Montana

20080608
Barack Obama - John McCain - Hillary Clinton - 2008 Election - North Carolina - Missouri - Montana - Virginia - Illinois - Arizona - New York - Economy - History - Gasoline - Unemployment
"Obama Maps a Nationwide Push in G.O.P. Strongholds." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois] Senator Barack Obama’s general election plan calls for broadening the electoral map by challenging [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Senator John McCain in typically Republican states — from North Carolina to Missouri to Montana — as Mr. Obama seeks to take advantage of voter turnout operations built in nearly 50 states in the long Democratic nomination battle, aides said." ... "On Monday, Mr. Obama will travel to North Carolina — a state that has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 32 years — to start a two-week tour of speeches, town hall forums and other appearances intended to highlight differences with Mr. McCain on the economy. From there, he heads to Missouri, which last voted for a Democrat in 1996. His first campaign swing after securing the Democratic presidential nomination last week was to Virginia, which last voted Democratic in 1964." ... "With [New York] Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton now having formally bowed out of the race and thrown her backing to him, Mr. Obama wants to define the faltering economy as the paramount issue facing the country, a task probably made easier by ever-rising gasoline prices and the sharp rise in unemployment the government reported on Friday." (1, 2) -By Adam Nagourney and Jeff Zeleny with contributions by Jim Rutenberg -NYTimes

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20080530
• Barack Obama - John McCain - Accounting - People - Families - US - Iraq - Military - Book - MT - Arizona - Wisconsin - 2008 Election - "Obama slams McCain on Iraq facts." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama isn't expected to speak until 7:45 pm ET at a rally in Great Falls, MT [Montana]. But his campaign has released excerpts of his remarks, which go right after [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's "pre-surge levels" misstatement yesterday. They also invoke Scott McClellan's new book." ... "[Barack Obama:] "There are honest differences about how to move forward in Iraq, just like there were honest differences about whether or not we should go to war," Obama is supposed to say. "John McCain was for the invasion of Iraq; I opposed it. John McCain wants to continue George Bush’s war in Iraq indefinitely; I want to end it. So there’s going to be a clear choice for the American people this November."" ... ""But that’s not what John McCain’s been talking about the last few days. He’s been proposing a joint trip to Iraq that’s nothing more than a political stunt. He’s even been using it to raise a few dollars for his campaign. But it seems like [Arizona Senator] Sen. McCain’s a lot more interested in my travel plans than the facts, because yesterday – in his continued effort to put the best light on a failed policy – he stood up in Wisconsin and said, 'We have drawn down to pre-surge levels' in Iraq."" ... ""That’s not true, and anyone running for commander-in-chief should know better. As the saying goes, you’re entitled to your own view, but not your own facts. We’ve got around 150,000 troops in Iraq -- 20,000 more than we had before the surge. We have plans to get down to around 140,000 later this summer -- that’s still more troops than we had in Iraq before the surge. And today, Sen. McCain refused to correct his mistake. Just like George Bush, when he was presented with the truth, he just dug in and refused to admit his mistake. His campaign said it amounts to 'nitpicking.'"" ... ""Well, I don’t think tens of thousands of American troops amounts to nitpicking. Tell that to the young men and women who are serving bravely and brilliantly under our flag. Tell that to the families who have seen their loved ones fight tour after tour after tour of duty in a war that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged."" ... ""It’s time for a debate that’s based on the truth, and I can’t think of anything more important than how many Americans are in harm’s way. It’s time for a debate that’s based on how we’re going to end this war -- not a debate that’s based on raising a few dollars for John McCain’s campaign."" ... ""The American people have had enough spin. Just this week, we were reminded by President Bush’s own former spokesman of how it was deception -- not straight talk -- that misled the American people into war. It’s time to cut through the tough talk so that we can be straight with the American people about a war that’s cost us thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars without making us safer. It’s time to end the political game-playing so that we can finally end this war. That’s what I’ll do in this campaign. And that’s what I’ll do when I’m President of the United States."" -From Mark Murray and Athena Jones -MSNBC

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20080519
• Barack Obama - John McCain - 2008 Election - Montana - Illinois - US - Russia - Cuba - Iran - Military - Nuclear - History - "Obama Responds To McCain: "Strong" Presidents Aren't Afraid To Meet With Enemies." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama, in Montana, responded moments ago to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's  ridicule of the Illinois Senator for saying that Iran is a minuscule threat compared to the former Soviet Union [now Russia]." ... "McCain said this revealed Obama's "inexperience and reckless judgment." Here's the key part of Obama's reply..."
""Here's the truth: the Soviet Union had thousands of nuclear weapons, and Iran doesn't have a single one. But when the world was on the brink of nuclear holocaust, Kennedy talked to Khrushchev and he got those missiles out of Cuba. Why shouldn't we have the same courage and the confidence to talk to our enemies? That's what strong countries do, that's what strong presidents do, that's what I'll do when I'm president of the United States of America.""
"Obama also said: "What are [Republicans] George Bush and John McCain afraid of"?" -By Greg Sargent -TPMElectionCentral.TalkingPointsMemo

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WATCH: "John McCain and Barack Obama Trade Blows on Foreign Policy."

