I received two large, glossy political ads the same day. One was partisan as it could be, calling me to vote against “For Sale Flint.” The other was supporting a non-partisan candidate for the Montana Supreme Court, and calling on me to vote against “Dangerous Dan” Wilson.
They were too similar. They did have different Missoula PO Boxes and names on the return line – but there was a lot of commonality. Obviously, someone in Missoula has read a bit of Robert Service poetry – and so have I. With nothing more than the name to go on, Amy Eddy for Supreme Court just seems blah compared to “Dangerous Dan.” After all, we’re talking Montana here. We’re the state whose acting Territorial Governor was Thomas Francis Meagher – a man who, on July 29th, 1849, was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. We’re used to colorful politicians. Admitted, Dangerous Dan Wilson doesn’t have the same jazz to the name as Dangerous Dan Megrew – but the name has a lot more buzz than Amy.
So I researched Amy and Dangerous Dan online – (apologies to Robert Service)
A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in Moose’s old saloon, and a Flathead Judge named Amy, was singin’ a Democrat tune, in the back of the bar, in a solo game, sat Dangerous Dan Wilson, and watchin his luck was his opposition, the lady that’s known as Amy
Frankly it doesn’t scan – but from what I get, Dangerous Dan is a Republican under his judicial robes and Amy is a Dem under hers. I figure that’s enough information to let me make a choice – though I would like to see some dissenting opinions signed Dangerous Dan.
On the other publication Flint is called “For Sale” Flint. Alliterative, true, but not a descriptor of Robert Service quality. Flint is described as a fifth generation Montanan, with deep family ties, a retired lieutenant colonel, and a long-time talk show host. The flyer says nothing about his opponent, but he’s running against Sam Forstag – whose record includes jumping out of airplanes to get to forest fires. Compared to a talk show guy, it should be easy for a smoke jumper to get a name like Silent Sam or something. While the net mentions his degrees in philosophy and political science, looking at the online presence makes it look like two guys that are easy to like running for Congress – one a fairly typical Dem, and one who is pretty much a MAGA Republican.
For a long time I’ve hated political flyers – but I’m not certain that calling a guy ‘Dangerous Dan’ is going to hurt his chances.
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