September, 2019
Washington – Yesterday I met Governor Steve Bullock of Montana for the first time, and came away favorably impressed with him as a presidential candidate.
And that was before I read his most recent rural policy initiatives, which have received good reviews among people who know food and agriculture. The Des Moines Register has a rundown of them.
I especially like his attention to the need for regional foods hubs to create healthy food markets, an idea often mentioned in these pages but absent from other candidate's offerings.
Governor Bullock has made getting Dark Money out of elections a priority. He's got the record to show how it can be done. It's the key to getting many national problems solved.
We had a good conversation about Montana and one of his predecessors, the late Governor Tom Judge. Tom Judge's grown kids showed Steve Bullock's young kids around the governor's mansion when they first moved in.
I knew Governor Judge in the 1970s when he and four other governors led the Old West Regional Commission: Jim Exon of Nebraska, Dick Kneip of South Dakota, Art Link of North Dakota, and Ed Herschler of Wyoming.
All Democrats, by the way, which I pointed out to Steve Bullock. It isn't that long ago that Democrats won in what are now Red states. They were all pragmatic governors who could work with the other party. Steve Bullock welcomes the label pragmatic progressive.
Governor Bullock could win big in the swing states if he gets the Democratic nomination. It's surprising that he isn't doing better in the polls, because in many ways he is an ideal candidate: Columbia Law, Washington DC law experience, state attorney general, twice elected governor in a Red state, the right national priorities for the times, populist and progressive, young and personable.
Some have suggested that he should run for the Senate in Montana, to help Democrats win a Senate majority. He's not going to do that for good reason: the top of the ticket is key to winning back the Senate as much as anything else. He could well do more for the Senate as the Democrats' presidential candidate.
There are other good candidates in the field, but Governor Bullock should be considered a top contender, and then let the voters decide.