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20071011
• Montana - Climate - Ice - History - "Warming climate shrinking Glacier Park's glaciers." ... "This summer, for the first time in Glacier National Park's 100-year history, Gem Glacier was entirely snow-free, a glistening sheet of bare ice sweating dark and blue under a relentless sun." ... "Many miles away, a bubbling mountain stream turned to a trickle, fading finally, underground. It was one of many streambeds that dried up this year, and one of many more to come." ... ""There's still water down there under the cobble," Dan Fagre said of that stream, "but it's not so good if you're a fish."" ... "Fagre, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, has been monitoring Glacier's glaciers for years, studying the many implications of retreating ice and snow. This summer's disappearing streams, he said, are but the latest signs of a rapidly changing climate driving an equally rapidly changing park system." ... ""We're starting to see this picture pretty clearly," Fagre said. "Glaciers have always been the summertime reservoirs, and now the natural reservoir system is diminishing. That's a concern, because you have this critically dry time of year, but you have no safety net to keep feeding water downstream."" -By Michael Jamison -Missoulian.com via -USATODAY 

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20061109
• 2006 Election - Virginia -Allen  - Montana - Burns - "Allen concedes defeat, sealing transfer of Senate." ... "Virginia [Republican] Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) conceded today, putting the Senate in Democratic hands for the first time since 2003 and giving the Democrats a sweep of both houses — a seismic shift in the Washington political climate." ... "Montana Republican Sen. Conrad Burns conceded earlier today in his reelection bid after his Democratic challenger, Jon Tester, claimed victory Wednesday." ... "Coupled with Allen's defeat, those Senate victories give the party a 51-49 Senate majority, counting two independents who are expected to caucus with the Democrats." -By Johanna Neuman with contributions by  Janet Hook -LAtimes 

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20061108
• Election 2006 - US - Iraq - Military - Missouri - Montana - Virginia - Pennsylvania - Santorum - Rhode Island - Ohio - Indiana - Kentucky - "Democrats win House control in midterm elections; Senate still in doubt." ... "Democrats took over the House in Tuesday's midterm elections but Senate control might take weeks to decide, in an election shaped by voter discontent with President Bush and the direction of the Iraq war." ... "Democrat Claire McCaskill's victory over incumbent [Republican] Sen. Jim Talent in Missouri has put Senate control within her party's grasp. Two Senate races remained undecided early Wednesday -- Montana, where a Democratic challenger led, and Virginia, where another Democratic challenger was ahead by the slimmest of margins. Democrats must win both to seize Senate control." ... "Four incumbent Republicans lost in the Senate. Pennsylvanians voted out conservative stalwart Rick Santorum [Republican] — the No. 3 GOP leader in the Senate — in favor of Democrat Bob Casey; Rhode Island voters picked Democratic challenger Sheldon Whitehouse over incumbent Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee; Ohio voters chose Democratic Rep. Sherrod Brown over Republican incumbent Mike Dewine; and McCaskill beat Talent." ... "Democrats also won major House races in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Kentucky and the closely contested governor's race in Ohio, the AP projected. And Democrats seized a majority of the nation's governorships for the first time in 12 years." -USATODAY 

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20061014
• Ney - Abramoff - Doolittle - Volz - Money - Politics - Ohio - Montana - California- "Ney Pleads Guilty to Corruption Charges: Lawmaker's Conviction Is 8th in Abramoff Probe." ... "[Ohio Republican Bob] Ney is the eighth person convicted in the continuing federal investigation into Abramoff's activities. A federal task force that includes a dozen Justice Department prosecutors is investigating Abramoff's dealings with other congressional offices, including those of Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont. [Republican-Montana]) and Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif. [Republican-California]), according to lawyers and witnesses involved in the probe." ... "The Ohio Republican had been a target of the investigation for a year and came under increasing pressure -- first in January with Abramoff's guilty plea and agreement to cooperate in the investigation, then with the guilty plea in May of his former aide Neil G. Volz, who admitted conspiring to corruptly influence the congressman and others. Ney admitted encouraging Volz to violate the one-year ban on lobbying by former staffers." ... "Earlier this year, Ney's committee passed ethics legislation to strip convicted lawmakers of their pensions, but the bill died in the House." -By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi with contributions by Alice Crites -WashingtonPost 

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20060901
• Montana - 2006 Election - Terrorism - US Immigration - Law - Firefighting - Workers - "Montana Senator Does It Again: Conrad Burns: Terrorists Drive Taxis By Day, "Kill At Night"." ... "[Montana] Republican Sen. Conrad Burns, whose recent comments have stirred controversy, says the United States is up against a faceless enemy of terrorists who "drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night."" ... "He has drawn criticism in recent weeks for calling his house painter a "nice little Guatemalan man" during a June speech. Burns, whose [2006] re-election campaign is pressing for tighter immigration controls, also suggested that the man might be an illegal immigrant. The campaign later said the worker is legal." ... "Burns, 71, also had to apologize after confronting members of a firefighting team at the Billings [Montana] airport and telling them they had done a "piss-poor job," according to a state report. In July, the Hotshot crew had traveled 2,000 miles from Staunton, Va., to help dig fire lines for about a week around a 143-square-mile wildfire east of Billings." -AP via -CBSNews 

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