Last Wednesday I commented about a Guest Opinion in the Great Falls Tribune written by the Vice President of the Progressive Democrats of Montana, Mr. Gene Fenderson. It was titled, “Montana’s longtime senator has not served working folks very well” in which he points out some of the problems his group has with U.S. Senator Max Baucus, D-Mont.

The Western Word tries to be fair…

Today the Montana AFL-CIO has come to Max’s defense with a Guest Opinion in the Great Falls Tribune written by Mr. Jim McGarvey who is the Executive Director. His opinion was titled, “Don’t be deceived: Working Montanans have clout with Max” in which he points out some of the good things his group thinks Max has done. I could not find it online.

Hmmm, two democrat groups fighting about the leader of the Montana Democrats. That’s odd to say the least. They normally circle the wagons and the unhappiness does not get out into the public.

I was kind of surprised to see this from the AFL-CIO. We all know they predominately support democrats, but I thought they might not be so supportive of Baucus because of his support for NAFTA, or the trade deficit with China which according to the AFL-CIO has cost Montana 2,500 jobs. But Mr. McGarvey contends the Montana AFL-CIO will endorse Max Baucus in 2008 “no matter who his opponent is.” That’s a pretty strong statement.

But across from Mr. McGarvey’s Guest Opinion was a letter from Roberta Stewart who wrote, “I wanted to tell Gene Fenderson that I really enjoyed his column about Max Baucus and agree that he is no friend to labor. I also agree that if that’s the best the Democrats can give us we could just as well have a Republican representing the wealthy. Every time Bush signs a bill Max is at his elbow, and so I’ll be with you on that walk and hope a lot more will join us.”

So now we will have the letter to the editor wars.

Max headed to Iraq this week

The Associated Press is reporting that Max Baucus will make his first trip to Iraq this week. As I commented on August 15 when I heard he was planning the trip: This trip will also fill an important block for his reelection campaign because in Washington, D.C., it’s all about winning the next election. Max will have some photos or film footage to show, stories to tell and some talking points to use during the debates.

Some folks probably are also wondering why he’s going to Iraq since he is now against the war. The answer is it’s about filling a block for reelection.