Matthew will do a hard count and decide if he’s got the votes. If not, he’ll have the bill tabled and we move on.
Because the Birchers are such laughable whack jobs, it’s embarrassing to lose to them. But if we lose, it’s not funny. I can live with the fact that a couple Republicans on the committee are so dimwitted that they buy in to Bircher bullshit. What sets me off are the votes we may lose because of simple cowardice. Pathetic.
Montana sponsor Matthew Monforton continues to believe that a couple phone calls from Palin would carry the day. Rep. Randall Pinocci is from the little town of Joliet, up against the base of the Beartooth Range in southern Montana. Rep.Seth Berglee is from Great Falls, Stephanie Hess is from Havre up by the Canadian border, next to the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation. These are the kinds of places where Sarah Palin’s star still burns brightly. They fell for her when she ran for Vice President, and they continue respect and admire her.
These three are not Bichers, but they have a significant Birch presence in their districts. They’re concerned about getting primaried if they vote for HJ 4. If they can tell their constituents that their vote was as a result of a personal appeal from Sarah Palin, we’ll get their votes. Sarah just has to make the call. I have no doubt she would if she was aware of the situation. We have to get her the message.
Sal Russo of the Tea Party Express has access to her, and has supposedly asked for her assistance in the Article V movement. Aside from a supportive Facebook posting back in May, I don’t believe she’s been willing to involve herself.
I’ve decided to try a different form of communication. Back in the 90’s I was on KENI as the first talk show host in Alaska with a strictly conservative political show. I had more impact as a talk show host than I did as a legislator, where I was always in the minority. For instance, I played a key role in the passage of concealed carry by the legislature, and in convincing a reluctant Gov. Wally Hickel to sign it. There are still people in the radio business who remember me, and my previous legislative career.
There are now three more or less conservative talk stations in Anchorage — KENI, KFQD, and KBYR. I emailed the programming manager at all three, asking to appear on their station in order to try and get in touch with Sarah Palin, or at least make her aware of how she could help in Montana. I explained the BBA had 24, needed ten more etc. So I’ve got three lines in the water.
Sarah lives in Wasilla, 30 miles from Anchorage as the crow flies. She may not listen too much to these stations, but a lot of her friends and neighbors do. I’ll ask them to contact her for me, and tell her that her help is needed. They’ll convey the message, and that’s all I can do. When she becomes aware of our appeal I don’t know what she’ll do. She may feel imposed upon, for all I know.
I think she makes the calls.
Jim Kasper set a world record yesterday in his committee, passing out four Article V bills in one day. The BBA, CoS, Compact, and a new one are on the way to the floor. We knew North Dakota was kindly disposed to Article V, but this is ridiculous. We always figured we’d get North Dakota. This is nice confirmation.
Herman Cain should be on the air in a 60 second spot across Montana by Tuesday. That and a grassroots phone campaign are all we’ve got going. Matthew and I both requested that Kasich put through a request to Sen. Daines. We know he’ll try. Daines could be a difference maker. If we get out of committee we’ve got to come up with a game changer. What we’ve got going for us now won’t be enough.
If, in fact, Biddulph gets the radio spot on the air, I’ll follow up by attempting to get on the local program on each station, particularly Great Falls. Actually, if we could talk Herman Cain to do it, it would be far better.
He might.
I may have been misinformed, and apologize to Nick Dranias. It appears the bill killed in Wyoming Senate Rules was the CoS bill, not the Compact. So Nick may be on his way to his third state. He actually got one more vote in the House than we did. Good luck, Nick.
Matthew wasn’t confident about the vote in House Judiciary today, so he got a week’s continuance. No word yet on who needs convincing. If we can get Matthew to a radio station to cut a spot we’ll be on the radio by Tuesday. And we’ll try to run as intensive a phone operation as we can put together in a week. If House leadership would whisper in a few ears it would help. I think it’s doable. We’ll have to fight just as hard on the House floor vote.
CoS lost in Montana Senate Judiciary 2-10, a wipeout. Chairman Scott Sales (think Andy Biggs of Arizona) tabled the bill, so it’s dead unless they can get 26 on a discharge petition — which, given the vote in Judiciary, is impossible. We’ll have to deal with the same Chairman, and may need a discharge ourselves. But I think we could get 26, if the stars were all aligned.
Sponsor Kraig Powell called from Utah. A House hearing is set for the 18th, and Bill Fruth and I will go a day early so he can make his presentation. Kraig has leadership on board, and thinks we’re in good shape. Kasich’s visit seems to have been quite helpful. Turnover in the House has given him a whole lot of new people to work with, and he thinks he’s got the votes. I hadn’t heard from him in a month, and was starting to get worried. Not really. I trust Kraig.
Biddulph et al are working Virginia hard, but have got an uphill fight. They can’t lose a single Republican in the Senate, and there are a couple Senators who are apparently hard core. They’ll be up for election in November, and maybe we can all get together and elect some new faces. But that’s for another day.
Matthew says, again, that Sarah Palin could swing a vote or two. Tea Party Sal Russo can get through to her, and if he can’t get her to listen to our request then I guess she’s just not interested. Too bad. It’s a perfect situation for her. Mark Levin can talk to her, but we can’t seem to get his ear either. He bought in to the whole CoS idea, and may not want to give it up. That will change over time, I’m confident, but probably not in time to help in Montana.
Co-founder Darren has set March 1st as the date for the new website and all that will go with it. He’s setting up his own business in Bozeman, with doors to open on March 15th, so he’s basically up to his ass in alligators. He’s been working 12 hour days, and more, for quite a while, so this is a big sacrifice for him. He’ll be repaid like the rest of us. In the hearts of his countrymen.
Dave Luketic from Kasich’s office is proving most helpful. The Governor is following through on what he promised, and Dave just asks who he should call. Unfortunately he doesn’t have any influence with Scott Sales’ of the world. But who does?
This isn’t going to be easy. On the other hand, it’s never been done in the history of this country.
It shouldn’t be easy.
That’s what we were looking at in the Montana House Judiciary Committee, so Matthew asked for a week’s delay. We should have a week to get a vote. We’ve got some ideas.
reaganproject.blog 