It’s a cold and dreary Monday and there’s some fog.  Today’s weather is a perfect companion for a Monday.

In case this is your first time stopping by, Monday Morning Politics is the column where I take a look at some of the political news from the past weekend and put it in one place for all to see.  I also add my personal (sometimes sarcastic) commentary!

Today I take a look at a secret weapon, family affairs, another letter, the first commercial, health care, death row, having a heart, campaign ads, and much more!

Not So Secret Weapon:

Preston Elliott, the Campaign Manager for Senator Jon Tester, sent an e-mail on Friday with the subject, “Nail-biter” where he writes about a close election.  One thing that struck me funny was the line, “Once the polls close, there’s nothing else we can do to help Jon win.”

That’s not completely true.  Tester may have to again deploy his secret weapon – Governor Brian Schweitzer.  Folks may remember that Schweitzer bragged about his 2006 late night election work during a speech to the American Association for Justice.  One reporter wrote, “In the speech, Schweitzer insinuates that he tampered with the 2006 election” that Tester won by only 3562 votes.

Perfectly Legal:

The group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), issued a report called “Family Affair” about “how members of the House of Representatives use their positions to benefit themselves and their families.”

Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg is listed on page 193 of the report (Page 195 of the PDF).  CREW did not issue a report on members of the U.S. Senate.

ABC News did a story about it titled, “Being a Lawmaker Can Be Lucrative Family Business, Report Concludes.”  They also reported, “It’s perfectly legal and it’s bipartisan.”  The Executive Director of CREW, Melanie Sloan, was quoted in the story saying, “Often the scandal in Washington isn’t what is illegal, it’s what’s legal.”

By the way, Rehberg was not mentioned in the ABC story.

Helping the Postal Service:

As normal as the sun rising, the Montana Congressional delegation writes letters.  Then they issue a press release saying they wrote a letter.  Then the Montana media reports that a member of the Congressional delegation wrote a letter.

On Friday, Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester wrote another letter “reminding the U.S. Defense Department that Montana is the ‘ideal fit’ for the new C-130 aircraft mission.”

I, for one, am glad they wrote to the “U.S. Defense Department” and not to some place like Canadian Defense Department.  Seriously though – about all these letters do is help the postal service…

First Commercial:

When I heard on Friday that U.S. Senator Jon Tester would run his first campaign television ads this week, I asked a few friends what things they thought would be in his first campaign commercial.  They told me “farm” “tractor” “belly” and “only seven fingers.”

The results – We have the farm.  We have the belly.  We have the fingers, too.  But, we have a combine instead of the tractor.  As with most candidates, the first video is more of a reintroduction of Tester to the voters than anything.  You can watch the video HERE.

Another senator who is on The Western Word’s “most vulnerable senator list” list, Sen. Claire McCaskill (Democrat-Missouri), ran her first campaign ad in February.

Health Care:

With the U.S. Supreme Court getting ready to hear arguments this week about the “Affordable Health Care Act” (Obamacare), the Great Falls (Montana) Tribune asked the question, “Do you think the Supreme Court should strike down the Affordable Health Care Act’s mandate that all citizens purchase health insurance or pay a fine?”

With 376 total votes, 70% said YES and 30% said NO.  The results are not scientific.

I am not a lawyer (I don’t even play one on TV) but I think that mandate may be what sinks Obamacare.

Ronald Allen Smith:

The Great Falls Tribune is doing a two-part series about Smith, who is on death row for the murders of Thomas Running Rabbit and Harvey Mad Man in the summer of 1982.  Smith is a Canadian and reportedly the only Canadian on death row in the United States.

He was sentenced to die in 1983.  He has been living on appeals since then.  According to the Tribune, “On May 2, Montana death row inmate Ronald Allen Smith will appear before the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole to request his death sentence be commuted to life imprisonment.”  The Board will then make a clemency recommendation to Governor Brian Schweitzer.

In my opinion, Schweitzer should uphold the execution sentence. 

Heart Transplant:

Former Vice President Dick Cheney had heart transplant surgery on Saturday – we wish him well!

Outside Campaign Ads:

Lee Newspapers published a story on Sunday about “outside groups” running ads about Senator Jon Tester and Congressman Denny Rehberg.  They reported that outside groups have spent close to $3 million already.  You can read the story HERE.

No matter how impartial or objective a newspaper reporter claims to be, they have their beliefs and even the most seasoned reporters allow their views to seep into their reporting.  So when a reporter does an analysis of campaign television ads, it has to be taken with a grain of salt.

Lee Newspapers did an analysis of the ad from the 60 Plus Association (the Pat Boone commercial) against Jon Tester and found “Most of the claims in this ad are misleading or false.”

They also did an analysis of the ad from Citizens for Strength and Security ad against Denny Rehberg and found “Ad against Rehberg fudges on ‘voted for’ pay raises analysis.”

So, when you see the “outside ads” or “third-party ads” most of the time they are probably untrue…but they may be effective…

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Follow Jack on Twitter @TheWesternWord.