Today in the Billings Gazette, reporter Mike Dennison (who by far is at the top of the list as one of the best Montana reporters) wrote a story about Democratic Congressional candidate John Driscoll and his upset win in Tuesday’s primary.

Driscoll will be taking on Congressman Denny Rehberg in November. Libertarian Mike Fellows is in the race, too.

Dennison reported:

Driscoll, 61, a former state legislator and public service commissioner, also said he’s not really running against Rehberg and doesn’t plan to criticize the four-term congressman.

Instead, he’ll merely point voters to his stands on the Web site http://www.votesmart.org and campaign when it fits in with his family’s summer and fall travel plans.

So, being the inquisitive blogger, I went to www.votesmart.org to check for myself just what exactly Mr. Driscoll stands for. As with any survey, there may be more to a candidate’s beliefs than the “X” he/she places beside a sentence about an issue. Vote Smart does not call it a Political Courage Test for nothing. Shame on any candidate who does not complete the survey.

Here are a few of things I found that Mr. Driscoll favors/supports:

-Partial-birth abortion procedures should be legal.

-Favors increasing taxes on families making $12,001 and above

-Favors increase on alcohol, tobacco, capital gains, and corporate taxes

-Favors eliminating the use of the death penalty for federal crimes

-Supports amnesty for illegal immigrants already working in the United States.

-Supports Illegal immigrants getting a pathway to citizenship

There’s more. You can read it HERE. You can also read Congressman Rehberg’s answers to the Political Courage Test HERE. Libertarian candidate Mike Fellows has not filled out a 2008 survey yet, but his 2006 survey can be seen HERE.