Senate Race Final

For immediate release U.S. Senate race Editor’s note: These stories are produced by University of Montana journalism students under the supervision of Professor Dennis Swibold. They may be used without charge, provided editors retain the students’ bylines. Please Swibold ([email protected]) with any questions. You can also find this story and other information on the upcoming election at www.montanaschoice2008.blogspot.com.)

Baucus Seeks Historic Win; Kelleher Wants a Parliament By MARK PAGE Community News Service UM School of Journalism No one is more surprised than Bob Kelleher that he’s Montana’s Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate. “I’m still trying to figure out where those 27,000 votes came from, besides my own,” he said of his June primary victory. Not that he’s complaining. A perennial fixture on the fringe of Montana politics, 85-yearold Kelleher has run for office 16 times. His primary victory over a crowded field in June is only his second win. His first came in his first race. He represented Yellowstone County at the state’s 1972 Constitutional Convention, in which his current rival, five-term U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, served as an administrative staffer. It was there that Kelleher first struck the idea that has driven his long-shot campaigns ever since: switching the U.S to a parliamentary form of government. Kelleher believes America’s system, with its separation of powers and a strong executive, keeps power out of the hands of the people. As interesting as the parliamentary debate may be, it’s hard to imagine the idea gaining enough momentum to topple Baucus, the longest-serving senator in Montana history. Baucus has amassed an $11 million war chest for this campaign. Kelleher has spent $20,000 and figures he’ll spend about $20,000 more. “He has his millions,” said Kelleher. “He could buy the whole state with his $11 million.” Kelleher is campaigning with his own money, earned through his law practice in Billings and Butte. He takes on mostly personal injury, workers’ compensation and estate settlement cases. Before coming to Montana in the 50s, Kelleher, a native of Oak Park, Ill., worked for the U.S. Department of Justice as a prosecutor. He said back then he was asked to prosecute people for lifestyle choices. He and with desk mate Robert F. Kennedy fought against this. “If somebody was gay or a commie they could be prosecuted,” Kelleher said. “I refused to prosecute gays, and as I remember Bobby Kennedy refused to prosecute gays.” Baucus, 66, was a child when Kelleher and Kennedy worked together. But he rocketed to power as a young lawyer out of Stanford University. A Helena native, Baucus worked for three years at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission before entering politics in 1971. By 1974 Baucus was in the House of Representatives and two years later he became a U.S. senator.

Baucus has a commanding lead in the polls. He’s running cautious, positive television ads and making appearances, but he’s barely had to break a sweat campaigning against an opponent who’s hardly a conservative. In fact, the two actually agree on plenty. In dealing with the financial crisis gripping Washington and Wall Street, both blame deregulation. Baucus said regulatory agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission haven’t been “sufficiently vigilant” in protecting taxpayers. He said he opposed the initial version of the $700 billion bailout legislation that barely passed both houses. He voted for it in the end when Republicans agreed to include additional protection for taxpayers, not just Wall Street. But Kelleher said Baucus bears some blame for the erosion of market regulation. In 1999 Baucus voted for a bill that repealed Depression-era financial regulations, allowing banks, insurance companies, and financial institutions to operate in each others areas. “On Nov. 4, 1999 Baucus voted aye on the Gramm-Bliley bill which essentially abolished all of the legislative protection enacted in the ’30s to put some sort of control over the financial sector,” Kelleher said. “That bill erased all of that legislation.” Baucus declined a chance to respond to Kelleher’s accusation. Baucus had initially voted no on the bill, but when it came back from the House with modifications, he joined 89 other senators in supporting it. On Iraq, both want to bring the troops home. Kelleher said this has been an illegal war, Baucus said he doesn’t want to be the “Monday morning quarterback,” but also supports withdrawal. Baucus voted for the war in 2003. “I think we should begin to think about how we should withdraw from Iraq,” Baucus said. “I think it’s time for us to focus on our own country’s problems.” On energy, both want to expand renewable energy sources. Baucus said he has been working to make the Montana-Alberta Transmission Line happen, and he has proposed a tax credit for the cost of equipment used to erect energy lines to carry renewable energy. On health care, both want to provide more government help. Baucus said that as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee he worked to extend the children’s health insurance program, but the president vetoed the bill. Kelleher said health care should be provided to all by the government. “When you’ve got the insurance companies controlling health care, you’ve got 26 to 27 cents out of every dollar going to the insurance companies,” he said. On most topics Kelleher is more liberal than Baucus. He has run in the past as a Democrat and a Green Party candidate, but decided to run as a Republican this year because he opposes abortion. Kelleher describes himself as a devout Catholic. Montana’s Republican leader says Kelleher’s stand on abortion is probably the only issue on which the party and its nominee agree. “With the exception of the fact that Bob is pro-life, I can’t think of another issue that coincides with the Republican Party platform,” said Montana GOP Chairman Erik Iverson. “I think most Republicans are going to scratch their heads.” Even so, Iverson insisted Kelleher has his support as the Republican nominee. Iverson said that he told Kelleher he wouldn’t get any money until he can prove to the national party that he’s a “viable candidate.” -30-