MT Prosecutors Support Obama

By Jeralyn, Section Elections 2008
Posted on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:25:29 AM EST
Tags: Barack Obama, 2008 (all tags)

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Twelve Montana prosecutors have endorsed Barack Obama:

These leaders from across Montana cited Senator Obama’s strong record of supporting law enforcement as well as his commitment to protecting individual rights that are important to the lives of all Montanans.

The Mayor of Kalispell, MT endorsed Hillary Clinton yesterday:

"Hillary Clinton has been standing up for women and families throughout her long career in public service," Kennedy said. "She is the candidate who best understands the issues facing Montana families."

Previously, Hillary was endorsed by State Sen. Ken Hansen, Harlem; Rep. Norma Bixby, Lame Deer; Rep. Julie French, Scobey; Rep. Veronica Smalls Eastman, Lodge Grass; Julia Doney, Democratic Activist, Fort Belknap; Former Rep. Angela Russell, Lodge Grass; Former Rep. Bob Gervais, Browning; State Senator Vicki Cocchiarella (Missoula) and Rep. Franke Wilmer (Bozeman).

As a defense lawyer, I'm not impressed, and if anything, put off by the prosecutors' endorsement of Obama. It's not the first time Obama has been endorsed by law enforcement groups. When he was running for office in Illinois: [More...]

From the Chicago Tribune, August 20, 2004, available on Lexis.com:

Last week, Obama won the endorsement of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police. Union officials cited Obama's longtime support of gun-control measures and his willingness to negotiate compromises on bills backed or opposed by the FOP.

For a full review of Obama's record on crime issues, see my prior post, Obama and Defendants' Rights: Progressive or Not. which asks and answers the question:

Where does Obama stand on criminal justice issues? Is he really a progressive? Will he stand up for the rights of the criminally accused ... or just those of the wrongfully charged or convicted?

And, from Drug War Rant, here's an entry that was on Obama's website in 2004:

During 8 years in the state senate, Senator Obama has repeatedly voted for tougher penalties for drug offenders. [HB 3387, 5/13/03; P.A. 93-0546; SB 1793, 3/21/03; P.A. 93-0223; HB 2347, 5/6/99; P.A. 91-0336; HB 3170, 5/7/98; P.A. 90-0674; HB 1278, 5/14/99; P.A. 91-0403; SB 0105, 3/23/99; P.A. 91-0263; HB 2843, 5/20/03; P.A. 93-0596; 93rd GA, SB 2447, 3/25/04; P.A. 93-0884; SB 1578, 3/24/03; P.A. 93-0297; SB1028, 4/2/98; SB 1028, 5/19/98, SC HA1,4; P.A. 90-0775; HB 0070, 5/16/97; P.A. 90-0382; HB 2844, 5/13/03; P.A. 93-0340; HB 3073, 4/4/00; P.A. 91-0802; HB 0252, 5/7/99; P.A. 91-0366; HB 5652, 5/9/02; SB 1332, 2/24/00; P.A. 91-0899; HB 4245, 5/7/02; P.A. 92-0698; SB 0014, 5/20/97, SC HA1; P.A. 90-0397; SB 0003, 4/6/01; HB 2015, 5/9/97; P.A. 90-0164; SB 1011, 4/5/01; SB 1224, 3/24/98; HB 2030, 5/15/97; P.A. 90-0557]
(My emphasis)

Obama will be in Oregon Saturday and Sunday. I bet he won't be advocating stricter gun control and drug laws there. What will he do if he gets to the White House? Who knows.

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MT Prosecutors Support Obama | 28 comments (28 topical)

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Perhaps trying to deflect against this: (5.00 / 1) (#4)
by diplomatic on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:37:52 AM EST

Republican attack ad against Obama:

http://tinyurl.com/5edgbd

I had seen on it Youtube before and this post by Jeralyn reminded me of it.

LOL, if prosecutors like him, (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by eleanora on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:51:42 AM EST

that may actually help Hillary here! Obama is doing really well in MT mostly because the Libertarians think he's one of them and will legalize marijuana and loosen gun control laws, etc. I hope this gets lots of media attention here so they wake up; maybe an LTE covering his drug votes is in order.

