It’s always interesting to watch elected officials or candidates posturing as they approach election season.  Both sides of the aisle do it and it’s up to the voters to decide how much they like or dislike it.  It’s also fun to write about!

Back in June, I wrote that the key battleground area for the 2012 Montana U.S. Senate race is Great Falls (Cascade County) so Great Falls residents will probably be seeing more and more of Congressman Denny Rehberg and Senator Jon Tester between now and November 2012.

It’s happening and, of course, The Western Word (TWW) will try to keep on top of it!

The Meeting of 13:

I happened to catch an article in Wednesday’s Great Falls Tribune (next to the obituaries) that said Rehberg was forming an advisory group regarding the new START Treaty – and the “inaugural meeting” was being held in Great Falls that afternoon.

For you non-military folk, Great Falls (Montana) is next to Malmstrom Air Force Base (AFB) which controls 150 intercontinental ballistic missiles that are placed strategically across central Montana’s landscape.

According to the story, the group will be “made up of more than a dozen Great Falls area government, business and former military officials.”  After the meeting, the Tribune reported that “13 local government, business, military and retired military officials met with U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg.”

I don’t know who makes up the group of 13, but I do wish them well.  Faithful readers may remember that here at TWW I was writing about the START Treaty from the onset – I’ve actually read the Treaty (yawn).  You can see how I feel about the Treaty by checking out my six columns about it by clicking on “Categories” on the right side of the screen.  Then select “START Treaty” from the drop-down menu.

Politics:

There’s a very good chance that Rehberg will be taking on Tester next year for Montana’s junior senate seat, so anytime either one of them does something, the other one gets asked to comment about it – that’s the fun part of politics!  The Tribune reporter filled that slot with a quote about Rehberg’s meeting from Tester’s spokesman, who said:

“Jon is pleased that after nearly two years of negotiation and debate, Congressman Rehberg is finally interested in learning about the bipartisan treaty and how it keeps America safer,” it said. “Working closely with the Air Force, military experts from both parties and the community of Great Falls since the beginning, Jon determined the treaty was the right call to strengthen America’s security with a minimal impact on Malmstrom.”

“Rehberg is finally interested in learning about the bipartisan treaty and how it keeps America safer.”

That last sentence was a “Ba da bing ba da boom” moment…

Losing:

I really don’t agree with the “minimal impact on Malmstrom” part as Tester, Sen. Max Baucus, and Rehberg allowed 50 missiles to be taken from the base in 2007.  With the new START Treaty, Malmstrom may lose another 10 or more missiles or even close for good.

You can bet your last dollar that somewhere in the Department of Defense (DoD) closing a nuclear missile base (or two) is on the radar because they need to save a lot of money – a lot of money.  The folks in the DoD don’t care about the economic impact on a community – especially communities where elected officials have no clout with the DoD.

Plus, jets and planes are just sexier…

Just for Fun:

For example, for jets we see Tom Cruise playing the leading role; for missiles we get Slim Pickens (even though Pickens was a pilot, he was associated with a missile).  Check out the attendance at an air show with the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels and one where they just show a missile transporter.  Even the missile crews started wearing flight suits several years ago because pilots are just so freaking cool.  Most missile officers don’t climb the “General ladder” very far to make an impact, but fighter pilots do.  Anyone who has been in the military knows that bases with planes are just more fun…

Seriously though, missiles, planes, and ships are all equally important to our security and defense.

Winning:

We’ll continue to see the posturing from the elected officials because we accept it and play along with it if we support them or the cause.

Tester campaigned in 2006 and was able to get Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid to say that he would give him a seat on the Appropriations Committee if elected – and he did.  But now, since spending (bringing home the bacon) has become a black mark on an elected official’s résumé (and because we are out of money), maybe Tester or Rehberg will campaign in 2012 saying they will fight to get a seat on Senate Armed Services Committee or a seat on one of the two appropriations subcommittees that make a difference in the military:  Military Construction or Defense.

With Malmstrom AFB being so important to Great Falls, the candidates must convince the voters in that area that they are best person to keep the base from closing – but that will take some posturing…

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