Posted on 07/25/2014 6:53:13 AM PDT by cotton1706
Senate Democrats went into full-fledged damage control Thursday to protect embattled Montana Sen. John Walsh, a day after plagiarism revelations that imperil his election hopes this fall.
Despite a mountain of evidence suggesting that Walsh may have obtained a key academic credential improperly, the party leadership, Montana Democrats and members of the rank and file closed ranks behind the appointed senator — arguing that voters should overlook a relatively minor mistake when weighed against his military service in Iraq and career serving his country.
Or, as Sen. Jon Tester put it, “He’s a soldier, not an academic.”
)
“It’s a hit, but it’s not a death knell,” said Tester, the Montana Democrat who won a tough reelection bid in 2012. “And I think absolutely, once the facts are out, people will understand it.”
“I think that stacked up against his record, he’s going to run on his record in the National Guard and his service in Montana,” said Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has backed Walsh since the scandal broke. “I think the voters will understand that full picture.”
The revelations in Wednesday’s New York Times report — that Walsh copied substantial passages of his final paper to obtain his master’s degree in 2007 without proper attribution — threaten to derail the Democratic senator’s already-steep climb against Republican Rep. Steve Daines, who is leading in the polls. Montana had long been viewed as a long shot for Democrats in the national fight for control of the Senate, and the plagiarism allegations seemed to make a tough race even tougher.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
“a relatively minor mistake” LOL
You have to admire Democrats. When one of their ow is busted, they all close ranks in front and behind that candidate and defend that person to the end. Kind of like the Muslim Brotherhood and the way it defends one of their terrorists. Oops, did I say that?
Pity this wasn’t in a State we were going to win anyway.
This invites the dog poop brownies question--How much dog poop is permissible in a batch of brownies that is made from otherwise premium ingredients?
Yet, Sarah Palin, a private citizen, getting a speeding ticket is national news.
Huh? Please clarify.
Well, lets be honest, it’s Montana, the only difference this scandal will make will be that the democat will lose by 25 points instead of 20.....
I think that as feeling, understanding citizens of the world, we should all recognize that, while ‘technically inappropriate’, his intentions and feeling were pure of heart and compassionately insightful. The fact that he made an inadvertent mistake and didn’t attribute so-called direct insertions of others’ work is hugely overshadowed by the impact of his real intentions and the compassion with which he felt them.
Can and do schools revoke previously awarded degrees in cases like this?
How is this a ‘mistake?’
What is the big deal?
Joe Biden plagiarized a speech also when he ran for President, back in the day before he got his butt hair transplanted to his head.
It won’t matter. Biden did the same thing and went on to become vice president.
If the Democrats decided to expel liars and cheaters from their ranks, three quarters of Democrat politicians would be gone. In many places, being a crook is considered a plus.
Add this to the Letter of Reprimand that he received from the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army for improperly using his position as the Adjutant General of the State of Montana to pressure soldiers from joining the National Guard Association and you have a guy who has committed two integrity and professional conduct fouls while serving in a senior position.
He has violated the public trust and should not be elected Senator. We do not need another corrupt politician in Washington.
It does matter.
Montana has only voted Dem for president once since 1964.
This US Senate seat should be a GOP pick up.
Slam dunk.
I don’t know who it was but Meghan Kelly asked some guy on her show last night if this hurt Walsh, his answer:
Well he was already toast, now he’s bacon.
LOL!
People in MT nearly always vote Democrat for the U.S. Senate regardless of what transpires. This should make little difference with Montanans.
MT Demos have held the U.S. Senate seat for nearly all of the post-World War II years, with Conrad Burns being an exception.
These are the guys who make it on political connections rather than on merit and integrity. There are already too many of them in DC.
Colonel, USAFR
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