MT-AL: Rob Quist (D) vs. Greg Gianforte (R) vs. Mark Wicks (L), May 25

[windjammer]

Well,
Considering the investments I assume Quist is trailing by 5 right now.
I never expected him to win, so a close result or even a victory would be a good surprise.

[The Other Castro]

Daines and Gianforte say it's a single digit race.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/05/05/pence-set-to-stump-for-republican-in-montanas-open-house-race/?utm_term=.4a6aeba85058

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Weird qualitative update, but I'm trying to organize out of state phone banks for Quist here in Chicago. The campaign finally got back to me after months of wrangling, and they literally just sent an OpenVPB* link and a "good luck!" email.

I'm losing confidence every day to be perfectly frank.

*for those not in the know, basically the lowest effort (and indeed, least useful) tool for distributed organizing built into the Democratic field platform NGPVAN.

[Brittain33]

Gianforte caught on tape in a Kinsley gaffe speaking warmly of the AHCA while keeping far away in public.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/05/us/politics/montana-house-special-election-greg-gianforte-health-bill.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

"on the same day, during a private conference call with Republican-leaning lobbyists in Washington, Mr. Gianforte offered a more supportive view of the health bill. Making the case for the 'national significance' of the Montana election on May 25, Mr. Gianforte said: 'The votes in the House are going to determine whether we get tax reform done, sounds like we just passed a health care thing, which I’m thankful for, sounds like we’re starting to repeal and replace.'"

[Beet]

Weird qualitative update, but I'm trying to organize out of state phone banks for Quist here in Chicago. The campaign finally got back to me after months of wrangling, and they literally just sent an OpenVPB* link and a "good luck!" email.

I'm losing confidence every day to be perfectly frank.

*for those not in the know, basically the lowest effort (and indeed, least useful) tool for distributed organizing built into the Democratic field platform NGPVAN.

What, in your view, would be more useful?

My biggest problem with NGPVAN is that it was the source of the 0-day hack into the DNC severs in 2015. You get into VAN, you not only have everyone's information, you also have a backdoor into the entire infrastructure. The software is just way, way too old and clunky to inspire any confidence.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Weird qualitative update, but I'm trying to organize out of state phone banks for Quist here in Chicago. The campaign finally got back to me after months of wrangling, and they literally just sent an OpenVPB* link and a "good luck!" email.

I'm losing confidence every day to be perfectly frank.

*for those not in the know, basically the lowest effort (and indeed, least useful) tool for distributed organizing built into the Democratic field platform NGPVAN.

What, in your view, would be more useful?

My biggest problem with NGPVAN is that it was the source of the 0-day hack into the DNC severs in 2015. You get into VAN, you not only have everyone's information, you also have a backdoor into the entire infrastructure. The software is just way, way too old and clunky to inspire any confidence.

Perhaps - my main problem here is that they're just dropping a list on people with no training, not telling them what they're going for, and no clear goal. It doesn't necessarily hurt me because I have a fair amount of experience, but if someone just tried to volunteer and got this response, there's a solid chance they'd disengage somewhere between getting this email, creating their actionid, and actually opening up the OpenVPB. It's really terrible organizing on their part.

[Shadows]

Weird qualitative update, but I'm trying to organize out of state phone banks for Quist here in Chicago. The campaign finally got back to me after months of wrangling, and they literally just sent an OpenVPB* link and a "good luck!" email.

I'm losing confidence every day to be perfectly frank.

*for those not in the know, basically the lowest effort (and indeed, least useful) tool for distributed organizing built into the Democratic field platform NGPVAN.

One of the places which was used to make millions of calls for Bernie designed by r/sandersforpresident was bernie.pb which has been changed to grassroots.pb where you can call all Our-Revolution endorsed candidates, from School Board, City Council to Congress, Gov, etc!

Check it out -> https://www.grassrootspb.com/ - Don't know how useful it will be !

[Shadows]

Greg Gianforte reportedly owns shares of funds that have holdings in other companies, including Russian natural gas utility Gazprom, that are sanctioned by the U.S. Gianforte owns $92,400 shares in ISHARES MSCF Russia AND $150,000 in VanEck Vectors Russia ETF, the report said. Gianforte made millions after founding a technology company in the 1990s. A spokesman for Gianforte told The Guardian that the candidate will place his assets in a blind trust should he win the election.

Source - The Hill / report-montana-gop-candidate-has-financial-links-to-russian-firms

[MT Treasurer]

Greg Gianforte reportedly owns shares of funds that have holdings in other companies, including Russian natural gas utility Gazprom, that are sanctioned by the U.S. Gianforte owns $92,400 shares in ISHARES MSCF Russia AND $150,000 in VanEck Vectors Russia ETF, the report said. Gianforte made millions after founding a technology company in the 1990s. A spokesman for Gianforte told The Guardian that the candidate will place his assets in a blind trust should he win the election.

Source - The Hill / report-montana-gop-candidate-has-financial-links-to-russian-firms

Some people are apparently getting very desperate. This story is very old and Quist brought it up during the debate when he dodged a question.

[Adam Griffin]

Weird qualitative update, but I'm trying to organize out of state phone banks for Quist here in Chicago. The campaign finally got back to me after months of wrangling, and they literally just sent an OpenVPB* link and a "good luck!" email.

I'm losing confidence every day to be perfectly frank.

*for those not in the know, basically the lowest effort (and indeed, least useful) tool for distributed organizing built into the Democratic field platform NGPVAN.

I wouldn't necessarily read too much into this as far as the quality of the campaign goes. I've had the same issue with a certain nearby campaign and I know there's no issue with regard to its organizational prowess. It just comes down to fielding all of the requests they get; often, it's more of a distraction for them than anything to field these kinds of (well-meaning) inquiries.

