Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.
Do public opinion surveys commissioned by Democrats show John Walsh with an uncomfortably narrow, and possibly diminishing, lead over his primary opponents, 77-year-old John Bohlinger and Dirk Adams? Is that the reason the Montana Democratic Party endorsed Walsh the day before filing for the primary closed and is now attacking Bohlinger and Adams? Was the endorsement triggered by a fear that Walsh isn’t raising enough money to afford a primary? Are the party’s grand pooh-bahs simply punishing Bohlinger and Adams for having the temerity to exercise their constitutional rights and run for office in defiance of an edit that there shall be no primaries?
Whatever the reasons, endorsing Walsh was heavy-handed and not necessary. Walsh will win the primary. It’s less likely, but certainly not impossible, that he will win the election in November.
The party’s endorsement of John Lewis for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House is a different matter. Lewis’ primary opponent, John Driscoll, is a rogue Democrat who won the 2008 Democratic primary in a flukey situation, didn’t campaign, and in the end, in as lowdown an act of political sabotage as ever committed, endorsed the Republican, Denny Rehberg. Treachery like that must not be forgiven, should not be forgotten, and cannot be ignored when a reprise is attempted.
Lewis, a strong candidate, will beat Driscoll, but he’ll have to spend money to do it. That could weaken him in November if his fundraising efforts are weak, which may be Driscoll’s plan. The party’s executive committee was right to endorse Lewis.