Greetings! Here are the topics for today’s independent commentary:

• U.S. Senate Montana 2024
• Sheehy’s Flyers
• Biden on 60 Minutes
• One More Thing

U.S. SENATE MONTANA 2024:

The Hill published a story Monday titled, “Senate rankings: The 5 seats most likely to flip” and the seat currently occupied by U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) was listed second. The other four were West Virginia, Ohio, Arizona, and Pennsylvania.

The Hill reports that Tester is awaiting his eventual GOP challenger in a push for a fourth term next year, with questions surrounding whether Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) will end up launching a second consecutive bid for the seat. The Hill also reported that political watchers argue that time is running low on Rosendale to launch a bid, especially considering that Sheehy has been up on the airwaves since July. Rosendale has signaled he believes he has time to make a decision. He said in a recent interview that he is ready to greenlight a run as late as the state’s filing deadline in March.

The funny thing about this story is you can go back every six years since Tester was running for a second term and find a story that says he is vulnerable. I wrote a story about his vulnerability a decade ago and it was picked up by several publications across the fruited plains. The fact is that Tester won all those races because he draws voters from across the aisle, and because he is a homegrown boy who has deeper roots in Montana than most. I expect him to win again in 2024, whether it be Sheehy or Rosendale.

Check out the story from The Hill HERE.

SHEEHY’S FLYERS:

Coming back from my daily walk on Monday, I decided to check my mailbox to see if the mail carrier had been by my house.

In my mailbox, I found a flyer from U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy. Here is the FRONT and BACK. It was not mailed. It was the type of flyer that had a hole or kind of a hook in it to go over the doorknob. Maybe the person doing the lit drop was tired and did not want to walk a few more feet to my front door and place the flyer on my door. I’ve participated in several “lit drops” over the years, and it does get to be tiring.

One place you should never place a flyer with no postage affixed is in a mailbox:

From 18 U.S. Code § 1725
Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits any mailable matter such as statements of accounts, circulars, sale bills, or other like matter, on which no postage has been paid, in any letter box established, approved, or accepted by the Postal Service for the receipt or delivery of mail matter on any mail route with intent to avoid payment of lawful postage thereon, shall for each such offense be fined under this title.

From the U.S. Postal Service:
Can a flyer/envelope be put in someone else’s mailbox without being mailed?
No. Per Sect. 508.3.1.3 of the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM):
“No part of a mail receptacle may be used to deliver any matter not bearing postage, including items or matter placed upon, supported by, attached to, hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle. Any mailable matter not bearing postage and found as described above is subject to the same postage as would be paid if it were carried by mail.”

It’s important for campaigns to abide by the rules and to ensure their volunteers and staff understand the rules.

BIDEN ON 60 MINUTES:

In case you missed it, President Joe Biden was on 60 Minutes Sunday evening. Scott Pelley did the interview and at the start had this to say:

“It had been a rough week and we could see it on him. Mr. Biden will be 81 next month. And he has said that when he’s tired, his life-long stutter can creep back in.”

Biden did look tired. He did stutter some in the interview. A lot is going on – from Ukraine to Israel to the southern border, to the U.S. House not being able to do much. Plus, Biden says he is running for reelection.

If you read this blog very much, you already know that I think Biden as well as Donald Trump, are both too old to be President. The job is not easy. IMHO, Biden’s greatest accomplishment was defeating Trump and saving our country. If he quits after one term, he will go down in history with that major accomplishment.

Check out the 60 Minutes interview HERE.

ONE MORE THING:

No matter how long you’ve traveled in the wrong direction, you can always turn around. – Unknown

## THE END ##