Amanda Curtis - Representing the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party

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Monday August 18, 2014 · 11:52 AM PDT

2014/08/18 · 11:52

Over the weekend, Montana Democrats nominated Amanda Curtis to be their candidate in the upcoming Senatorial election. She replaces Sen. John Walsh, who ended his campaign after being accused of plagiarism, and will face Rep. Steve Daines (R-Koch Industries). Pundits, even before her nomination, have given her no chance to win. Why?

Because Montana is a "red" state? Because her opponent, Rep. Daines, is such a political juggernaut? Because Ms. Curtis is such an inexperienced legislator?

Montana is hardly a "red state" - 7 of 9 of its state-wide elected officials are Democrats. Although it usually supports the Republican presidential candidate, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Auditor, Superintendent of Public Education, as well as both U.S. Senators are all currently Democrats. Only the Attorney General and U.S. Representative are Republicans. A lot more blue than red there.

Daines has spent one undistinguished term as Montana's sole member of the U.S. House of Representatives. His approval rating has hovered around 40%. He was leading Sen. John Walsh in most polls, mainly due to his huge lead in fundraising. Who was donating to Rep. Daines? According to opensecrets.org, his two biggest contributors are Elliott Management, a Wall Street hedge fund, and the Koch Industries. These two entities most certainly are making these donations out of their deep concern for the citizens of Montana and not because they see the opportunity to own a senator on the cheap, right?

Amanda Curtis is young, smart, articulate, outspoken, and passionate. She espouses the type of grassroots populism and citizen participation that should be the hallmarks of the Democratic Party. She has the exact amount of legislative experience that Daines does (admittedly in the state legislature rather than Congress) and more than Walsh does. Plus, she has the sort of "pull herself up by her bootstraps" story that would make most tea partiers stand up and cheer, if they actually cared about such stories. Watch her Tedx Talk in the link to hear her story.

Amanda Curtis Tedx Talk

Also, Rep. Curtis posted a series of videos that she recorded after each session of the legislature, basically explaining what happened there each day. Contrast this with the practice Rep. Daines uses to communicate with his constituents - I bet he reads letters from the Koch Brothers. Besides being an incredible exercise in transparency, her videos provide great insight into the kind of campaigner and legislator that Amanda Curtis is. I encourage everybody to check out a few of these videos on her channel on YouTube.

Amanda Curtis YouTube Channel

I'm not saying she doesn't face an uphill battle given the timing of her candidacy - she certainly does. But this race is by no means over. Amanda Curtis has much more than a puncher's chance but she needs our support. She's exactly the type of candidate that progressives should be embracing. Her constituent-driven, common sense approach is much more in line with the interests of Montanans than the "Wow, I can't believe how much money these out of state corporations are willing to donate to little ol' me!" policy of Rep. Daines. The Koch Brothers are trying to buy themselves a senator in Steve Daines and they're trying to do so at bargain basement prices. Let's make sure that they fail in their quest (or at least that they have to pay full retail for the seat!)

Support Amanda Curtis! She will be great for Montana and great for America!

Three Dimensional Chess...

ToddB

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Monday August 01, 2011 · 12:12 AM PDT

2011/08/01 · 00:12

Now that this contrived debt ceiling debacle is over or close to over, we will undoubtedly be hearing how Obama is playing chess and his opponents are playing checkers. That is all fine and good until you consider that the game being played is actually fucking checkers.

The President is clearly the smartest guy in the debate. Listening to McConnell, Boehner, Cantor et al., I'm often amazed that they graduated high school, let alone found their way to the positions they are in. Yet time and again, they outmaneuver the much smarter President because, while they don't know much, but they do know one thing: the President desperately wants to be "the adult in the room" and will do ANYTHING to seem reasonable. So like a pack of 5 years old, the Republicans remain obstinate until the parent in the supermarket caves and gives into her tantrum throwing children's wishes and buys them the bag of candy.

Cutting spending in the current economic environment is simply insane. It will hurt the economy in the short term, it will hurt the economy in the long term. Every rational economist agrees. Yet these economists, no matter how many Nobel Prizes they have collectively won, are dismissed as shrill, while the morons or liars who claim the economy of the U.S. is directly analogous to a family's budget are hailed as "experts" and "very serious people".

Short-term government spending in a recession is not only not a problem, it's the solution. Period. End of story. The U.S. has the ability to borrow at very low interest rates. And money should be borrowed and invested in the nation's crumbling infrastructure. This spending creates jobs, which creates consumer spending, which creates business investment, which leads to more jobs and so on. This economic expansion leads to increased government revenues which leads to reduced government debt. And as an added bonus, this investment improves the nation's competitiveness in the world economy.

Yet the President insists on playing the game on Republican turf (checkers) rather than on his own (chess). And the Republicans keep changing the game so that he's not even playing on their turf, he's playing to the right of their turf. And the game isn't even checkers anymore but a contest of who can roll around in a pile of shit and emerge smelling the least putrid. And in this game, everyone and everything - even the "adult in the room" - ends up smelling like shit.

Edwards should NOT drop out

ToddB

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Thursday January 10, 2008 · 8:21 AM PST

2008/01/10 · 08:21

Do all the people here who are calling for Edwards to drop out also cheer every time Harry Reid capitulates or Nancy Pelosi reiterates that impeachment is off the table? They certainly haven’t been paying attention to his campaign. The core message of his campaign isn’t about poverty or "Two Americas" or anything like that. It’s about fighting for what you believe in. Quitting after finishing 2nd and 3rd in two primaries is the antithesis of this message.

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