Natelson won’t make it to Helena due to ill health, so Bill Fruth will make the main argument to the assembled legislators on Monday. I’ll be there as well, just like Wyoming.
Wyoming is our inspiration. People in Montana can’t be more conservative than people in Wyoming. It wouldn’t make sense. Six weeks ago we didn’t even have a sponsor in Wyoming, and the NFIB lobbyist there said we didn’t really have much of a chance. We won 44-16. All we have to do is replicate in Montana what we did in Wyoming. A piece of cake.
The more I’m learning, the better I feel about our chances in committee. Freshman Zac Perry is a committee Democrat from Hungry Horse, just north of Bigfork. He won with 42% of the vote running against a libertarian Republican and Libertarian. This dude is vulnerable, and he knows it. Does he align himself, on this issue, with the Birchers and the Democrats or with the conservative and moderate Republicans? His brief voting record so far is what you’d expect from someone from this part of Montana. I think we can get Zac. I look forward to having a good conversation with him. He even looks like a good guy, someone I could be comfortable talking to. My son Brendan will start ginning up calls from his constituents tomorrow. We have a real shot at this guy. And I think we’ll get Theresa Manzella as well. Her district is crawling with Birchers, but she’s not one herself. They’re just the only constituents she’s heard from on this.
We may argue and lobby our way past the committee, but to win on the floor it’s going to take strong support from the public. I’m going to try to get the press really interested in this story. Matthew says they love writing stories about fights inside the Republican caucus. This is a fight between normal Republicans and kool-aid Republicans, so it will appeal to them. It’s got national implications, as I’ll explain to the reporters. It’s Montana or bust for the BBA. Hell, Kasich was just there pushing it. It involves an issue, federal spending, which a lot of people care about. Article V itself is a little exotic. The army of Birchers we’re expecting at the hearing adds some local color. I hope they all come dressed in camo, as members of the Montana Militia. I hope they’re armed. I hope they issue threats. If I was a little younger I wouldn’t mind some fisticuffs with these whack jobs, as long as it was on camera.
I get carried away.
reaganproject.com 