As Autumn 2011 is rapidly approaching, candidates for offices on all levels are beginning to get active– that’s right! It’s time once again for non-stop phone calls, annoying door-to-door visits from total strangers, and crooked politicians trying to cheat their way through the elections… and by “crooked politicians,” I mean the one and only MT Attorney General Steve Bullock.
Despite the fact that the good AG Bullock has STILL not announced his run for Governor, he seems to take no worries in raising vast amounts of money to fund his campaign, or meals, or life, or whatever– nobody knows.
On Mr. Bullock’s most recent Candidate Campaign Finance Report, filed on July 5 by Deputy Treasurer Doug Mitchell, it appears that as of June 30, the Bullock “campaign” has $126,153.78 in the bank for the Primary, and another $70.285.00 in store for the General elections. In this quarter alone, which ranged from April 1-June 30, Bullock and his rodeo raised upwards of $92,000 to spend between the Primary and General elections next Fall.
Now, as a stand alone figure, these numbers are quite impressive, especially for a man who isn’t running for anything. I mean, a $92,000 income from the many fine Montanans supporting his campaign must be fantastic, right? Well, considering only a fraction of that money actually came from Montanans, it may be time to rethink how much Attorney General Bullock truly wishes to represent the people of Montana.
In actuality, after taking a closer look at Mr. Bullock’s many contributions, it’s easy to see that the majority of his donations and contributions come from the East Coast, spanning everywhere from Washington D.C., to Ashland, Massachusetts. A few from Fort Worth, Texas here; a few from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania there. A couple handfulls from Virginia, a great showing from Arkansas, and Missouri is nothing short of ecstatic for the good Attorney General.
In fact, you have to dig to find a donation from an in-state voter, and that’s something I feel like I shouldn’t have to do. But here is the funny thing– of the small amount of donations from in-state, guess where 90% of those contributions reside?
That’s right! The fine tree-hugging, bird-watching, toilet-composting city of Missoula! Mr. Bullock even has a rather generous contribution of $600 from the Hon. John Engen, the Mayor of the People’s Republic of Missoula. What Mayor Engen obviously doesn’t realize is that he is contributing his hard-earned dollars to an illegal campaign, and thus is in violation of Montana law. But that doesn’t matter obviously! Now, let’s ask ourselves why AG Bullock is so popular out-of-state (that includes Missoula), but not in-state with the vast majority of Montana voters.
First off, it obviously wasn’t Attorney General Bullock who voted to cut $86 million from the Montana Education System, right? Wrong. Even better, he couldn’t tell us why.
And it obviously wasn’t Attorney General Bullock who voted to not utilize Otter Creek Coal, a source which would create jobs, instantly bring in millions in state revenue, and better Montana’s economy. But once again, when questioned by TSP as to why he made this choice, he couldn’t tell us why.
It’s no wonder the only people he can convince to donate are Democratic politicians and trial lawyers from Missoula and the East Coast. It’s funny though, because that sounds really familiar. Isn’t it Steve’s good buddy Jon Tester who is traveling around New York State right now soliciting money from trial lawyers and politicians?
Clearly, AG Bullock is having some difficulty finding his niche in the bustling world of professional campaigning. Is he running to represent Montanans, Former MA Attorney General Martha Coakley, or the Rent-A-Center PAC in Plano, Texas?
I guess we’ll never know.
