By Joe Carbonari
In my opinion John Walsh has been offered a way out. It seems to me that it would benefit all if he simply withdrew from the Senate race and served out the term to which he was appointed.
Walsh is not a strong candidate, and his chances of winning seem slight. He will surely suffer personal attacks beyond what he deserves should he stay in the race. If he were to withdraw now he could claim the high ground of choosing service to the people of Montana, and to the nation, over staging a fight for the restoration of his good name – in the tradition of self-sacrifice for the good of the country – while maintaining the service credit that he deserves.
Walsh would have to withdraw by Aug. 8, and the Montana Democratic Party would have to re-nominate by the 20th, for a new candidate to get on the November ballot. No doubt Brian Schweitzer’s name has come up.
Brian has both supporters and detractors, but unquestionably he would make a strong candidate and have a great story to sell. While both his visibility and scrutiny would be intense, my guess is that he would feed on them both, and it does not seem his nature to shirk from a battle.
Whoever or whatever happens, let’s hope that it improves the quality of our political process. It sorely needs it.
By Tim Baldwin
News reports revealed that John Walsh committed academic plagiarism to earn his master’s degree from the United States Army War College in 2007. Wikipedia.org notes that “plagiarism by students is … a very serious offense that can result in punishments such as a failing grade … or even being expelled from the institution.” But to Walsh, Montanans should overlook this fraud and elect him to one of the highest and most powerful offices in the United States.
What makes Walsh’s behavior more despicable is that when confronted with his plagiarism, he stated he didn’t believe he did anything wrong, even though his aide “did not contest the apparent plagiarism,” according to a New York Times report. Walsh tried to excuse his fraud by blaming it on stress. So, what fraud will Walsh commit in D.C. when faced with political stress?
Since our laws make it virtually impossible for third parties to successfully challenge the Democrat and Republican candidates in the primary and general elections, those who normally vote Democrat are stuck with voting for a man whose honesty is more than suspect. I think we can do better with our election laws and political candidates.