Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.
Updated with the name of the burly guy. When she accepted the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, State Rep. Amanda Curtis became a major public figure. So did her husband, although to a slightly lesser extent. With that status come two things she’d rather not have, but can’t avoid: video trackers, and a major loss of privacy.
Both major political parties employ video trackers, the eager young men and women who follow and record the opposition’s candidates, hoping to catch or provoke an embarrassing moment that can be used against the candidate later. In 2006, for example, Sen. George Allen (R-VA) lashed out at a Democratic tracker, calling him a “macaca,” which the public considered a racial slur. Allen lost a close election to Democrat Jim Webb.
A tracker caught up with Curtis on Sunday, video recording her (below) as she entered an automobile in an alley in Missoula. She and burly Ward One Councilman Jason Wiener handled the event poorly. Curtis hid her face with a notebook. Wiener removed his name tag, a standard tactic for a constable up to no good, then walked toward the tracker, interposing himself between the car and the tracker, and getting in the tracker’s face. Some might consider it low level thuggery.
Only shooting the tracker would have been a worse way of handling the situation.
Trackers will dog her the rest of the campaign, just as Democratic trackers will dog Republican Senate nominee Rep. Steve Daines. She and her entourage must smile and wave at them, greeting them like long lost family, even bringing them donuts and coffee. That’s not going to be easy, but it’s absolutely necessary.
Curtis will learn to handle these situations adroitly. Her entourage, especially those members of it who hate trackers and reporters, who have bullyboy temperaments, will have a much harder time being civil and smart. But unless they want to star in TV ads for Steve Daines, they must behave as gentlemen, not goons.