I wouldn't trust a guy who spends so much time and energy trimming his goatee and then lets his eyebrows grow as wild as the Brazilian jungle.

I'm pretty sure that this will be the only Senate race this year (or any other?) where the Republican candidate can be described as being to the left of the Democrat.

Woody, as someone whose prehensile eyebrows routinely snatch gnats that venture too close, I resemble that remark.

Wow. I think he's a mentat.

I would vote for him. The guy outliberals most liberals, and he is the Republican. Wonderful. I love this line:

I was a political science teacher and adjunct professor of Scandinavian Government at MSU, Billings.

They have an adjunct professor of Scandinavian Government in Billings? Is Billings some kind of nordic haven?

yard,

It's not the Rooney brows themselves, it's the goatee-eyebrow inconsistency that rankles.

Oh, and he appears to be dressed as an old-timey train engineer. That's ... interesting.

I wonder how it feels to lose a primary to someone who's spent less than $5,000.  Somewhere MItt Romney is contemplating the weather in Helena.

Holy crap, I'd vote for him.  If that guy gets elected I think Harry Reid needs to act in his capacity as GM of the Blue Team to execute a trade: Leiberman for Kellehman.

His website (i.e., web page) sure looks like he hasn't raised $5,000. Lovin' the bandana look, though. If he gets elected, he should refuse to serve until a parliamentary system is instituted.

Heck Blackton, you can't go into a bar in Billings without seeing posters of Dag Hammarskjold and Anders Fogh Rasmussen.  

Woody, I think the eyebrow-goatee contrast works.  Like an more ornery Abe Vigoda. And the train engineer's hat is just icing.

He looks younger than McCain, even though he is 14 years older....

I just perused the guy's site. He notes that a quarter of Montana's children live below the poverty line, which is why he cites "hunger" as his top priority and opposes the Bush tax cuts. He also opposed the Iraq War (in contrast to the "Democrat" Baucus): "Kelleher remains opposed to this waste of money and blood." He has similarly progressive (and anti-corporate) positions on health care, rail transport, etc.

Also, he claims that 26 countries have a higher standard of living than the U.S. and that all 26 reject the "separation of powers" government, which he calls "the Imperial Presidency" modeled after the British monarchy, in favor of parliamentary government.

Yep, the guy's totally off his rocker.

Sounds like the only thing worse for the GOP than him getting the nomination is if he's elected.

Montana is a conservative state, largely. My mother was born in central Montana and from there east, it is especially red. There are progreesive redoubts in western Montana, especially in Butte and Missoula. The governor, Brian Schweitzer, is a wildly popular Democrat who replaced the hapless Judy Martz, a Republican. Max Baucus will easily be returned to the Senate.

Typical,

That sounds great. I know it's not going to happen, but let's hope this guy wins. Baucus has been terrible at the helm of finance.

Something about the trim goatee, wild eyebrows thing makes me think of Uncle Sam:

www.usathinkingteam.com/.../sam1007.gif

www.imageenvision.us/.../061219141453_Uncle_Sam_LG.jpg

And hey, maybe it's time we put Uncle Sam in the Senate. I think that was one of the proposals in Larry Sabato's last book.

Montana is not a conservative state (Democratic governor, two Democratic senators, split legislature), it is a moderate state, a pragmatic swing state.  Kelleher is anunelectable fringe candidate, but that he won the primary symbolizes the major issue for the Republic party, an issue that goes beyond the borders of our great state.  Namely, Republicans no longer stand for anything that truly resonates for middle and lower class Americans.  I think they will get slaughtered here in November (but I've been wrong before!).

Jim from Billings

Wait, didn't that guy already serve eight years as President of the United Federation of Planets?

Check the headlines. I hope McCain doesn't pick Bob Gates. This guy is impressive. Wish he was a Democrat....

Is that even an option, foug?  I didn't know Gates had any interest in the position.  It would be a coup for McCain if he could get him, but I don't see it happening.

If Obama is elected, he should keep Gates on as SecDef.

Well, he's making the first step towards adjusting to his new status: his website has been stripped of all content. Nothing anymore about having been adjunct professor of Scandinavian Government or about hunger in Montana or the "waste of money and blood" in Iraq. Just a foward to a '08 site with no content either ;-)

Looks like he's still advocating for a switch to parliamentary govt.

"Unity of Powers for a more efficient and accountable Federal Government."

Just about the only contenton the site, as jobeek notes.

This seems like a nonstory though.  The fact that a crank like this can get nominated only means that Baucus was deemed unbeatable by the players in the MT GOP.  Repubs "seriously hoping"  to challenge Baucus were never doing anything more than that--hoping.

I wonder....does this significantly improve Obama's chances to win Montana?  With this guy as their Senate candidate, the rank and file GOP might be that much more likely to stay home in November, thus helping Obama's chances.

Any thoughts Jim from Billings?

jobeek2:

Don't fret: <a href = "209.85.173.104/search  Google cache</a>.

This guy is so full of awesome.

ratner: Gates is a complex guy. An Eagle Scout, graduate of William & Mary, former head of the CIA, linked tangentially to Iran-Contra...but widely considered a stand-up guy, a real patriot. He's done a sensational job at Defense. He may not want the VP slot, but I'd love to see him with Obama. Gates is viewed as a very tough, brutally frank guy, who doesn't take orders from Cheney. Is there a Democratic version of Gates somewhere?

Does Kelleher also work as a train conductor?  All aboooooard!!!

To Brent:  I think Sen. Obama has a very good chance to win in Montana.  The big race will be the presidential one, the Senate race will not draw any national support for the Republican.  The House seat is firmly GOP and will not be a big draw.  Obama made three stops to Montana and drew thousands of energized voters, not something seen in these parts in my lifetime.  Whether that translates into inspiring older Reagan Democrats and listless Independants to vote for him remains to be seen, but I am more confident about a Democratic win here than I have been in decades.

Jim in Billings

I didn't know Gates was an W&M grad.  John Stewart, Gates, and Yours Truly...

Doesn't surprise me, though.  I don't whether or not this is true, but it wouldn't turn my head if somebody told me that a higher proportion of William and Mary graduates wind up working for the Federal government than any other 4 year college.  

Let's not forget Gates' MA from Indiana University's Russian and East European Institute, where he laid the foundation for his CIA career.

A real turnaround at DoD.

Judging from the insignia on his engineer's cap, he must have worked on the Eastern & Western Yin-Yang Enlightened Railways. Considering he's a Green Party guy running as a Republican, it makes a weird kind of sense.

Bigskye6206: The Republicans won Montana in nine out of the last ten presidential contests from 1968 to 2004. They will likely win your state again this year. A recent Mason-Dixon poll (May 21) puts McCain at 47% to 39% for Obama. If Montana is a swing state, then I am an Albanian. Max Baucus voted for Bush's tax cuts so he is not my kind of Democrat. Of course, he triangulates in order - as he sees it - to survive politically. Jon Tester has a populist coloration and he defeated the hapless Conrad Burns, barely. This last datum demonstrates how Montana is anything but pragmatic and swing.

In the ongoing story of the GOP&#39;s troubles with their downticket candidates, I wrote last week about

I know it is quixotic to post on an old topic that will probably never be read but the latest Rasmussen poll puts Obama over McCain here in old Montana.  Dear Liberal Reformer; how is the weather in Tirana?  

In the Stump&#39;s occasional series on this election cycle&#39;s tragically underwhelming Republican