TGIF – Welcome to Friday!  We are now 53 days from Election Day!

First visit?  If this is your first time visiting The Western Word the “Caught My Eye” column is posted every Friday morning right here!  It’s where I take a quick look at some of the stories I did not have time to write about during the week – and I often throw in a touch of sarcasm just to make you smile.

Today I take a look at the finger, married/not married, richest members of congress, the farm bill, a continuing resolution, not a grizzly, pooping in Denver, increasing web traffic, plus I share some special e-mails that came into my political inbox, and much more!

Scratching?

This morning there’s a new video out that allegedly shows Congressman Denny Rehberg giving the finger to a person following him from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.  The video is posted HERE.  Rehberg spokesman Chris Bond was quoted in the story saying that Rehberg was “scratching his head.”

If that’s your story, Mr. Bond…

Married/Not Married:

According to Gallup, “Married registered voters prefer Republican challenger Mitt Romney over Democratic President Barack Obama by 54% to 39%” and “On the other hand, nonmarried voters break strongly for the president over Romney, 56% to 35%.”

50 Richest Members of Congress for 2012:

None of the three members of the Montana Congressional delegation made Roll Call’s 2012 list.  Back in 2010, Congressman Denny Rehberg ranked #23 richest with $10.90 million.  This year’s 50th richest member is Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson.  Nelson is reportedly worth $6.14 million.

So that makes me wonder what happened to Denny Rehberg’s riches – almost five million.  Maybe he’s struggling like the rest of us…

Farm Bill:

The Farm Bill has become a political issue – especially in Montana – and especially when the U.S. Senate race may come down to a few hundred votes.

The U.S. Senate passed a Farm Bill back in June.  The U.S. House hasn’t.  Yesterday Senate candidate and current Congressman Denny Rehberg issued a press release saying he, “signed a bipartisan discharge petition to bring H.R. 6083, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management (FARRM) Act to the House Floor for a vote.”  You can read Rehberg’s full press release HERE.

Senator Jon Tester and his team have been ensuring reporters and bloggers know all about this issue with press releases and memos (I commend them for including me).  Team Tester can sit back and prepare to pounce on Rehberg if the House does not pass a Farm Bill before they leave Washington for the year.

Speaker of the House John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor may do not understand how this bill may influence the Senate race in Montana…

Continuing Resolution (CR):

When Congress can’t do the job they were sent to Washington to do, they pass a Continuing Resolution (CR).  According to The Hill the House passed a “six-month continuing resolution that will keep the government running until late March.”  The vote was 329-91.  Montana’s U.S. Representative, Denny Rehberg, voted no.

The Senate is expected to pass the CR soon.

Jack’s Political Inbox:

Every week I receive hundreds of e-mails from candidates, elected officials, and/or groups (from all political parties) promoting a cause, many just hoping they get mentioned (in a kind and gentle way) on The Western Word website!  So I select a few that “Caught My Eye” and share them with my readers.  This week there were six that you might find interesting…

–Beyoncé Knowles (yes, that Beyoncé) sent me an e-mail with the subject, “I don’t usually email you” in which she said, “I usually don’t email you — but I have an amazing invitation I have to share.  Jay and I will be meeting up with President Obama for an evening in NYC sometime soon.  And we want you to be there!”

“Jay and I…”  Whoa!  This is epic and my kids will be proud…

-The Montana Republican Party sent me an e-mail with the subject, “Liberate Main Street with Jan Rehberg!” in which they write, “With Election Day rapidly approaching we’re barnstorming Montana with a Liberate Main Street Bus Tour with Jan Rehberg.  Please come out and join us when we’re in your area.”

Ah yes…a campaign barnstorming bus tour!  Literature drops, speeches, fast food, sleeping where/when (and with whom) you can, and lots of caffeine…

-The Kim Gillan for U.S. House campaign sent me an e-mail with the subject, “Toss up” and says “Outside polling just confirmed what I have been feeling as I drive across Montana talking to voters: Montanans want to send a problem solver to the U.S. House.  Public Policy Polling has me trailing millionaire Steve Daines by only three points, 40-37.  We closed the gap within the margin of error.”

We should call this race the “California dreaming” race since both Daines and Gillan were born in California.  Gillan just needs to pin the “out of touch millionaire” tag on Daines to win and say at the end of every speech, “If you are a millionaire vote for Daines.  If you’re not, vote for me.”

-The Rick Hill for Governor campaign sent me an e-mail with the subject, “See my new ad” in which he writes, “Today our campaign released its first television ad of the General Election—and I want you to be among the first to see it.”  You can watch the ad HERE.

It was exciting (to me) that Rick Hill did not wear a light blue shirt when the video was filmed – change is tough, but apparently Hill has taken my shrewd political advice and changed his wardrobe…

-The Denny Rehberg for Senate campaign sent me an e-mail with the subject, “The Most” in which they write, “The liberal Huffington Post reports today that outside liberal groups ‘have spent the most, $4.8 million, in Montana to help [Senator Jon] Tester.’”

Rehberg thinks he’s got it bad, but this next fella says he’s got it worse…

-The Jon Tester for Senate campaign sent me an e-mail with the subject, “Bad News” in which they write, “Here’s the thing about the special interests — the ones that have already spent more than $5 million attacking me on Montana TV.”

If my second grade math is correct, that’s $9.8 million altogether…great googly moogly…

Not a Grizzly:

I knew that the University of Montana did not care too much for Bobcats, but black bears?  According to this story, “State wildlife officials tranquilized a young black bear that had climbed a tree near family housing on the University of Montana campus in Missoula.”

Those Montana Grizzlies are sure tough on visitors…

Pooping in Denver:

According to this story, “Several fans at Sunday night’s contest between the Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers said they were repeatedly hit with pigeon poop by birds stationed in the stadium’s rafters.”

Since I am a Kansas City Chiefs fan, I think it is totally appropriate for Denver Bronco fans to be pooped on…

Web Traffic:

Hey candidates – here’s how to increase traffic to your campaign website – Pornography!  According to this story, “A mayoral candidate (Mirad Hadziahmetovic) in Bosnia’s fourth-largest city is using one of the Internet’s greatest lures — pornography — to draw attention to his campaign.”

The best line from my research about this story was “I’m Mirad, and I approve this threesome.”

One More Thing:

Don’t forget to stretch…