Some very sad news to pass along today folks – Since I have not been contacted I honestly don’t believe I am being vetted for the Vice President of the United States slot that is currently open on the Romney campaign.  My dearly departed mother always thought I would make a good President or Vice President…

In case you’re dropping by for the first time, “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 sometimes laced with just a little snarkiness…

Today I talk about the F-15s staying in Great Falls, endorsements, party-line voting, still a toss-up, Pee-wee Herman and the Great Falls City Commission, and much more!

F-15s will stay in Great Falls:

U.S. Senator Jon Tester, who is up for re-election this year, scored a major public relations (PR) victory in the Great Falls (Montana) and Cascade County area with the headline, “Tester: F15s to stay.”

The newspaper headline was in the prime spot – on the front page of the Great Falls Tribune and on the top of the fold.  Later this election season, we’ll see that headline in a campaign commercial and maybe on some fliers because it is that big a deal.

On Saturday, Tester’s Senate office (the taxpayer-funded one) sent me an e-mail with the subject, “F-15s will stay in Great Falls” saying, “Yesterday I was in Great Falls to deliver good news: the F-15s are staying in Great Falls through the end of September 2013.”

U.S. Senator Max Baucus and Congressman Denny Rehberg both liked the news, but Montana Governor Schweitzer was a bit more cautious saying, “Until they write me a letter that starts in the first sentence ‘We declare uncle,’ we don’t back down.  I’ve been around this county fair long enough to know there are always a lot of rumors going around.”

Unfortunately, the F-15s are still scheduled to leave Montana, but that has now been delayed until September 2013.  Supposedly the Department of Defense (DOD) plans to replace the mission with C-130 cargo planes.  Many observers don’t believe that will happen.

The Congressional delegation (and the Governor) needs to fight to keep the F-15s well into the future.

Realistically all that happened on Friday was that the can was kicked down the road – past Election Day 2012…but it was a good day for the Tester camp with the headline.

Chamber Endorses:

The Montana Chamber of Commerce endorsed Denny Rehberg for U.S. Senate, Steve Daines for U.S. House and Rick Hill for Montana Governor – all Republicans – for the top three races in November.

To make it exciting, the Montana Chamber did stray from the GOP field by endorsing Democratic State Auditor Monica Lindeen and in the Secretary of State race they endorsed incumbent Democrat Linda McCulloch.

The Rehberg campaign sent a press release (but not to The Western Word) with the endorsement news, and the Hill campaign sent me an e-mail with the news.

I wonder if the Unions in Montana will endorse any Republicans this year…

Party Line Voting:

Politico posted a story Friday afternoon with the headline, “Rehberg’s votes: Overwhelmingly party line” in which they say that Rehberg, “votes with his fellow Republicans well north of 90 percent of the time most years.”

Back on June 15, I mentioned that in regards to “party line voting that “when you hear Rehberg and Tester saying they are ‘independent,’ it’s actually true less than 10% of the time…”

Rothenberg Political Report:

The Tester campaign folks were probably feeling a little energized when they read the “Rothenberg Political Report” on Friday.

Stuart Rothenberg wrote, “But some Republican insiders privately admit that freshman Democratic Sen. Jon Tester is running the best re-election race in the country, and they are less than optimistic about GOP Rep. Denny Rehberg’s ability to take the seat from him.  Still, the race is a tossup.”

That is probably true – one of my GOP friends told me the other day that the Rehberg campaign does not seem to be running on all cylinders and that the missteps are piling up on the Congressman…

Pee-wee’s Playhouse:

Many years ago Thomas “Tip” O’Neil the longtime Speaker of the House said, “All politics is local.”  If O’Neil was still around, I bet he would have enjoyed watching the shenanigans of the Great Falls City Commission.

Great Falls Tribune reporter Richard Ecke writes about the “deep divisions” in the commission HERE.

We have such insults as one commissioner calling another one an “idiot” and another one saying, “he thinks he’s smarter than any other human being that’s ever walked.”

Instead of the back and forth maybe the commissioners should just use a quote from the esteemed gentleman, Pee-wee Herman, and say, “I know you are but what am I.”

During some meetings the commission does resemble Pee-wee’s Playhouse…and the back and forth looks a lot like this video.

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