Free Republic

When Max Baucus, the long serving Democrat Senator from Montana, suddenly stepped aside leaving Democrats no one to take his place they thought their problem was fixed with John Walsh. As Adjutant General of the Montana National Guard and State Lieutenant Governor he seemed like a great pick to hold the Baucus seat. That scenario fell apart when Walsh was exposed as just another phony Democrat. The New York Times revealed that he had plagiarized his pitifully brief Army War College Master’s thesis. After some agonizing about what lie might work to fix the problem and send him to Washington...

Montana State Senator Amanda Curtis (D-76 Dist.) is running for U.S. Senate and will no doubt be trying to run away from her past statements mocking guns, Christianity, the Bible, and the family. She just stepped into the race in place of John Walsh, the Democrat candidate who had to step down amid a plagiarism scandal.

Video at link

1 minute, 49 seconds - offered without comment on my part, other than to add she is a 34 yr old teacher who is anti-gun in a state like Montana. Wonder how much that will be discussed in the 90 days before the election.

HELENA — Sen. John Walsh said Thursday he is pulling out of the Senate race because his campaign was distracted by the controversy over allegations that he plagiarized a U.S. Army War College research paper. Walsh, a Democrat, said he decided to drop out of the race. He had canceled campaign events this week as he and his family discussed what he would do. The New York Times reported July 23 that Walsh had plagiarized large portions of the research paper in 2007. Walsh will serve out the rest of his Senate term, which ends in early January 2015. “I...

Should have done it a week ago, frankly. Sen. John Walsh, D-Mont., announced Thursday that he is dropping out of the Senate race after it became clear that he could not overcome the fallout from a plagiarism scandal. “The 2007 research paper from my time at the U.S. Army War College has become a distraction from the debate you expect and deserve,” Walsh said in a statement. “Distraction.” Yes, I imagine that plagiarism and academic fraud probably would qualify as such. As to the plagiarist’s replacement, well… I don’t know what’s more depressing for Democrats: that their best hope to...

Rep. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) was basking in the national spotlight of delivering the GOP’s response to President Obama’s weekly radio and internet address July 27, while the man whose job he wants, Sen. John Walsh (D-Mont.), was reeling from charges of plagiarizing a healthy portion of his U.S. Army War College master’s thesis. The contest has never been a contest, although Walsh did pull closer to Daines just before the plagiarism scandal broke July 23. Daines is slaughtering Walsh in the polls. The latest survey of likely Montana voters from Public Policy Polling, which leans toward Democrats, has the Republican...

"Having repeatedly said that he wants to do the honorable thing, Walsh should stop campaigning and do his utmost to serve Montanans well in the remainder of his brief Senate appointment. That is the honorable course," writes the Gazette's editorial board. "We call on Walsh to devote all his time to serving as U.S. senator and bag the campaigning." The Missoulian went a step farther, suggesting that he could also immediately resign. "Walsh could resign his Senate seat immediately. [Gov. Steve] Bullock could then appoint a temporary replacement who isn’t running for election, as many Montanans had hoped he would...

The White House is set to select outgoing Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) as its pick for ambassador to China, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and a Baucus ally confirmed Wednesday. Baucus, 72, previously announced that he won't seek reelection to the Senate in 2014. ... Assuming Baucus is confirmed sometime in 2014, it means there will be a vacancy in his seat. Gov. Steve Bullock (D) will get to make the appointment for the final year of Baucus's term. Bullock could pick his lieutenant governor, John Walsh, who is already running for the seat in 2014. But Walsh faces a primary...

Republicans see Montana’s open Senate seat as a key piece of their puzzle to win the chamber next year — and a new poll suggests that Rep. Steve Daines, the top GOP candidate in the race, is in good shape to pick up the seat. He leads both Democratic candidates, current Lt. Gov. John Walsh and former Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger, by double digits in the survey from the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling. Against Walsh, national Democrats’ preferred candidate, Daines leads by 17 points, 52 percent to 35 percent. Bohlinger does slightly better than Walsh, but he’s still far...

Popular former Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Saturday morning that he will not run for Montana's open U.S. Senate seat in 2014, an announcement that complicates Democratic efforts to retain their majority in next year's elections. Schweitzer told The Associated Press that he doesn't want to leave Montana and go to Washington, D.C. He had been considered the Democrats best candidate for holding onto the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Max Baucus next year. Schweitzer said he felt compelled to consider the race only because many in his party said they needed him to run.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is retiring rather than seek re-election in 2014, according to two senior Democratic strategists familiar with his plans. First elected in 1978, Baucus has been the top Democrat on the powerful committee since 2001. The likely Democratic candidate to succeed him would be former governor Brian Schweitzer, sources said.