BlueMTexpat
BlueMTexpat's JournalThe People v. Goliath$
I've been saying all along that the MT Senate race is a winnable one for the Dems. Even if we don't win, what is happening there is standing "good old boy" and "conventional wisdom" politics on its head. Dems everywhere should be taking notes ... and stiffening their backbones.
It's a grassroots race all the way, with Curtis getting most of her nearly USD 700,000 in contributions (raised in less than TWO months) from in-state contributors. She also sounds one heck of a lot like ... a combination of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
In the past two months, Curtis has traveled nearly 7,000 miles to introduce herself to Montanans and they like what they see. Huffington Post has noticed:
Candidate Curtis is no sacrificial lamb. She's adamant that she will be the next Senator from Montana. Here's a 35-year-old Butte high school math teacher who's proud to have made it to the middle class. She's committed to helping other people and families get -- or stay -- there too.
Why haven't we seen AMANDA CURTIS emblazoned on every other email? Beats me. At one stroke, she could be the key to Democrats holding the Senate, the first woman Senator from Montana (and only the second the state has ever sent to Washington) and meaningfully lower the average age of the Senate.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paula-gordon/the-people-v-goliath_b_5987602.html
It is NOT an impossible dream. Yes. We. Can.
Fingers Crossed for Amanda ...
Can This 35-Year-Old Math Teacher Become the Youngest Member of the Senate?
If Curtis wins her election, she's already destined to stand out from the rest of the senators on the Hill and not just because she would be the first one sporting a nose ring. Curtis would be the youngest senator, having only turned 35 in September. And in a Senate that is 80 percent male, has an average age of 62, and is predominately filled by millionaires, Curtis would bring a vastly different set of experiences to the Capitol.
According to Curtis, that's exactly what makes her the right candidate for the job. "We all need to remember that Washington, D.C. is full of folks that have done incredibly well for themselves and when you send folks to Washington, D.C. who have done incredibly well for themselves, they take votes that tilt the playing field to the wealthy and against us regular working folk," she told the Montana Standard shortly after her nomination.
It's these same traits youth, a more mainstream economic background, and an ability to identify with working-class voters that make her a formidable challenger, even with just two-and-a-half months to campaign. (Daines will have spent a full year running for the office.)
It would be difficult to find two candidates more different than Curtis and Daines. She teaches math and has $23,500 in a retirement account as her sole financial asset. He's a former businessman whose tech startup was sold to Oracle and who has a net worth of between $8.9 million and $32.7 million. She supports abortion rights. He believes abortion should always be illegal, even if the pregnancy was a result of a sexual assault, and he cosponsored the "Life at Conception Act," which defines life as beginning at fertilization and will not only end abortion but many believe could make most forms of birth control illegal.
...
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/news/a31728/amanda-curtis-montana-senate/
Of course, I'm not only crossing my fingers. I've contributed to her campaign, written to Montana family/friends to urge their support and will participate in telephone calls. The only thing that I can't do is vote in MT because my voting residence is in another state.
Senate Dems outperforming expectations ...
per Sam Wang, whose track record is even better than Nate Silver's.
http://election.princeton.edu/2014/08/28/senate-democrats-are-outperforming-expectations/
Today I will show that in most cases, added assumptions (i.e. special sauce) have led the media organizations to different win probabilities which I currently believe are wrong. Ill then outline the subtle but important implications for a November prediction.
Keeping my fingers crossed ...
"Someone like us" for the Senate ...
Loved this letter posted in the Ravalli Republic (MT) about Amanda Curtis ...
It is usually the case that candidates for Senate from the two major parties have been groomed for years by the political establishment and are indebted to powerful, behind-the-scenes players. Or, they are so wealthy as to make their agendas and their loyalties contrary to the needs of ordinary Montanans.
But in Amanda Curtis, we have someone like us. We have a person who draws a normal paycheck, who has taught math to our kids at Helena Middle School and who now teaches at Butte High School. We have someone committed to transparency: she posted YouTube videos each day during her inaugural year of service in the state legislature, in 2013.
...
More at http://ravallirepublic.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_f5fe34ad-db00-5b23-860d-63414f2c4225.html
Here's Amanda's FB page: https://www.facebook.com/SupportAmandaCurtis?fref=nf
I really believe that she has a chance and am SOOOO delighted!