I was in Great Falls the other day and saw several yards with both Obama08 and Ron Paul yard signs. IDK what those guys are planning, maybe a joint ticket? :D

: People forget (none / 0) (#27)
by Steve M on Fri May 16, 2008 at 09:51:30 AM EST

that Jon Tester won on a platform of REPEALING the Patriot Act.
People out here in the coastal enclaves assume that because a state is conservative, it must be all law-and-orderish. That's not how it works!

Jeralyn (5.00 / 1) (#10)
by Iris on Fri May 16, 2008 at 02:35:40 AM EST

The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press has new polling data concerning the primary that you might be interested in:

Fully 72% of the public - including comparable percentages of Democrats, Republicans and independents - say that journalists should not be anointing Obama as the Democratic nominee at this stage in the race. Just 20% say that journalists should be doing this.

: thanks, Iris (none / 0) (#25)
by Jeralyn on Fri May 16, 2008 at 09:38:56 AM EST

Just made that a new post.

Why Endorse B.O. (5.00 / 1) (#11)
by aa incalif on Fri May 16, 2008 at 02:38:17 AM EST

Greetings all. I read this site all the time. I'm an AA in calif and I have been contributing to HRC campaign for months.

BO has done a great job to marginalize the AA vote. BO is controlled by the GOP. His sole purpose was to bring down HRC from day 1.

Not all AA's support BO, Hillary doesn't need the blk vote and McCain doesn't want the AA vote. Thanks BO job well done!! BO has done nothing but play the race card and blacks fell for it. BO has no shame and all the BLK voters will soon he who he really is!!

: Very oddball comment about Sen. Obama--- (none / 0) (#15)
by wurman on Fri May 16, 2008 at 08:22:11 AM EST

This seems dubious:

I am truly scared for out country - while GW is trying to install democracy in other parts of the world, I sadly feel , it is being hijacked by some strong political players with lots of money - enough to buy Media support and prop up a munchurian candidate..
GW only supports dictators, tyrants & monarchs. To my knowledge, nothing done in his 7.7 years of neokon foreign policy has accomplished anything to "install" democracy, anywhere. His growth areas for international relations seem to be Pervez Musharrif (Pakistan), Kim Jong Il (N. Korea) & Muammar Ghaddafi (Lybia)--all dictators.
And, in my opinion, GW has done more to "un-install" democracy in the United States than any person since George III of England.

I don't recall a group of (none / 0) (#1)
by oculus on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:33:00 AM EST

prosecutors (elected DAs?) endorsing in a Presidential primary contest before, espec. a Dem.

Does Obama want crime to be a campaign issue? (none / 0) (#2)
by diplomatic on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:34:42 AM EST

I wouldn't touch it...


No he doesn't (5.00 / 1) (#3)
by Jeralyn on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:35:21 AM EST

But I do.


Well maybe Giuiliani will make his comeback (none / 0) (#5)
by diplomatic on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:39:41 AM EST

Then we'd hear about it a lot. McCain better not pick Giuiliani as VP or I'll become really tepid.


: too many i's (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by diplomatic on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:40:23 AM EST

I can never get that name right.

I can't believe there are THAT many people (none / 0) (#7)
by thereyougo on Fri May 16, 2008 at 01:43:28 AM EST

who are sold on unity and hope and attorneys
? where' s the evidence councelor? its odd.

does Obama donate so much money ? that they MUST endorse him?

its a puzzle to me.

Death Penalty Advocates (none / 0) (#9)
by txpolitico67 on Fri May 16, 2008 at 02:18:34 AM EST

would not certainly receive that ad (Willie Horton style) regarding gangs and the death penalty. if anyone has seen the ad i am talking about its a killer (NPI).

the ad ties obama's "weakness" on the war on gangs to the war on terror. could be pretty effective with the low info voter set he seems hard to connect with.

It's one of the few issues (none / 0) (#24)
by Jeralyn on Fri May 16, 2008 at 09:38:37 AM EST

I've agreed with him on. The gang laws target minorities and embrace the "lock em up and throw away the key" mentality which is particularly bad policy for juveniles. They are overbroad in their definition of a gang member. I've written about it dozens of times here. But you are right, the public will view him as being weak on gangs and the public seems to want strong gang laws.


