Glad you’re here for Tuesday’s Quick Hits! Here’s a common-sense look at what’s happening today:

• Montana GOP
• WTF406 Open Letter
• WalletHub Reports
• In Case You Missed It
• One More Thing

MONTANA GOP:

Since I reside in Great Falls, I hunkered down in my bunker for most of Friday and Saturday while the Montana Republicans were holding their Winter Kickoff here. I am happy to report that I survived the onslaught of Republicans in Great Falls unscathed. 

The Helena IR is reporting that Montana Republican Party Chair Art Wittich’s first Winter Kickoff event was marked by fragmentation in the GOP, even as he called on candidates and supporters to do away with labels like “RINO” or “Republican In Name Only.”  Wittich said that during an interview, “I want to keep this really, really simple. You’re either a Republican or you’re a Democrat.”

Not really. 

The fact is that most people are Independents, like me. Gallup polling has around 45% as Independents. The Democrats and Republicans come in with about 27% each. (Source) Of course, this is a little different in Montana, but the GOP has more to lose, and the Democrats and Independents have more to gain. 

Political parties, especially the Montana Republican Party, are imploding because they want to strip members of their party affiliation and censure them for not voting 100% Republican. 

I hope the parties keep it up; when they start calling someone a RINO or DINO, it’s usually a sign that the candidate is actually worth voting for. So keep that in mind! 

WTF406 OPEN LETTER:

The What the Funk 406 (WTF) blog posted an open letter to former President of the University of Montana, Seth Bodnar, asking him “to run as a Democrat rather than as an Independent.” 

You can read the post HERE. 

WTF makes a compelling argument for Bodnar to run as a Democrat. I’ve had a few Democrats (who trust me) tell me that Bodar running as an Independent for the U.S. Senate is a crazy idea. They say that would give current Republican U.S. Senator Steve Daines an easy path to reelection.  

WTF closes with:

As the deadline for filing approaches, we hope you will carefully consider which party more closely aligns with your beliefs on issues and realize that you have very little chance of prevailing as an Independent in Montana. 

All I know is that at this juncture, I am not voting for Steve Daines. That won’t change. He is too MAGA and won’t stand up to Trump. As I told a polling group the other night, “Steve Daines is a weak leader.” 

WALLETHUB REPORTS:

WalletHub has released two reports recently that are worth reading.  

With immigration reform and border security remaining hot-button issues for 2026, the personal-finance company WalletHub released its report on 2026’s Most & Least Ethnically Diverse Cities. 

Montana cities did not score well. Surprise! The Montana cities I looked up were ranked 400-500 in the report. #1 is the most ethnically diverse. 

Read the full report HERE. 

Another report recently released is about education. With people who have college degrees earning around $600 to $1,400 more per week than people with just a high school diploma, the personal-finance company WalletHub released its report on 2026’s Most & Least Educated States in America. 

Montana was ranked a very respectable #18. Check out the report HERE. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, declined to answer questions from House lawmakers in a deposition Monday, but indicated that if President Donald Trump ended her prison sentence, she was willing to testify that neither he nor former President Bill Clinton had done anything wrong in their connections with Epstein.

If you’re Maxwell, you might as well swing for the fences! 

I expect Trump will end her prison sentence after the midterms. 

ONE MORE THING: 

Trump didn’t make America racist…He made the racist comfortable enough to show their faces in public. 

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