Still a long shot, but great fundraising prowess so far!
We have a fighting chance at keeping the MT Senate seat blue.
Although many insiders dismiss her campaign as a long shot, Amanda Curtis is raising money at a prodigious rate and battling assertions that she is too radical for conservative-leaning Montana.
But on many issues, the candidate admits she needs to study up. But time is running out with Election Day a little more than two months away.
Curtis, a Butte math teacher serving her first-term in the Montana state house, has already raised $180,000 in 10 days, according to her campaign, and sees "people coming out of the woodwork" to support her.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/26/politics/curtis-montana-senate/
Way to go, Amanda!
MT US Senate race could become more competitive than some think.
Democracy for America, the Vermont-based PAC founded by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, endorsed Curtis in her five-day-old campaign against Republican Steve Daines for Montanas U.S. Senate seat. Libertarian Roger Roots also is in the race.
Curtis is precisely the new, progressive hero Montana Democrats need to defeat Daines, said Jim Dean, chairman of Democracy for America.
http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/u-s-senate-candidate-curtis-names-campaign-manager-gets-endorsement/article_d033b07c-298d-11e4-bdcc-001a4bcf887a.html
Montana DFA members are delighted with this endorsement. My family and friends in-state are also delighted and will be working on her campaign.
I have already contributed to DFA's campaign for Curtis. For the link, see https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/dfacurtis/?refcode=CAC082114JD.5157
It will be an uphill battle, but Curtis is certainly up for it and, with help, I truly believe that she can do it. National Dems should not let this seat go to yet another RW GOPer.
Joint Declaration by International Law Experts on Israel's Gaza Offensive
This was posted on 28 July. It is self-explanatory.
Once again it is the unarmed civilian population, the protected persons under International humanitarian law (IHL), who is in the eye of the storm. Gazas civilian population has been victimized in the name of a falsely construed right to self-defence, in the midst of an escalation of violence provoked in the face of the entire international community. The so-called Operation Protective Edge erupted during an ongoing armed conflict, in the context of a prolonged belligerent occupation that commenced in 1967. In the course of this ongoing conflict thousands of Palestinians have been killed and injured in the Gaza Strip during recurrent and ostensible ceasefire periods since 2005, after Israels unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip. The deaths caused by Israels provocative actions in the Gaza Strip prior to the latest escalation of hostilities must not be ignored as well.
...
The principle of distinction is codified in Articles 48, 51(2) and 52(2) of the Additional Protocol I of 1977 to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, to which no reservations have been made. According to Additional Protocol I, attacks refer to acts of violence against the adversary, whether in offence or in defence (Article 49). Under both customary international law and treaty law, the prohibition on directing attacks against the civilian population or civilian objects is absolute. There is no discretion available to invoke military necessity as a justification.
More at the link: http://richardfalk.wordpress.com/2014/07/28/joint-declaration-by-international-law-experts-on-israels-gaza-offensive/
I am literally heartsick, not only that this mass slaughter is happening, but that it is happening with my country's assistance and apparently its approval. I stand with these lawyers.
Who says turtles can't be fun?
If this has been posted earlier, I apologize, but I just saw it recently and found it hilarious.
I never knew that turtles had such personalities!
Bullock expected to name Walsh to Senate at news conference
Source: The Missoulian
Walsh, a Democrat like Bullock and Baucus, already has been campaigning since last fall for a full six-year Senate term this year. He is the leading fundraiser among the three Democrats running for the Senate.
Bullocks office notified reporters Thursday of a news conference scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday in the Governors Reception Room in the Capitol. It said that reporters unable to attend in person can call in on a listen-only line.
Read more: http://missoulian.com/news/local/bullock-expected-to-name-walsh-to-senate-at-news-conference/article_ecdb15b6-8f9c-11e3-91c4-0019bb2963f4.html
Perhaps MT will be able to hold this seat for the Dems after all. Fingers crossed.
Wolf Benefit CD now available from
Native American Music Awards (NAMA).
See at http://www.nativeamericanmusicawards.com/
You can also stream some cool music from NAMA Live.
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