Dems call on defeat of GOP in November

Democratic candidates at a Havre fundraiser had a consistent message: The main goal is keep Republicans out of office in the fall election.

Park County rancher Dirk Adams, who faces Sen. John Walsh, D-Mont., and former Montana Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger in the June 3 primary for the U.S. Senate seat in this year's election, said the real goal is in the general election in November.

"I hope you keep in mind that the objective is to beat Steve Daines in the fall," he said.

None of the candidates mentioned Daines opponents in the primary: state Rep. Champ Edmunds, R-Missoula, and Republican Susan Cundiff of Missoula.

Adams said Daines has done a good job of portraying himself as a moderate.

"Anyone who's followed his career knows that he's about as far from moderate as Hill County is from San Diego," Adams said.

He said the key to a Democratic victory is to bring a candidate from the primary with a strong personality, good verbal skills and a willingness to run on ideas.

Walsh was unable to attend the fundraiser, but sent a letter which was read by former Hill County Democratic Chair and former state Rep. John Musgrove. In his letter, Walsh wrote that he is looking forward to seeing the Hi-Line's Democratic candidates serving in the Montana Legislature next session.

"We want Democrats who will make the minimum wage a livable wage, who will increase access to our public lands and who will fight for equal pay for equal work," Walsh wrote. "Everyone in this group shares those values. Let me tell you who doesn't share our values: Our opponent in the U.S. Senate, Congressman Steve Daines.

"He spent his one term in Washington standing up for special interests and corporations that ship jobs overseas," Walsh added.

Hill County Democratic Chair Brenda Skornogoski said Bohlinger sent his apologies, but he had to attend a funeral in Billings Tuesday and could not attend the event.

Former Speaker of the Montana House of Representatives and former Public Service Commissioner John Driscoll, who faces John Lewis, an aide to former Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., in the Democratic primary for the U.S. House seat Daines is leaving, spoke about a variety of topics in his 12-minute speech.

Driscoll said because the Republican party has become so extreme and because of the way the state has been voting Republican in presidential elections, he almost filed as a Republican.

"Whoever we have as a Senate candidate, we have to give him all the support we can," he added, saying he thinks it would be a shame to send Daines to the Senate.

He said Washington has changed, but the government is an important institution to be saved and he wants to work to do that.

"I just want to help somebody, I don't care if he's Republican, if he or she is Republican, Democrat or polka-dot, if they've got something they want to do to solve a real problem, I want to help them," he said.

Driscoll talked about a variety of issues including his support of U.S. energy security, of the Keystone XL pipeline, solar energy, using electricity to run railroads, and creating a Missouri Valley Authority to mirror the Tennessee Valley Authority or the Bonneville Power Authority.

Musgrove also read a letter from Lewis, who apologized that he could not attend and also wished the local Democratic candidates luck

Lewis wrote that he sees a strong urban-rural divide in Congress, and that he wants to go to Washington to stand for Montana as a rural state.

"On the Hi-Line and in Hill County, people still work hard to forge a better life for themselves and their children," he wrote. "They value fairness, equal pay for equal work, for freedom of choice, good public education and responsible decisions. Hill County values are Montana values."