It’s never quiet in the political world – there are only so many days until the next election so you can bet the candidates are out and about shaking hands and kissing babies.

The “leaders” in D.C. took 75 minutes out of their busy schedules to meet about the debt crisis – so we take about 75 seconds to look at that, plus we have the hoedown date, some polls, a running mate announcement and much much more – so read on!

Running Mate:

The Missoulian reported that “Republican Neil Livingstone of Helena formally kicked off his campaign for governor Sunday by announcing state Sen. Ryan Zinke of Whitefish as his running mate.”

Read the story HERE.

Livingstone is reportedly the first candidate for governor to announce his running mate – which makes sense since Montana is such a large state and having two candidates will make the state easier to cover.

It’s also nice to see two military veterans running for public office!

This just might trigger more announcements of running mates in the upcoming months.  I am keeping my calendar clear in case I get the call.

You can visit the Livingstone/Zinke website HERE.

New Campaign Ad:

The Billings Gazette reported “A group with ties to Republican strategist Karl Rove is funding a TV ad in Montana attacking U.S. Sen. Jon Tester for “reckless spending,” one of several ads bashing Democratic U.S. senators up for re-election next year.”

Read the whole story HERE.

Of course, Tester did not like the TV advertisement.  It’s probably not so much fun now that he’s the incumbent with a voting and spending record that has crippled the country.

Hoedown Time/Mark Your Calendars:

The Montana Democratic Party sent a notice that the “2011 Sieben Ranch Barbecue & Hoedown” will be held August 13 (that’s a Saturday) at the Sieben Ranch.

Although the invite read, “Join U.S. Senators Max Baucus & Jon Tester” the fine print stated “Contributions to Montana Victory 2012 will be allocated as follows: Friends of Max Baucus 50%, Montana Democratic Party 50%.”

Maybe Tester gets free food…

75 Minutes:

Reuters reported late yesterday that President Obama and Congressional leaders met for 75 minutes on Sunday “in talks aimed at cutting the U.S. budget deficit and averting a debt default.”  Read the whole story HERE.

Wow, meeting for a whole 75 minutes – the issue must be really important – thanks for making this a priority…

Unemployment:

President Obama’s White House senior adviser David Plouffe was quoted saying, “People won’t vote based on the unemployment rate, they’re going to vote based on: ‘How do I feel about my own situation? Do I believe the president makes decisions based on me and my family?’”

What a jerk.  Maybe Mr. Plouffe should wake up every day (like many of us do) and not have a job to go to – maybe Plouffe should sample some unemployment compensation and see what we feel like when all our bills can’t be paid – and maybe he should be made to feel (like many of us do) that we no longer matter in the world.  

Maybe Plouffe should just be fired… 

The Hill Poll:  Neither party stands tall in voters’ assessment

The Hill reports that “The latest opinion poll conducted for The Hill indicated that a majority of voters believe both parties are motivated more by their search for partisan advantage than a desire to enact good policy.”

I think we knew that.  Read the whole story HERE.

Coming to the Center?

“A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 52% of Likely U.S. Voters think President Obama is more liberal than they are.” But, “…that number has reached a new low.”

Read the whole story HERE.

Be sure to follow Jack on Twitter @TheWesternWord for updates!  Columns are normally posted by 9:00 a.m. each weekday here at The Western Word – and when breaking news dictates!