Big Sky Cairn

In 1997, current Montana Democratic Party Executive Director Art Noonan wrote a short opinion piece for PBS extolling his belief that money had an acidic effect on democracy. In the piece he wrote:

Democrats should be doubly shameful because we joined in the “politics of price” to balance the playing field and instead we achieved the loss of the moral high ground.

And…

I will never be a millionaire and so I feel very strongly that the money changers have more directly undermined the importance in my vote more than any constitutional amendment ever could.

Now whether the Democrats were ever keepers of the moral high ground is certainly debatable, but the article got me thinking: How does a man who believes that money is the root of all political evil campaign for a sitting U.S. Senator who receives millions of dollars from donors *PACs* outside the state of Montana?

According to Open Secrets, Max Baucus raised a little over $6.7 million dollars for his 2002 campaign. Of that amount, only 17.4% was raised in the Treasure State. In fact, of the five zip codes who gave the most money to Baucus only two are in Montana. So how does Noonan, a man raised in a town built on the backs of Union labor support a man who raises more money in the 90210 than he does in zip code 59701?

If Noonan is right and the people who give the money are the people who shape policy, than the citizens of Big Sky Country only own one-fifth of Max Baucus.

I stumbled across a rather uninteresting piece from the Missoula Independent the other day about Erik Iverson’s dual role as the top staffer for Rep. Denny Rehberg and the Montana GOP party.

However, the one interesting tidbit to come out of this story was the aloof ignorance of Representative Art Noonan (D-Butte), wait sorry he is playing the role of Executive Director of the Montana Democrats in this story.

“His volunteering as chair—that’s not unusual,” Noonan says. What concerns him, he says, is “the intermingling of the political business of the party with government work done for the taxpayers.”

A fair question ED Noonan, does Rep. Noonan care to respond?

Since being elected to office in 2003, Art has proven himself to be a fighter for Montana’s working families and our veterans. During this spring’s contentious legislative session, Art was a steady hand and a calming force as the House Democratic Floor Leader. Some of his legislative accomplishments include authoring legislation to give life insurance to the state’s National Guard members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, pushing through a bill to help clean up and protect Montana’s natural resources, and spearheading efforts to increase cooperation between new aerospace businesses, state government, and Montana’s colleges and universities.

As Art has said, his politics are “practical, compassionate, and fair.” And I believe those are key qualities for someone who will help guide the Democratic Party forward though next year’s election – and beyond.

Wait that is ED Noonan again talking about Rep. Noonan on why he is qualified to be ED Noonan. I get confused when political business and the business of Montana taxpayers get intermingled. Yoda this man is not.

ED Noonan may have a fair point since he decided not to seek re-election by taking the high road and anointing his nephew Pat to HD-73

What else you got ED Noonan?

“Who pays for his phone calls about party business when he’s at work in D.C.?” asks Noonan, “How much time does he spend in the state? Where does he actually live? Where is the documentation that he’s not using senate staff, office resources, travel budget, or phone lines for his state party work?”

To answer questions 1,2, and 3, a quick search on the googles shows that Erik Iverson works out of Missoula.

This is like the old Bugs Bunny striking out the side with one pitch.

Continuing on with ED Noonan’s questions, hopefully for my own partisan leanings this will come as a surprise to the fearless leader of the Montana Dems that Denny Rehberg serves in the House of Representatives, not the U.S. Senate.  Maybe Art can use the three years he is giving Jim Hunt to study up.

Given his past, a little ignorance or selective memory goes a long way. I leave you with Ex-Hill staffer Noonan on campaign finance, unfortunately ED Noonan could not be reached for comment on $9 Million Max.

“I personally am reaching a place where I may not be able to vote for anyone who does not promise campaign finance reform, day one. I will never be a millionaire and so I feel very strongly that the money changers have more directly undermined the importance in my vote more than any constitutional amendment ever could.”