Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced his “Montana leadership team,” which included endorsements from three former governors.

Former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot (1993-2001) announced his support last week. And Tuesday Judy Martz (2001-2005) and Tim Babcock (1962-1969) joined him in backing the GOP frontrunner.

"Governor Romney, as a former chief executive, has the experience, vision and values to lead our country,” Martz said. “His proven record of turning around companies and the state of Massachusetts, not to mention his success with the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, demonstrates that he has the strong leadership abilities to turn around our country. He is the one Republican candidate that can bring the conservative principles of lower taxes, restrained spending and smaller government to Washington.”

Along with the former governors, Romney also announced that he is backed locally by former Whitefish Sen. Bob Depratu, former Polson Rep. John Mercer and Bigfork Rep. Scott Reichner. A press release says Reichner is general chairman of the Romney for President Montana Committee.

Montana’s Republican primary is held on June 5 and few expect it to last that long.

 

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Politico reported on March 1 that Democratic Sen. Max Baucus is warning lobbyists that supporting Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg, who is running against Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Tester, will have repercussions.

Citing unnamed sources, the story says Baucus is using his position as Senate Finance Committee chairman to try to influence campaign contributions.

According to Politico:

The case K-Streeters are making to their clients: It will be a hard sell next year to get Baucus’s support on business-friendly tax perks set to expire or the Bush-era tax cuts that must get through his committee.

The game of hardball is a bold example of a powerful chairman willing to leverage his power to protect his party’s majority, his home-state colleague and potentially his own seat.

Kate Downen, spokeswoman for Baucus, issued a response the following day:

"This anonymous claim made by unnamed lobbyists is not just completely untrue, it's entirely motivated by politics, and it would be unfortunate to let it distract us from the work of moving our economy forward and making sure we leave Montana, and our country, worthy of our kids and grandkids."

 

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Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester wrote a letter to TransCanada CEO Russ Girling Monday encouraging his company to break ground on the Montana portion of the Keystone XL pipeline.

TransCanada announced earlier in the day that it would begin work on the segment of the Keystone between Cushing, Okla., and the Gulf of Mexico even though it is still waiting for federal approval to build the entire pipeline, since it crosses the U.S border into the Alberta tar sands.

President Barack Obama rejected the Calgary-based company’s larger project, arguing that uncertainty over Nebraska’s portion of the route did not allow enough time for a comprehensive review.

But TransCanada doesn’t need federal approval to cross state lines and the senators encouraged the company to move forward on the section of pipeline that crosses Montana. In a letter to Girling, the senators wrote:

We applaud TransCanada’s decision today to move forward on initial segments of the Keystone XL pipeline in the southern part of the United States. As you begin this process, we encourage you to carefully consider the opportunity to bring Montana oil online as soon as possible as well.

 

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Rasmussen Reports took its first poll this week of the Montana Senate race between incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg. The survey showed Rehberg with a slight lead, 47 percent to Tester’s 44 percent.

The gap is within the poll’s margin of sampling error of +/- 4.5 percentage points, but it also reflects other recent surveys that show Rehberg with a small lead. PPP polled the state in December and it showed Rehberg with a 47-45 lead, the same two-point margin the polling firm reported in June.

 

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Gov. Brian Schweitzer is always good for a fun quote or two, as a reporter from The Canadian Press recently found out.

According to a story posted online today, Schweitzer blamed "jackasses" in Washington D.C. for holding up the Keystone XL pipeline. As you might imagine, Schweitzer is a proponent of the pipeline.

Schweitzer went on to say that two governors, including Texas Gov. Rick Perry, had never heard of the pipeline before a meeting a year ago with Gary Doer, Canada's ambassador to the U.S. The other governor who Schweitzer said was unaware of the pipeline was Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback.

The money quote in the story is Schweitzer's commentary on Perry.

"He's got good hair ... every hair is just right," Schweitzer said, as quoted in The Canadian Press. "He's got these big expensive cufflinks and his boots have got these silver tips, and, boy, he's pretty, but he had never even heard of Keystone before. After we explained it to him, he said, well, there's no reason why we shouldn't be for that."

