Driscoll Raising no Funds
Statement
Driscoll Raising no Funds
I have advised the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices that I will not "accept donations or make expenditures" in support of my candidacy for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. House of Representatives. To actually do this requires that I only campaign during the primary in a way that is close to my normal pattern of living and travel.
This was a difficult, but reasoned, decision. To pursue this major break with accepted practice, I am hoping that enough Montanans have watched me perform public service in the past to feel confident to vote for me.
I was first elected to the Montana House of Representatives 36 years ago, when I returned home to the Bitterroot Valley from two years of active military service with the Army. My experience in the Legislature, including as majority leader and as speaker of the House, was during a period of Montana's history that veteran reporter Chuck Johnson calls "Montana's Modern Progressive Era." I subsequently served for 12 years as a Democrat from southwestern Montana, elected to the Montana Public Service Commission.
Ignoring repeated suggestions that I run for the House of Representatives, I instead ran against Max Baucus three times. Twice I failed to gain the Democratic nomination. The last time I ran was after "I had got out of politics."
I had just returned to Montana, after the March 2002 filing deadline, from my second tour of duty as a Montana National Guard Officer assigned to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I felt it desperately important to warn Montanans against supporting the pending invasion of Iraq. My only option then was as a general election write-in candidate. Though I received more votes than any other write-in candidate, the benefit of my experience fell on deaf ears.
Earning the vote of a majority of Montanans, my way with no money at all, will be the clearest possible message to the rest of the nation that it's time for significant change.
I feel strongly that sending a representative to Washington with such a credible credential will begin the complex changes that our nation desperately needs. If I am nominated, then I will then shift to a more traditional campaign, but as pledged at my campaign's website: http://change-congress.org/.
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