Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock was on MSNBC's "The Ed Show" Thursday night to talk about the state Supreme Court's recent ruling restoring Montana's ban on corporate political spending and the possibilities for the case at the U.S. Supreme Court level.

The show's host, Ed Schultz, says: "This is something that's really going to catch the attention of the American people because of so much money that is just pouring into these campaigns."

Below is a video clip.

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While the Republican side of the Montana gubernatorial race has seen plenty of interaction between its nine candidates, the two-person Democratic race has been mostly silent, with heavy favorite Attorney General Steve Bullock generally portrayed as the presumptive nominee in news reports and polls showing him with a big lead.

But it appears the other Democrat in the race, Bozeman state Sen. Larry Jent, may be ready to try to increase his public exposure. According to a story by longtime Montana political reporter Charles Johnson, Jent wrote to President Barack Obama on Monday, "urging the president to instruct Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to approve" the Keystone XL pipeline project and then challenged Bullock the next day to lend his backing as well. Johnson's story notes that Bullock already expressed his support three months ago in a letter to Clinton.

Citing a news release, the story also states that Jent "called on Bullock to outline some specific positions on energy-related issues."

"Steve Bullock and I differ on the important issue of the role of coal in Montana's economic future," Jent said. "I support the development of the Otter Creek (coal) tracts; Steve voted against that while on the Land Board.

"I spoke for and voted for (the) Montana Alberta Tie Line (MATL) this past year in the Senate. Does anyone know where Steve stands on energy?"

Bullock's campaign spokesperson, Kevin O'Brien, responded by saying Bullock "believes that Montana can create jobs and grow our rural economies through responsible development of our vast energy resources, including coal, wind, oil and gas, hydropower, biofuels and geothermal." O'Brien said, because of those beliefs, Bullock is a "supporter of Otter Creek" but "believes that Montana shouldn't give away our resources" and should have waited for a better price.

"Had we waited, we could have received nearly $200 million for Montana taxpayers," Bullock's spokesman said.

This isn't a dramatic exchange, but it's at least noteworthy in a primary race that has been so quiet and where Bullock, as of Dec. 31, leads Jent in fundraising with $231,819 in cash in the bank compared to $6,788.

 

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Montana Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus praised Tuesday's announcement that renewable energy company NaturEner USA has secured financing to proceed with construction on a 189-megawatt wind farm in Toole and Glacier counties.

The Rim Rock wind farm, which will be NaturEner's third in Montana, will encompass more than 20,000 acres and generate enough energy to power more than 60,000 homes. NaturEner expects to begin operating commercially by the end of 2012.

The Great Falls Tribune reports that the company has secured a $320 million construction loan from Morgan Stanley and will receive a $285 million tax-equity capital contribution from San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) once the project has reached commercial operation.

Here is the statement from Baucus:

“The Rim Rock Wind Farm is one more opportunity for Montana to be a leader in the energy future, and I am thrilled to see it moving forward. This is great news for Montana jobs and American energy security."

Tester:

“Bringing Rim Rock online will not only boost our country’s energy security, it will also create jobs and opportunities for Montanans. That’s a win-win in my book, and a victory that will strengthen the Treasure State’s energy infrastructure for years to come. I’m proud to support smart projects like Rim Rock that create jobs and look forward to backing similar efforts in the future.”

 

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On Monday, a group of Montana farmers filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Missoula against Jon Corzine, a former Democratic governor and U.S. senator from New Jersey, alleging Corzine and other executives from the collapsed commodity brokerage firm MF Global stole millions of dollars from their customers' accounts. Corzine was the CEO of MF Global.

Three Montana farmers have filed the litigation on behalf of 38,000 former MF Global customers, according to ABC News. In a Billings Gazette story, Marty Klinker, a Fairfield farmer and lead plaintiff, used an appropriately agricultural term in describing the allegedly fraudulent behavior by MF Global executives: betting the farm.

"They bet the farm on European sovereign debt," Klinker said in the Gazette. "I just didn’t realize it was my farm they were betting.”

 

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Montana Secretary of State Linda McCulloch launched a website Friday that encourages citizens to report potential election law violations. Called the Fair Elections Center, McCulloch says on the site's homepage that "every Montanan has a right to an elections process that is open, honest, fair, and accurate."

"Citizens and voters play a critical role in maintaining a fair election process for all Montanans, and that’s why I have created the Fair Elections Center," McCulloch says.

Visit the Fair Elections Center at www.montanafairelections.com.

 

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A lot has been written in the past week on the Montana Supreme Court's decision to restore the state's century-old ban on corporate political spending, with articles showing up in the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and many other publications. It appears the case may be heading to the U.S. Supreme Court, as the lead plaintiff has announced intentions to appeal.

While I would suggest reading any number of the articles and blog posts from around the country, David Sirota’s one-on-one interview with Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock is worth checking out at Salon. After all, Bullock personally defended the corporate spending ban in Montana Supreme Court and will defend the ban at the nation’s highest court, if it agrees to take the case. And he's running for governor.

Below is an excerpt from the interview and click here for a link to the full interview at Salon.

"For me the calculus was relatively simple. The voters entrusted me with an incredible job as Attorney General and for a hundred years we’ve had a ban aptly named The Corrupt Practices Act that has served Montana well. And as a result, people participate, everybody has a seat at the table. So for me the calculus was: I owe it to a century of Montanans going forward to do all I can to defend this irrespective of what might happen in my next campaign."

 

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Aaron Murphy, with Sen. Jon Tester’s campaign, sent along letters from chamber of commerce presidents in Great Falls and Missoula in which they distance themselves from a series of negative advertisements aimed at Tester that are paid for by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

In a letter to the Great Falls Tribune, which isn’t available online, Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce President made clear that “dues from any Chamber member do not go to that PAC and, therefore, don’t help pay for those ads.”

The Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce does not support any negative ads on any candi­date. We highly recommend that any negative ad toward any candidate be taken with skepticism until it has been researched, evaluated and verified before anyone makes a final decision regarding that candidate.

The Missoula Chamber of Commerce also responded to “several calls from our members expressing concern” about the advertisements. A letter from John Brauer, chairman of the board, and Kim Latrielle, Missoula Chamber president, read in part:

We do not condone the tone of these commercials and believe this type of campaigning is counterproductive. As an independent organization governed by local business and community partners, we do not automatically agree with either the Montana Chamber of Commerce or the U.S. Chamber on their polices or messages. We do not endorse political candidates and we do not pay for advertisements regarding candidates.

One of the ads running against Tester:

 

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Politico’s David Catanese obtained recent numbers from GOP pollster John McLaughlin that show Congressman Denny Rehberg with a six-point lead over incumbent Sen. Jon Tester, 46-40. Fourteen percent remain undecided.

At least three separate polls on the highly competitive race have been released in the last few weeks. Last month, PPP found Rehberg up 47-45. The month before that, a poll commissioned by the Montana Chamber of Commerce had Tester leading 42-37.

The race is even more crucial in deciding which party will control the U.S. Senate with Nebraska Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson announcing earlier this week that he will retire. In fact, Catanese says it is the most competitive in the country:

While a pair of private surveys delivered mixed results, no public poll has shown the needle budging significantly in one direction, making this the toughest Senate race in the country to call.

 

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