Many people reach out to campaigns and then never follow through, so it can sometimes feel like a waste of time to engage with individual volunteers not explicitly showing up to an office or already working on the campaign.

[The Other Castro]

New Gravis poll coming soon:

Gravis Marketing‏ @GravisMarketing
Montana Poll being released on Monday will show @RobQuistforMT  gaining ground.

https://twitter.com/GravisMarketing/status/860859344526729216

[Hindsight was 2020]

New Gravis poll coming soon:

Gravis Marketing‏ @GravisMarketing
Montana Poll being released on Monday will show @RobQuistforMT  gaining ground.

https://twitter.com/GravisMarketing/status/860859344526729216

Man AHCA could be game changer

[GlobeSoc]

I guess that our relatively high level of information could be hurting our ability to predict the Montana special, where there might be a lot of underinformed voters. This isn't the affluent GA-06.

[McGovernForPrez]

New Gravis poll coming soon:

Gravis Marketing‏ @GravisMarketing
Montana Poll being released on Monday will show @RobQuistforMT  gaining ground.

https://twitter.com/GravisMarketing/status/860859344526729216

Man AHCA could be game changer

I would imagine so. Some provisions in the bill were perfect for Dems to campaign on. XYZ Representative doesn't want rape victims to get access to adequate healthcare. Vote for Mr.Democrat to protect you're right to healthcare.

[MT Treasurer]

New Gravis poll coming soon:

Gravis Marketing‏ @GravisMarketing
Montana Poll being released on Monday will show @RobQuistforMT  gaining ground.

https://twitter.com/GravisMarketing/status/860859344526729216

Or...well.. their last poll was simply awful (I believe it was Gianforte +12, right? That was never going to be the result). Democrats are coming home to Quist, as expected. Tossup.

Then again, I'd like to see someone other than Gravis polling this race.

[Holmes]

New Gravis poll coming soon:

Gravis Marketing‏ @GravisMarketing
Montana Poll being released on Monday will show @RobQuistforMT  gaining ground.

https://twitter.com/GravisMarketing/status/860859344526729216

Man AHCA could be game changer

Maybe. But it's Gravis and I wouldn't put much stock into it.

[Maxwell]

Cant Betwixt the Quist!

[McGovernForPrez]

Cant Betwixt the Quist!

Can't Twist the Quist sounds better IMO.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Cant Betwixt the Quist!

Can't Twist the Quist sounds better IMO.

Can't Resist the Quist.

[OneJ]

Cant Betwixt the Quist!

Can't Twist the Quist sounds better IMO.

Can't Resist the Quist.

All of them are great imo.

[Figueira]

Can't twist the Quist, can't toss off the Ossoff.

[Shadows]

Greg Gianforte reportedly owns shares of funds that have holdings in other companies, including Russian natural gas utility Gazprom, that are sanctioned by the U.S. Gianforte owns $92,400 shares in ISHARES MSCF Russia AND $150,000 in VanEck Vectors Russia ETF, the report said. Gianforte made millions after founding a technology company in the 1990s. A spokesman for Gianforte told The Guardian that the candidate will place his assets in a blind trust should he win the election.

Source - The Hill / report-montana-gop-candidate-has-financial-links-to-russian-firms

Some people are apparently getting very desperate. This story is very old and Quist brought it up during the debate when he dodged a question.

Pretty crap attack IMO. Especially when Gianforte doesn't believe much in SS/Medicare. Quist has run a mediocre campaign !

[Shadows]

Raw Story reported that Gianforte, a tech millionaire originally from New Jersey, settled a 1991 lawsuit with a former employee who accused Gianforte of firing him for having multiple sclerosis. The details of the suit are harrowing. The former employee at Brightwork Development, Gianforte’s software company, won awards for his sales numbers after his diagnosis. Gianforte allegedly heard about the disease and summoned the employee to his office to ask probing questions about whether it was affecting his performance. A couple months later, the company fired the employee.

In his failed 2016 bid for Montana governor, Gianforte also faced questions about why Petra Academy, a private Christian school in Bozeman where he is board chairman, does not welcome all students with disabilities. In a tense exchange about the topic in February 2016, Gianforte told the Billings Gazette editorial board that the school, which is not subject to the law requiring public schools to accommodate students with special needs, does not admit students who need an extra staff person devoted to them.

“The votes in the House are going to determine whether we get tax reform done, sounds like we just passed a health care thing, which I’m thankful for, sounds like we’re starting to repeal and replace,” Gianforte said. “After refusing to say how he would have voted on the disastrous D.C. health care bill, it turns out Greg Gianforte was saying something different to the special-interest lobbyists bankrolling his campaign,” Quist said in a statement on Friday. “We need an independent voice in Congress who will stand up to the special interests, not a dishonest politician who says one thing to Montanans and another to the millionaires behind closed doors.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/rob-quist-greg-gianforte-disability-lawsuit_us_590e5af2e4b0d5d9049cf76e

Gianforte is so thankful to pass this disastrous healthcare bill only because it slashes 900B off Medicaid which could be used to further give bigger tax cuts (in addition to the repeal of Obamacare taxes). He is happy as long as billionaires get big tax cuts! Where did the moderate Republicans go?

[GeorgiaModerate]

Where did the moderate Republicans go?

I grew up as a moderate Republican.  The party left us behind long ago.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The Republican Party has embrace an almost early Soviet style devotion to the ever constant quest for greater purification and routing out of those hostile elements who have found themselves within their ranks from a variety of backgrounds and origins and whose presence serves to dillute and pollute the Party.


Of course, this is not a Totalitarian regime, so the notion that you can superimpose a bog standard conservative boilerplate into every race, in every state is a recipe for electoral disaster and a big reason why we no longer can compete at all in close to 20 states.