vote lead. While Hanabusa spent the week whining about "voter irregularities" and making all sorts of demands to change the voting rules, Schatz was in Puna helping his constituents with storm recovery. Hanabusa's Honolulu-based district didn't include the Big Island and the voters there are less familiar with her other than reading about how she's the kind of Big Business oriented careerist Establishment type most people in Puna don't want anything to do with. 1,508 votes were cast in Puna yesterday-- 2,956 including early votes (dismal 36% turnout)-- and another 800 uncounted votes were discovered on Maui, scattered randomly across the county, on an electronic card. Hanabusa had to win better than 2/3s to overcome Schatz's lead. That isn't what happened. Hanabusa lost further ground as more votes were counted, with Schatz's margin expanding by 134 votes, giving him a final victory of 115,397 (48.5%)-113,628 (47.8%).

In all, EMILY's List wasted nearly three-quarters of a million dollars in Hawaii trying unsuccessfully to beat progressive male candidates-- in Schatz's case a progressive male Senator endorsed by every single woman senator who got involved in the race, including EMILY's List icon Elizabeth Warren-- with conservative women. They blew $697,891 bolstering Hanabusa and $49,971 bolstering far right reactionary Donna Mercado Kim, a religious freak who's commitment to Choice is highly suspect. EMILY's List has proven themselves to be, once again, the worst player inside Democratic Party politics. Meanwhile they flat out refuse to assist progressive women they have added to their list without giving any support at all. Shenna Bellows (D-ME), Kelly Westlund (D-WI) and Laura Fjeld (D-NC) could have really used that money to help them defeat dreadful Republican opponents. Instead, EMILY's List is still wasting resources trying to help corrupt conservatives like Mary Rose Wilcox (AZ) and Gina Raimondo (RI) in their bids to defeat progressive males.

Today, Montana Democratic Party officials are meeting in Helena at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds to select a replacement for John Walsh, the corporate Democrat who was appointed to replace Max Baucus when he left the seat to take an ambassadorship. A NY Times exposé-- of a plagiarism scandal-- made it impossible for Walsh to continue the campaign. The two consensus candidates, Brian Schweitzer and Franke Wilmer, both passed on the opportunity to run-- as did current Governor Steve Bullock, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau and state Auditor Monica Lindeen. That left a populist state Rep. from Butte, Amanda Curtis, and Dirk Adams who doesn't seem to have any political core values and appears to be the kind of person who will say anything to achieve his goals. Like most politicians. I asked another state Rep., Franke Wilmer, what she thought about the possibility of Curtis getting the nomination and going up against Daines.

"Amanda Curtis," she told me this morning, "can not only unify and excite Democrats, but also bring our message of restoring the American Dream to all Montanans to those undecided voters who have heard what Steve Daines has to say and don’t buy what he’s selling. That’s her path to victory. It won’t hurt that she can energize and get out the youth vote. We need to make sure she has the support to get her name and message to all Montanans. Amanda is a real person, not a profile, she pays her bills with her paycheck like most of us do, and spending long days with 15 and 16 years olds in the classroom for the past dozen or so years just might be the best preparation she could have for bringing some grown-up common sense to Washington DC."

The Daily Beast was less generous in their assessment, making a point about her having a nose ring as the centerpiece of their coverage.

In the scramble to replace Walsh (who dropped out last Thursday), Amanda Curtis has quickly emerged as the cream of a not particularly distinguished crop. Curtis, a first-term state representative from Butte who posted YouTube videos for every day that the Montana legislature was in session last year, has already received the backing of the biggest union in Montana and is attracting enthusiasm from liberal activists. In an interview with The Daily Beast, Curtis said she was “honored and humbled” to even be considered. The state representative, who isn’t running for reelection this year, said she “started getting texts, Facebook messages, emails, and phone calls” from “big Amanda fans” all over the state after Walsh dropped out. She made the decision to jump in after feeling it would be hypocritical not to run after her TEDx talk on "showing up and saying yes."

Curtis told the Daily Beast that, if elected, her top priority would be campaign-finance reform. However, on other issues, she still was sketching out her positions. When asked about the situation in Iraq and the Obama administration’s response, she didn’t have an answer. “I’m still studying a lot of these issues. I’m planning to listen to all sides and make these decisions listening to regular Montanans,” she said. She pointed out that “you have to appreciate please that I was painting my storm windows [this time last week].”

She also commented on what might be her most distinguishing feature, her pierced nose. Curtis said that she and her husband were just discussing this and she noted “I would probably be the first with something like that elected to the Senate.” But, it’s not a sure thing that the stud would stay in her nose through Election Day. Curtis worried that it might be “a distraction” and was “not opposed to [removing it] if it’s going to be an issue” in the campaign. In fact she was surprised that no reporter had asked about it already and told the Daily Beast, “You get the prize.”

…If nominated, Curtis faces some major obstacles to being elected in the Republican-leaning state. She’d have to raise sufficient money to compete and build up a campaign organization from scratch with only 80 days until Election Day. Further, while Democrats were hailing the progress Walsh was making in the race prior to the scandal, the appointed incumbent was still down seven points in the polls. Curtis ducked questions about polls and state of play, saying, “I’m not a political analyst.” She did insist that the race would be winnable if Daines would debate her. Although she admitted that she might “seem like a little bit of a long shot,” her plan was to just “swing for the fences” and to try to attract voters “who haven’t been involved in the process” or are simply sick of the status quo.