: Gang Penalties (none / 0) (#30)
by txpolitico67 on Fri May 16, 2008 at 03:37:28 PM EST

I also agree with Obama on this issue. When I was in college I took a class on the juvenile justice system (a real oxymoron if I ever heard one). Talk about an eye-opening experience. And, it is not equipped, IMO, to deal efficiently with gangs and the issue of the death penalty, which I am vehemently against.

Yup, handgun control will resonate well. (none / 0) (#12)
by wurman on Fri May 16, 2008 at 07:18:15 AM EST

The MT prosecutor "benediction" is a joke. When J "W" McSame starts running the ads about Sen. Obama's view on firearms, you will see 11 of the 14 western states go GOoPer in Nov.

Guaranteed.

And this is a core issue; it is not downtrodden people clinging to god & guns & racism, with a little bit of hate toward gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals & transgendered people thrown in for good measure.

WA, OR & CA might, possibly, be in play; but on gun control, Sen. Obama may even lose all 3 of them too.

Demographics (none / 0) (#16)
by thentro on Fri May 16, 2008 at 08:39:37 AM EST

MT is an Obama kind of state. Live by demographics, die by demographics.

Why would you advertise a web service here? (none / 0) (#17)
by wurman on Fri May 16, 2008 at 08:45:37 AM EST

anonymity. Everything you need to manage your online presence in a secure, private and anonymous fashion, all in one place. You simply will not find more for less anywhere and we guarantee it. Our service comes with a full and unconditional money back guarantee. If you are not happy, we are not happy.

I am definitely not happy, JJ.

: Agreed and I've asked him many times (none / 0) (#21)
by Jeralyn on Fri May 16, 2008 at 09:28:23 AM EST

to stop advertising his website here. I'm going to suspend him until he complies.

: turns out that poster (none / 0) (#22)
by Jeralyn on Fri May 16, 2008 at 09:30:03 AM EST

has previously been banned under another name so I have just deleted his account and erased his comments.

MT Hillary volunteer (none / 0) (#19)
by annac1aire on Fri May 16, 2008 at 09:17:57 AM EST

I'm a Montana volunteer for Hillary, and I just wanted to point out that the list of legislative endorsements there only includes the people who've endorsed in the past couple of weeks.

Her steering committee includes a number of additional legislators, city officials, and Dem activists who have endorsed her. She has a pretty broad base of support here.

I've been reading for a long time but I never jumped in to comment until today - thanks for providing this forum.

: thanks, Anna (none / 0) (#20)
by Jeralyn on Fri May 16, 2008 at 09:27:17 AM EST

I only looked at the news releases for the past week. It's good to know she has additional support going beyond that.

but in November... (none / 0) (#23)
by diogenes on Fri May 16, 2008 at 09:34:56 AM EST

There's no future in running as a Democrat who is depicted as "soft on law and order" and is endorsed by liberal defense attorneys.

: that may be so (none / 0) (#26)
by Jeralyn on Fri May 16, 2008 at 09:42:58 AM EST

but it's wrong to characterize Obama as a progressive on crime issues when his record is so mixed and there's no indication of what he will do if elected given his sometimes vascillating statements.
Also, Democrats should talk about being "smart on crime" and stop allowing the Right to define the issue as "soft on crime" vs. "tough on crime."

Bottom line: "Who Knows?" (none / 0) (#28)
by RonK Seattle on Fri May 16, 2008 at 10:01:15 AM EST

Clinton is a verifiable standard-breed liberal.

Obama is an unknown quantity, with enough blank screen for anybody to project anything.

Strictly as a betting propostion, Obama is the hard-asses' best bet.

blank slate (none / 0) (#31)
by diogenes on Fri May 16, 2008 at 09:26:39 PM EST

If Hillary is such a "standard breed liberal" and Obama such a "blank slate", then why do Appalachian Reagan Democrats support her in droves?


: Um, because those are the people Liberalism ... (none / 0) (#32)
by RonK Seattle on Fri May 16, 2008 at 10:02:04 PM EST

... was created to serve?
How far upside down is your world, anyway?