The Bobcat Nation

Ponycat wrote:Everything Schweitzer does is a gimick. How quickly we forget. When he ran for Senate in 2000 he was a completly different person.

As for his statement about feeling dirty everytime he leaves Washington, this is how most people I've talked to feel after dealing with Mr. Schweitzer's unpaid volunteer/brother.

hokeyfine wrote:i think ventura's record was pretty good. he was a straight talker and blew the other two candidates out of the debate water. he called their inacuracies when he saw them. he didn't get caught up in the political party crap. very refreshing. identify the problems, common sense solutions, and not be a lap dog to the christian right(the republican party now) or the wacky left.

Friday, February 11, 2005
Baucus gathers lobbyists in fund-raising effort
By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont, assembled 50 lobbyists in a Washington, D.C., restaurant on Jan. 31 and told them he wanted each of them to raise $100,000 for his 2008 re-election campaign.

That's $5 million, almost as much as he spent on his 2004 re-election.
There is no law against such fund-raising tactics.

"It's perfectly legal," said Jerry Calvert, a political science professor at Montana State University. "Whether it's legal and ethical is another question."

The gathering, at the Teatro Restaurant in D.C., was first reported by CNN last Friday. The Chronicle obtained a transcript of the broadcast this week.

Two lobbyists, whom CNN did not name, said "they've never gotten such an aggressive pitch from a senator," according to the transcript.


Baucus, 63, is now serving his fifth term in the Senate. He's up for re-election in 2008.

Individuals are barred from donating more than $4,000 to Baucus' 2008 campaign. However, the lobbyists could recruit other donors to make their target. Such activities are known as "bundling" and are fairly common, Calvert said.

Still, such an approach lifted eyebrows, at the very least.

"This sounds like a very raw, audacious and inappropriate way to raise money in Washington," Fred Wertheimer told CNN. He is president of Democracy 21, a widely praised group that advocates campaign finance reform.

"Lobbyists are always looking for opportunities to give money to influential (legislators)," Wertheimer continued. "But when you take it to the approach of systematizing it to raise very large sums of money from lobbyists who you know are looking for favors and influence, that's a very dangerous situation."

Baucus is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, which devises spending formulas for big chunks of the federal budget.

Baucus spokesman Barrett Kaiser said Thursday that Baucus supports campaign finance reform, but needs to raise lots of money to retain his seat.

"Max has always been aggressive when it comes to keeping the job he loves," Kaiser said. "He loves his job and he intends to keep it."

He said Baucus was not available for an interview.

If the lobbyists come through with the money, a war chest of that size shows that Baucus is serious about seeking a sixth term.

"He'll scare away any potential opponent," Calvert said.

Not so, countered Chuck Denowh, executive director of the Montana Republican Party.

He said such fund-raising tactics show that Baucus is "scared."

"I think Max is vulnerable," he said, noting that Montanans voted overwhelmingly for Republicans President George W. Bush and Rep. Denny Rehberg in November and opinion polls show Sen. Conrad Burns is at the peak of his approval ratings.

"I think people like what our Republicans are doing in D.C, and Max doesn't always go along with those guys," Denowh said.

On the other hand, Democrats swept Montana in 2004. They control the governor's office, the House, Senate and four of five top statewide offices.

Denowh said he could not comment on the ethics of Baucus fund-raising tactics until he knows more about the meeting.

If there is a suggestion that the lobbyists get something in return for their money, there could be ethical questions, Denowh said.

Kaiser said Baucus has a 30-year record of accomplishments for Montana and that he will focus his work on the best interests of the state. Lobbyists who raise lots of money won't trump the state's interests, he said.

"As with anything, Max calls them as he sees them," Kaiser said. "His only yardstick is doing what's right for Montana."

He said the $100,000 figure is "just a target" and that Baucus targeted lobbyists because they have access to that kind of money.

Denowh also noted that campaign donations have limits for a reason: to prevent the concentration of too much money and influence in any one person's hands.

"$100,000, in my mind, buys a lot of influence," Denowh said Thursday.

Kaiser stressed that the fund-raising is legal.

"Max plays by the rules, to the T," he said, adding that he believes Baucus' actions adhere to the spirit of the law as well as the letter.

Whether the fund-raising tactic hurts Baucus in the future will depend on how his opponents use the information, Calvert said.

"It becomes a political problem if an opponent uses it, tries to say he's in the hip pocket of special interests," he said. "But it's pretty hard for Republicans to say that with a straight face."

He pointed to something called the "K Street Project," in which Republican lawmakers in D.C. tried to force lobby firms to fire all Democratic employees if they wanted to enjoy access.

Kaiser said Baucus, like other politicians, often asks people for campaign money.

Baucus is hosting a fund-raiser in Helena today. However, the targets are lower. Admission ranges from $30 for a "guest" to $1,000 for a "host" of the event at the Great Northern Hotel.

wbtfg wrote:...and believe it or not both of them have the state's best interest as their top priority.

Among the most striking federal government "pork" grants funded in November was $1.5 million for a new bus stop (several times more than the typical cost) in front of the Anchorage (Alaska) Museum of History and Art. To replace the current kiosk, the city's transportation director said he imagines a generous upgrade, including perhaps a heated sidewalk to deal with the snow: "We have a senator (Ted Stevens) who gave us that money, and I certainly won't want to appear ungrateful." [Winston-Salem Journal-AP, 5-19-05]

Schweitzer, who took office in January, received a positive job approval score of 57 percent, the poll shows. That grade compares with Martz's 44 percent in May 2001 and Racicot's 47 percent in May 1993.

E-mails of support also came into Helena from Florida, Kansas, Illinois and elsewhere. Some of the people wanted information on relocating to Montana. During his television appearance, Schweitzer encouraged people to come to Montana.

iaafan wrote:Grizzh8r (or anyone): Not trying to be a smart ass, but what did Racicot do that was so liberal and had Montanans so enthralled? We went nowhere economically from what I can see. Not that that isn't a symptom of how our state is located and set up. Maybe there's some logic to why Montana is on the bottom.