It was quite an interesting weekend in the political world!  Have no fear, the staff here at The Western Word (TWW) were monitoring the newspapers across the web and checking out a few newscasts and newspapers to keep up with all the happenings in the world of politics.

Here’s what we came up with: the Rehberg Campaign and organized labor, the Tea Party and Montana GOP Convention, candidates lining up, Weiner-gate, the Montana PSC and much MORE.

Rehberg and Organized Labor:

Friday afternoons (especially in the spring and summer) are really not the best time to send out a 750+ word “treatise” on organized labor’s support of Jon Tester, but that did not stop Erik Iverson (Rehberg Campaign Manager and Rehberg friend) from doing so.

Here’s the main point:

So it’s a shame to see Al Ekblad, the newly minted head of the Montana State AFL-CIO, choose politics over the interests of Montana workers.  In a recent guest editorial, Mr. Ekblad threw his blind partisan support behind Senator Jon Tester, despite the fact Tester has supported President Obama’s job killing, big-city agenda 97 percent of the time.

After a few sentences I caught myself remembering the TV commercial for FedEx where the security officer at the airport is looking over some work by one of the passengers going through security and says, “I’m yawning. ”  He then turns a page and says, “I’m yawning some more.”  Then he snores.

Watch it HERE for a Monday morning laugh…

I did see that Iverson’s column made it into at least one newspaper.

GOP Convention and the Tea Party:

I’ve mentioned here at TWW that the Montana GOP is holding their convention in Butte next weekend.  Sadly with the economy in such shambles, high unemployment, and no money, the staff at TWW will not be able to attend what could be an historic event.

According to the Associated Press (story here), “A Tea Party advocate is making a run for chairman of the Montana Republican Party…”  The AP also reports, “Tea Party advocate Mark French of Paradise says the GOP has not done enough to protect individual liberties.”

The current GOP chairman is Will Deschamps.

Last year around this time we learned that Denny Rehberg joined the House Tea Party Caucus that was founded by Rep. Michele Bachmann.

It appears the Rehberg team may be in a pickle – keeping the Tea Party folks happy and keeping his cartel in place with the Montana GOP leadership.

So, will Rehberg support fellow Tea Party member Mark French?  It should be fun to watch. The leadership vote happens on Saturday morning.

Weiner-Gate:

I guess there are even more photos of Anthony Weiner circulating around the web.  Most of the Democratic leadership in Congress wants him gone (mostly because they don’t want to lose the next election over his shenanigans).

As for Rep. Weiner, he took a leave of absence to get some help and may finally be considering resigning.  I don’t really care – but I think it should be up to his constituents to decide something like this unless he broke the law in some manner.

It is fun to watch someone who was such a jerk get nailed though.

Candidates for Montana Governor:

Lee Newspapers ran a story about some more people who may be looking to run for Montana governor in 2012.

You can read the story HERE.  (Note:  Be prepared to yawn…)

Proving that even a blind squirrel can find a nut or two once in a while, Lee Newspapers also did another story about possible candidates for other state-wide offices.  You can read it here.

Montana Public Service Commission:

Although the soap opera at the Montana Legislature ended a few weeks ago, the Montana Public Service Commission is carrying on in grand style.  The Associated Press reports, “A majority of Montana Public Service Commission members have rejected one commissioner’s attempt to examine the private cell phone records of two others.”

That request was just pure silliness.

GOP Polling:

Mitt Romney leads the list of GOP candidates for President in a recent Gallup poll.  Sarah Palin comes in second in the poll.  Palin and Romney were the only people in double digits.

Herman Cain was third. You can read about the poll HERE.

Closing:

Have a great week and be sure to fly your flag on Tuesday – it’s Flag Day!