Another week is upon us and The Western Word (TWW) will be with you each and every day providing you with that independent commentary you’ve come to love and enjoy!  Have no fear; we’ll get through this week together.

If you are a new visitor to TWW, “Monday Morning Politics” is where I put together several of the political stories from the past weekend all in one place for your reading pleasure.  I also offer some commentary about these stories often laced with a little snarkiness…

Today I write about absentee ballots, being shipp-ed off, what’s in my mailbox, big money, 300 words, H.R. 1505, Keenan in Montana, spinning the numbers, unemployment 101, energy in the Obama campaign, and much more!

Absentee Ballots

According to this story, “Montana county election officials on Monday will mail nearly 170,000 absentee ballots to voters across the state for the June 5 primary election.”

That’s about a quarter of the folks who are registered to vote.  If you signed up to receive an absentee ballot, you’ll probably start receiving information in the mail and calls from the candidates this week (if the campaigns are on the ball).  I will try to share what I receive…I’ve already told one campaign to take me off their list. 

Jack’s Mailbox:

With the primary election quickly approaching, it’s interesting to see what shows up in my postal mailbox from the candidates, their supporters, and their non-supporters.  Enjoy!

-The Jim Shockley for Montana Attorney General Campaign sent a postcard in the mail that was nicely done:

-One of those “Special Interests” or “Third-Party” groups called Americans for Job Security sent an 8.5″ by 12″ flier to help Montana GOP Governor Candidate Rick Hill:

 Shipp-ed Off:

The Montana GOP sent me an e-mail on Friday informing me, “The Montana Republican Party announced today that Chris Shipp has joined their staff as Communications Director.  Shipp, a native of Billings, comes to the MT GOP from Congressman Denny Rehberg’s U.S. Senate campaign.  Shipp served as Political Director for Rehberg’s 2010 Congressional campaign prior to working as Press Secretary on Rehberg’s 2012 U.S. Senate race.”

I guess I missed the announcement for the job opening – but these hires are mostly done behind closed doors by party insiders and are not based on qualifications but on who you know.  I think there’s more to this hire than meets the eye, so if anyone has more information, e-mail me.  For now I will just say it looks like the Rehberg cartel has placed one of their own in the State GOP Headquarters to ensure the proper message is relayed, and to ensure everyone knows who the “big man” is in 2012.  This move may not be good for other GOP candidates…

Big Money:

On Friday Politico reported, “The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has purchased nearly $3 million in statewide broadcast time in the Montana race between incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and GOP Rep. Denny Rehberg, a highly reliable media-buying source told POLITICO.”

With that money, they could have purchased a Montana television station and a few radio stations as well as a newspaper or two…

300 Total Words:

Lee Newspapers published a story about the U.S. House candidates and their comments on health care, taxes, energy, abortion, defense, and the economy.  They asked “each candidate to answer all five questions in 300 total words or less.”

You can read the Democrats’ responses HERE and the Republicans responses HERE.  They did not ask the Republicans and Democrats the same questions.

For being the frontrunner, GOP Candidate Steve Daines had some pretty weak answers.  I thought his answer for “Do you support any cuts in defense spending” was not very well thought out.

Tribune looks at Governor Candidates:

All this week the Great Falls Tribune will be looking at the Montana Governor candidates.  It started Sunday with the GOP candidates and they are doing it in alphabetical order starting with Bob Fanning on Sunday and Rick Hill on Monday.

I just can’t stand the excitement, can you?

H.R. 1505:

According to an article in Sunday’s Missoulian, “A controversial bill that aims to shift authority over federal lands within 100 miles of the U.S. border to the Department of Homeland Security could be nearing a vote on the House floor…”

The bill is H.R. 1505.  Congressman Denny Rehberg is a co-sponsor.  U.S. Senator Jon Tester is against the bill and this, my faithful readers, is where the fun starts!

Like I’ve said on this website several times:

As far as I am concerned the folks who are protecting me can go anywhere they need to in order to keep our country (and me) safe.  You can call me naïve, but I don’t worry about things like this bill (or even the Patriot Act).  Freedom is not free – those of us who actually served understand this.

Nancy Keenan in Montana:

Lee Newspapers published a story about Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice, being in Montana last week urging Montanans to elect pro-abortion rights candidates.  Read the story HERE.

Keenan, you may remember, lost to Denny Rehberg in the 2000 U.S. House Montana At-Large race 51% to 46%.  The 2012 elections will be vitally important to her group as well as those in the Pro-life camp.

Poll Numbers – The Spin:

On Friday around noon, the Ken Miller for Montana Governor campaign sent me a press release with the subject, “NEW POLLING SHOWS MILLER GAINING ON BULLOCK” and saying, “Ken Miller, grassroots conservative and Tea Party-endorsed candidate from Laurel, was found to be gaining on the expected Democrat candidate, Steve Bullock, with the results of 41%-35%, with 24% of Montanans undecided between the two.  In November’s match-up between Miller and Bullock, the results were in favor of Bullock by 40-31.  In a Hill-Miller match-up, a 35% of voters are still “Undecided”, and all other candidates trail in single digits behind the two.”

I would assume that after reading the press release from the Miller campaign, the Rick Hill for Montana Governor Campaign decided that they needed to bring Miller back down to earth.

Around 4:00 p.m. the Hill Campaign sent a press release with the subject, “the latest poll numbers” in which they said, “With just one month until the Primary Election, Rick holds a 21-point lead over his nearest primary opponent.  In a proposed General Election match-up Rick is tied with likely Democratic nominee Steve Bullock: Rick Hill 39% — Steve Bullock 39%.”

A little advice for the Hill campaign:  Stop reacting and go on the offense.

A little advice for the Miller campaign:  It might be time to ask Sarah Palin to come back to Montana and campaign for you…

Unemployment Explained:

In the Washington Post’s Wonkblog by Ezra Klein, he posted an article by Brad Plumer called, “The incredible shrinking labor force” that explains the unemployment situation in the United States very well.  Read it HERE.

Plumer writes, “…about 35 percent of Americans who have dropped out of the labor force since the recession began in 2007 do want a job, but they have become too discouraged to fire off résumés.”

It’s still tough out here in the real world…

Obama kicks off campaign:

President Obama officially kicked off his campaign this past weekend at Ohio State University and then he held a campaign event in Virginia.  Read about it HERE.

There was more energy and excitement during Obama’s first day of campaign rallies than in any rallies I’ve seen from Mitt Romney so far.

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