I don’t claim to be an expert on when to launch campaign ads, but launching a new campaign ad on April Fools’ Day seems a little unusual. For some reason that’s what the campaign team of U.S. Senate candidate Steve Daines decided to do on April Fools’ Day 2014.

I don’t think they were trying to fool us either – or maybe I missed the punch line or the joke. Judge for yourself; you can view the 30 second ad on YouTube HERE.

In the ad called “Paycheck,” Daines talks about spending “28 years in business creating jobs.” He talks about “in the real world if you don’t do your job you don’t get paid, but that’s not how it works in Washington.” He then talks about the “very first bill” he introduced called the “Balanced Budget Accountability Act.” “It says if Congress doesn’t balance the budget then they shouldn’t get paid.” He goes on to say he approved this message because “Washington needs accountability and some Montana common sense.”

In taking a closer look at the new ad, I think Daines is a little better at reading his lines this time, but he is still a little robotic. His delivery is starting to remind me of Max Baucus. The ad shows some of the same shots that have appeared in other campaign ads. It shows him being a businessman, talking, smiling, and shaking hands with people. One fellow Daines is seen walking down a hallway with has been in at least three other ads. There’s one part in the ad that shows him sitting on stairs with 12 people (for some reason). Those stairs make several appearances in Daines’ ads – maybe this is like the blue shirts that were in several of Rick Hill’s campaign ads when he was running for governor in 2012.

A February 2013 article in the Great Falls Tribune was featured prominently in the ad about the Balanced Budget Accountability Act. The bill number is not displayed in the ad, but a little research finds it is H.R. 522.

The Balanced Budget Accountability Act (H.R. 522) was introduced by Daines over a year ago (February 6, 2013). It has 19 co-sponsors (all Republicans).

One interesting part was the “not later than date” contained in the bill:

Adoption of Budget Resolution- Each House of Congress shall adopt a concurrent resolution on the budget for a fiscal year which provides that, for each fiscal year for which a budget is provided under the resolution (beginning not later than with the budget for fiscal year 2023), total outlays do not exceed total receipts.

The bill has gone nowhere, and it probably won’t. According to the Library of Congress (Thomas) the bill has had no major actions. There are no related bills in the Senate. There have been similar bills over the years to try and balance the budget and withhold pay, so there’s really nothing new here except that Daines introduced it. Oh yeah, his daughter, Caroline, said she liked it in one of his earlier campaign ads.

Realistically though, most members of Congress are wealthy enough that they would not miss a pay check or two or three. Daines was ranked as the 41st wealthiest member in 2013. Maybe he can just donate his pay to charity like some other rich members do.

Also, with favorable ratings for members of Congress hovering around 15%, who wouldn’t like to stop paying them or fire them all, so this is a safe ad to run.

Here’s the (almost) bottom line: By running this ad, it’s a win for Daines. He touts his business experience and tells folks he’s taking his Montana work ethic to Washington – So hell yeah!

Really though, just about every Montana politician running for U.S. House or U.S. Senate has said something like “I will take Montana common sense to Washington” or “I’m fighting to make Washington look a little more like Montana” or “Montana comes first.” It really hasn’t helped that much. Washington is still pretty screwed up.

Jon Tester even took Montana beef to Washington in his roller suitcase – what can Steve Daines do to top that?

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