Today is Thursday, August 10, 2023, and here are the topics for today’s commentary:

• U.S. Senate Montana 2024
• 15 Newsmakers
• Reefer Madness
• One More Thing

U.S. SENATE MONTANA 2024:

It looks like U.S. Representative Matt Rosendale (R-MT) is getting all the mileage he can while he considers another challenge to U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT).

I thought that Rosendale would make an announcement about his plans to run for U.S. Senate during the August recess, but that has not happened yet.

He’s been getting some publicity from Politico, which recently reported:

Top Republicans went all out to avoid a contentious primary in Montana’s Senate race by urging GOP Rep. Matt Rosendale to stay in the House.
It’s not working.
Rosendale, who lost a Senate bid in 2018, is moving closer toward another statewide run, hiring a well-connected fundraiser and working to lock up support from top conservatives. He’s also trying to silence any doubters after the Club for Growth walked back a previous plan to back his bid.
“He’s running,” said former conservative Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who has pledged to help Rosendale. “Of course he’s running.”

Meanwhile, Roll Call reports that as he gears up for a potential Senate run, Republican Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana is sharpening his critique of Mitch McConnell. Since McConnell had the blank stare and had to be removed from his press conference, he is a weaker leader of the Republicans.

As for the announced candidate Tim Sheehy, we’re seeing his initial campaign advertisement play over and over in Montana. It’s getting a little stale. Since it’s August is anyone really paying attention?

15 NEWSMAKERS:

Gallup released a poll about 15 Newsmakers and Americans’ views of public figures in the news.

Prince William of England came in first (59%) with Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy at 57% favorable ratings. The highest favorable rating for an American was First Lady Jill Biden at 49%. Donald Trump and Joe Biden came in at 41%. Russian president, Vladimir Putin rounded out the top 15, with only a 5% favorable rating.

You can read the full report HERE.

REEFER MADNESS:

Gallup also released a poll about marijuana usage by Americans.

In the survey, Gallup found:

Half of Americans (50%) say they have tried marijuana at some time, a new high point for this behavior that has been inching up over the past quarter century. While essentially unchanged from the 49% and 48% readings in 2021 and 2022, respectively, the new figure is statistically higher than the 45% in 2017 and 2019 who said they had tried marijuana.

Gallup also said that the proportion of Americans who say they smoke marijuana has more than doubled since 2013, when Gallup first asked the question. That year, 7% said they did.

By the way, CNN did a story Sunday night about marijuana use among senior citizens. It’s worth watching. Check it out HERE.

Ironically, when I was writing this section of my column, the time was 4:20…

ONE MORE THING:

Jesus Christ: Willing to sacrifice himself to save others.

Donald Trump: Willing to sacrifice others to save himself.

Franklin Graham: Willing to sacrifice the truth to save Trump.

–@MiddleAgeRiot

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