by Travis Mateer

Montana Democrats weren’t always losers. That is why Montana used to be considered a “purple” state. But that designation was obliterated during the last election cycle.

In the wake of historic losses in Montana’s 2020 election, state Democrats are hoping to bounce back, as the 2022 campaign season officially begins Thursday – but some acknowledge it may be a long, uphill climb.

“I’m not sure they can right the ship in 2022,” says David Parker, chair of Montana State University’s political science department. “I mean, it’ a mid-term election, and mid-terms do bad things for the party in power nationally.

Yep, things aren’t looking good for Montana Democrats, and some of the candidates announcing bids for local elections indicates Dems haven’t learned a damn thing from their historic losses. Here’s more from the link:

In 2020, all statewide Democratic candidates on the ballot in Montana lost decisively – a sweep that hasn’t happened here in more than five decades. They also lost every rural county – except some with Indian reservations – and claimed victory in only a few urban counties, such as Missoula, Butte (Silver Bow County) and Bozeman (Gallatin County).

“In rural counties, we have to get over this idea that we’re not going to win, so we don’t need to show up there,” says Zach Brown, a Democrat who, in 2020, won a formerly Republican county commission seat in Gallatin County. “We have to go talk to those communities and be present and demonstrate that we’re different than the national party.”

Brown also says Democrats must stop focusing on what he calls “identity politics” – appealing to specific groups and their grievances – and make their pitch based on broad-based economic issues.

“It’s not a popular thing to say within my party, but I think it’s true,” he told MTN News.

The emphasis in this quote are the parts I think Democrats in Montana should pay close attention to, but they won’t. Instead they’ll run candidates like Maggie Bornstein and Zooey Zephyr.

Here is a portion of the identity politics platform Maggie Bornstein will be bringing to her losing campaign:

“In Helena, Maggie will focus on housing through the lens of domestic and sexual violence, the leading cause of homelessness among women in the United States, food insecurity and affordable child care,” the release said.

If Bornstein gets into any problems with her past political shenanigans, maybe the AOC defense can be deployed. What’s the AOC defense? It’s positing that critics of your maskless Miami hypocrisy really just want to fuck you.

Seriously.

It turns out there’s a reason Republicans are hostile to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: They want her to be their bae.

That, at least, is the Democrat’s explanation for why conservatives mocked her for fleeing COVID-plagued New York for Miami Beach during the holidays with her sandal-wearing boyfriend, as shown in photos posted by National Review.

“If Republicans are mad they can’t date me they can just say that instead of projecting their sexual frustrations onto my boyfriend’s feet,” fumed Ms. Ocasio-Cortez in a Friday tweet. “Ya creepy weirdos.”

Since I no longer identify with the progressive window-dressing adorning liberal authoritarianism, I’m glad Montana Democrats plan to keep sucking in 2022.

So stay tuned, and thanks for reading.