It is troubling that Gianforte was caught in awkwardly handling a straddle, but ultimately it will not be the decisive factor in the election outcome. It likely will be mainly unknown to the majority of voters.
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Click it to read, go to the source item for the complete story, reach the final screencapture paragrph and understand the headline.
This Roll Call screen capture explains the Gianforte straddle, its awkwardness, and presents a suggestion of disarray if in crisis. It being a minor thing, but wanting things two ways while having made a "no corporate PAC money" promise to voters does touch upon the character question. Showing a willingness to bend a pledge is not good form.
That said, again for a perspective, a personal one, I'd happily swap Mike Pence and Greg Gianforte in positions, Pence the candidate and Gianforte being the unfortunate choice as VP, even given that each appears to be a Dominionist.
Gianforte appears less a brick, less a stuffed shirt, and something other than a career politician of the theocratic bent. He's done other things (not as diverse as Quist and seeming less a humanist).
It is feeling so on a Pence-Gianforte swap even despite funding of the laughable museum. But surely not forgetting the laughable museum.
From a Berniecrat perspective Quist seems the better man. Being an independent because the Democratic party is too Clinton "Third Way" corporatist to embrace, I am not a centrist independent by any measure. I am an indepencent of the Bernie kind, he being willing to caucus with the Dems, but holding a distance from centrist/corporatist taint.
Gianforte stinking of money, and Quist having had to clear debts because he's of the people economically as well as philosophically is not the decisive part of my measure, the economic part of it alone, but "of the people" is strong and "of the 1%" determines it for me.
Send a 1%'er east, that's his constituency no matter how he says differently. Send one of the people back east, and that's his constituency. It comes down to that. Trust in background, with the character of neither candidate perfect nor defective, but surely Quist's being the more interesting. Putting trust in Quist's more varied background, the leavening it should add while being less dollars and cents oriented, is what, as a Montanan (which I am not), would set my vote.
May the best candidate win. Saying so but thinking Quist best.