True friends stab you in the front. -Oscar Wilde

I think it was President Harry Truman who once said, “You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog.” The same thing could be said for 2014 party politics here in Montana.

Great Falls Tribune Capital Bureau reporter John S. Adams wrote a story for Tuesday’s paper with the headline, “Democratic Party breaks from tradition by backing a candidate in the U.S. Senate primary race.”

It was really not a surprise to me that the Montana Democrats backed John Walsh – he was about the only big name Democrat who did not turn down the chance to run. Besides, most people believe that after everyone else declined, the wheels were set in motion by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Barack Obama, to get rid of Max Baucus and give John Walsh at least a fighting chance against probable Republican nominee Steve Daines. This was done by having Baucus step down to be an Ambassador to whatever country needed one at the time, and for Governor Steve Bullock to select Walsh to fill the remainder of Baucus’ term. Democrats are under great pressure to keep control of the U.S. Senate.

But former Republican now Democrat John Bohlinger would not go down without a fight. He went ahead and filed as a Democrat for U.S. Senate. He recently took the gloves off in an opinion piece writing that, after he refused to step aside, “it has been a long, cold winter in politics, in which I learned the dark side of power and money in politics.”

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