I followed reports over the weekend from people attending the Montana GOP convention in Bozeman and also read stories and watched local news reports about the convention. I also wasted about two hours of my sunny Saturday to follow Twitter and see who won the elections at the Montana GOP convention.

That, my faithful readers, is sacrifice.

I expect many folks hoped to hear about members of the Montana Republican Party uniting and having a “Kumbaya” moment during their convention, but apparently that did not happen.

In fact, the Republicans will probably be eating their own in the upcoming 2014 primary season. It could be the nastiest primary season in Montana history. The Republicans’ 2014 primary season may make “The Purge” movie seem like a lighthearted romantic comedy.

Lee Newspapers’ Mike Dennison reported on Sunday “disagreements were highlighted again on Saturday morning, as Republican Senate leaders held a session outlining votes where they said certain Republicans joined Democrats to betray Republican Party principles.”

The Great Falls Tribune’s John Adams wrote that state Senate Majority Leader Art Wittich “blasted moderate Republicans who worked with Democrats to pass a host of legislation opposed by the majority of the caucus. Wittich derided Republicans who voted against their caucus leadership as ‘progressives.’”

Readers may remember that I listed Sen. Art Wittich as one of the three problems with the Montana GOP. You can read that column HERE.

It’s funny to hear the far-right Republicans call moderate Republicans, “Progressives.”

The Republicans at the convention got rid of Vice Chair Christy Clark who was aligned with the “responsible Republicans” and replaced her with Sen. Jennifer Fielder, who toed the far-right conservative line in the last legislative session.

Congratulations to Will Deschamps for winning a third term as Montana GOP Chair. His job over the next two years will be a lot like herding cats.

Late Saturday evening I imagine if you were outside you heard popping sounds around the state. These sounds were the Montana Democrats opening bottles of champagne to celebrate the ineptness of the Montana Republicans in uniting.

Follow me on Twitter @TheWesternWord

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