Money and Montana politics

Any doubts about the pervasiveness of big money in politics should be erased by the stunning numbers released this week about the Montana U.S. Senate race.

The hotly contested race between Sen. Jon Tester and Rep. Denny Rehberg had a total price tag of $47 million.

That includes $13.1 million spent by Tester in his successful re-election bid, $8.3 million spent by Rehberg and more than $25 million poured on by unions, advocacy groups and partisan committees.

Add it all up and it’s $30 million more than was spent in Montana’s previous most costly election, also for U.S. Senate, in 2006.

As disturbing as these numbers are, there’s another figure that’s even more amazing: The total spending translates into $97 for every vote cast in the Senate race.

Perhaps if they just paid that $97 to every voter, it would have a more immediate economic benefit with the added advantage that we wouldn’t have to endure millions of dollars’ worth of attack ads.

DESPITE ALL those big bucks in politics, however, the Republican Party wasn’t able to come up with $115,000 to cover the expected costs of a recount in the Superintendent of Public Instruction race.

Sandy Welch withdrew her bid for a recount Tuesday, after weeks of promising that she would go through with an appeal of the election results.

That’s too bad because Welch had raised serious questions about the legitimacy of the election, and now no one will know for sure whether major errors existed or not.

It’s also been a costly process for county election officials across the state to prepare for the promised recount, not to mention the legal costs incurred by both the plaintiffs and defendants in the case.

Once the Republicans decided to appeal the case, they should have made a commitment to see the process through to the end. All in all, one more tawdry example of why the average citizen has lost confidence in the ability of public officials and politicians to be efficient, competent and fair.

POLITICS ASIDE, it’s inspiring to share stories about the abundance of giving that happens this time of year in the Flathead.

One of those under-the-radar givers is Ed Toren of Columbia Falls, who just delivered 216 handmade wooden toys to the Toys for Tots program. His family didn’t have a lot of extra money at Christmas when he was a boy, so he knows how special it is for a child to have something under the tree.

Toren isn’t the only woodworker who puts his skills to work to brighten the lives of the less fortunate children. There are many who give of their time and talent to make the holidays a little brighter for others. To all of those secret Santas out there, we may not see you, but we thank you.