2 July 2016
Racicot’s rant, Hillary meets with FBI, MWPA puts stump in its mouth
Former Republican Montana governor Marc Racicot never will run for office again. He’s 68, making big money in Washington, D.C., and has no reason to fear the wrath of Republicans who voted for Donald Trump. That’s why he’s willing to write an oped in the Washington Post, cudgeling Trump:
But after long and careful consideration, I cannot endorse or support their [Republican voters] decision to express their frustration, anger and disappointment by selecting Trump as the Republican nominee for president. Trump has demonstrated neither the aforementioned qualities of principled leadership, nor offered any substantive or serious conservative policy proposals consistent with historical Republican Party platform positions. Both, in my humble view, are indispensable preconditions to his selection as the Republican candidate for the office of president of the United States.
As a result, I cannot endorse or support Trump for president. And I offer my prayer for a second miracle in Cleveland.
My question for Racicot: if your prayer isn’t answered, if Trump is the Republican nominee, perhaps paired with a vice presidential candidate such as Newt Gingrich or Paul LePage, will you endorse and vote for Hillary Clinton? Or will you remain silent, perhaps voting for Libertarian Gary Johnson, or not casting a vote for president, hoping that Hillary wins without your help? I'll expect your answer after the GOP convention.
Lawyered-up, Hillary Clinton meets with the FBI to discuss her private email operation. Counting herself, there were six lawyers in her delegation. Two were aides who are also attorneys, and may have been there as witnesses instead as part of her legal team. Still, it doesn’t look good, as where there are lots of lawyers, there’s potentially lots of trouble. Instead of bringing her entourage, she should have brought just herself and one junior attorney to underscore the insignificance of the meeting.
Clinton’s defense of clinton-dot-com is that it was legal, which it probably was, but that it was a mistake, which it surely was, reminds me of Tallyrand’s famous remark, “it was worse than criminal, it was a mistake.” She has yet to admit that it was wrong in a moral sense, and that’s why the controversy won’t disappear. Now all she can do is lash herself to the mast and ride out the storm.
Bill’s chatting up Loretta didn’t kill Hill’s bid to be president. Some observers think Bill Clinton hurt Hillary by visiting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch during an airport stop this week. It looks a bit cozy, but if I were spinning the event, I’d say “All this proves is that Bill Clinton still has an eye for the ladies. That’s good because it means he still has his mojo.” Bill Clinton without his mojo is too sad a thought to contemplate.
The Montana Woods Product Association demonstrates how to bungle a political endorsement. Instead of endorsing no one, and making that crystal clear, the MWPA, undoubtedly trying to hedge its bets, tried to curry favor with both gubernatorial candidates, Democrat Steve Bullock and Republican Greg Gianforte. The latter treated the MWPA’s letter as an endorsement, which Gianforte then began touting.
Now the MWPA says it didn’t endorse Gianforte, something that Cianforte’s campaign, incredibly, disputes.
My advice for the MWPA. Endorse clarity. Get off the fence before your southern valley is as sore as the campaigns you’ve embarrassed.