It sounds like Republican Party ideals are not exactly in their heyday in Montana (H/T Volokh Conspiracy):
Republican U.S. Senate nominee Bob Kelleher wants a “nonviolent revolution†to overthrow the foundation of American government. He favors enormous, FDR-style government work programs to reduce poverty; he wants to nationalize the American oil and gas industries and supports government-run, socialized medicine. He has little nice to say about President Bush or former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot.
Political scientists and the head of the Montana Republican Party say Kelleher, 85, isn’t really a Republican, at all.
And yet, two days ago, Kelleher beat five other, mostly conservative to mainstream GOP candidates to become the Republican who will take on Sen. Max Baucus in the fall.
Since John McCain is a strong favorite to win Montana’s three electoral votes, it looks like there will be a lot of vote-splitting this November in Big Sky Country.
But a socialist as the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate? Maybe one of my Montana conservative friends can fill me in. Craig? Charles?
Kelleher has been on the ballot since the Civil War, and name recognition finally paid off for him. The other candidates were a mix of credible unknowns and oddballs. Nobody raised the dough or campaigned hard enough to let voters know who’s who. Just proves that a campaign based on Lincoln/Reagan Dinner speeches won’t get you very far.