In the end, Schweitzer is confident the pipeline will go ahead. After all, Schweitzer is nothing if not confident.

"It's coming through. I have $100 burning a hole in my pocket that I will bet you that it gets built."

Thanks to Montana Watchdog for pointing this story out via Twitter.

 

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Montana’s U.S. delegation had somewhat differing responses to the news that the U.S. Postal Service will close three Montana mail-processing facilities, while sparing Missoula’s and continuing to study whether to close Kalispell’s.

While Sen. Jon Tester said he was “disappointed by any move to weaken standards for the Postal Service,” he emphasized his role in saving the Missoula processing center and said the “victory” was a “reminder that public input goes a long way in making responsible decisions that are right for Montana.”

Congressman Denny Rehberg was less upbeat: “It looks like the Postal Service worked really hard to find excuses to close these facilities instead of working to find a way to keep them open. I can’t help but think the folks who made these decisions have probably never been to Montana in the middle of the winter when driving between places like Missoula and Helena is harder than it looks on a map.”

And Sen. Max Baucus spoke in more general terms: “I've fought hard to come up with a solution to save Montana's post offices and guard against consolidations that could impact service. While the Postal Service clearly must address its fiscal problems, it's important that Montanans are not asked to unfairly shoulder the burden.”

The Postal Service announced Thursday that mail-processing centers in Helena, Butte and Wolf Point will close.

 

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Democratic Sen. Jon Tester held a press conference with Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter on Valentine's Day calling for legislation to improve and reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, which Tester's office said is necessary to "provide certainty for Montana homeowners."

In addition to affecting homeowners, the bill has ramifications for flood insurance companies such as Kalispell's Torrent Technologies and National Flood Services. Tester's office says the senator is leading a bipartisan effort urging fellow senators to swiftly schedule a vote on the reauthorization bill.

“Long-term reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program will offer home and business owners the certainty they need to plan for the future,” Tester said. “We have a responsibility to meet taxpayers’ needs, and this bipartisan plan will put flood insurance on firmer financial footing and spur our economy.”

Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg, who is challenging Tester for his Senate seat, also called on the Senate to address flood insurance, pointing out that the House passed its Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2011. Rehberg voted for the legislation in July of last year.

"The National Flood Insurance Program is badly in need of extension and reform, and more than half a year ago, the House sent the Senate a bill to do just that," Rehberg said. "It passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, and I hope the Senate will stop delaying necessary changes and do the work that needs to be done.”

The National Flood Insurance Program was established in 1968 and last reauthorized in 2004. According to a release from Tester's office, a recent short-term lapse in the program reportedly delayed or canceled more than 1,400 home closings per day over 53 days in 2010. The program is scheduled to expire again on May 31.

Tester said last year’s major flooding along the Missouri River basin demonstrated "a clear need" for flood insurance reauthorization and levee recertification. Tester and Vitter are pushing Senate leaders to schedule the vote soon, citing "overwhelming bipartisan support."

 

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A reporter never knows when a story, or more specifically a single comment from a story, is going to start making the rounds in the political arena. For me, that has been the case with a story I wrote last month after an interview with Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg.

Rehberg told me that he wants "100 percent transparency" in campaign finances but added that he and his opponent in the U.S. Senate race, Jon Tester, are "along for the ride" because they can't control third-party spending. The short story generated little attention and no controversy.

But recently Tester seized on those comments in a letter he wrote to Rehberg asking the congressman to agree to a ban on third-party advertisements in their heated race. The ceasefire agreement comes with a set of terms, outlined in Tester's letter, and requires Rehberg's signature.

The letter opens: "I appreciated your comments in the Flathead Beacon last month about third-party expenditures – that you and I are 'along for the ride' when it comes to the attack ads neither of us control."

"Rather than just go 'along for the ride,' let’s do our part to steer this campaign toward Montana’s values of honesty, accountability and transparency in elections," Tester writes at the end of the letter. "The people we serve deserve no less."

The letter has led to a number of news stories, both local and national, with Rehberg's campaign calling it an "interesting proposal" and deciding what to do next. I guess it should never be surprising to see how far a couple of short quotes can go in politics.

 

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