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| screencapture from this Montana AP carry |
Gianforte, if elected, would be another wealthy suit in DC. Worse is that, Gianforte if elected, is of the rabid fundie stripe, way off the mainstream that way, and that would represent adding too much more to a bad situation. Rob Quist understands the other side of being talented but not immune from day-to-day financial stress. Gianforte has a background of growing a business with a software product aimed at cutting customer jobs; a net job destroyer even though a local "creator" with a love for many, many H-1B visa arrows in his quiver.
Quist is a populist, truly more a Will Rogers brand than a phony Manhattan "populist" talker who'd inherited over a hundred million and talking all the time as if he'd hit a triple. Quist is legitimate. A too rare quality in DC. That he'd want to go there is a blessing, for the rest of us. That Gianforte wants it, big surprise.
This Huffington Post item was linked to in earlier posting, but this quote was not posted earlier:
Gianforte lost his bid to unseat Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) in November. It was a costly defeat: Gianforte spent at least $5.1 million of his own money on the campaign, which aired 30,661 television ads, more than any other state candidate in the country. Quist has sought to depict Gianforte, whose last campaign left him with strong name recognition, as an out-of-touch rich guy from out of state. Born in California, Gianforte lived for years in New Jersey, a fact of which Democrats have been quick to remind voters. Gianforte had a reported income of $220.5 million between 2005 and 2014 on his tax returns, and in 2011, he sold his software firm RightNow Technologies to the tech giant Oracle Corp. for $1.5 billion.
Quist, by contrast, is the son of ranchers from Flathead County, Montana. He struggled financially due to a pre-existing condition that prevented him from getting health care, forcing him to pay out of pocket for a series of surgeries in the early 2000s.
“Congress right now is dominated by politicians who worry about the needs of their wealthy campaign contributors,” Sanders said. “We need members of Congress like Rob who will work to rebuild the shrinking middle class, who will fight all attempts to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and will oppose tax breaks for the very rich.”
That is from the end of the HuffPo item, and to see the what you see is what you get honesty of the man, bullshit free and willing to be deferential to questions that lack immediate quick soundbite answers in his Montana campaigning, Quist, interviewed in a half hour video - at length and not given any "kid gloves" treatment, by capable Montana media people.
Note that Quist campaigns in his hat, but that is a badge and not an affectation. He'd be a good and decent addition to a Congress needing much new perspectives and decency. Gianforte, despite his great wealth and the ego going with it likely would carry Paul Ryan's luggage. It would be most refreshing to see Quist serving in Congress in the hat, working with Bernie there in the other House. It would define a difference from Gucci/Armani and the likes of the two Trump sons and Jarad. There now is no binding dress code in DC, true enough, but non-suits are needed of a kind with a heart and conscience that the likes of Brietbart's Steve Bannon either never had or lost early along his way.
LAST: In the course of investigating detail about the Montana special election, there is the Cowgirl.
http://mtcowgirl.com/
