OPINION: Republicans who run as Democrats and vice versa

If moderate Republicans have the desire to be elected to public office, they must first win the primary contest. Unfortunately for them, they cannot defeat conservative Republicans in a primary election in Montana. This leaves them no alternative, if they wish to serve in government, but to run as a Democrat and win the Democratic Party primary election, followed by winning the general election on the Democratic ticket.

This tactic is not incongruous since most of the non-intelligent, unthinking Democratic voters will merely unwittingly vote for the “D,” while moderate Republicans know one when they see one and will vote for one of their own kind, and independents will split their votes as they always do … usually resulting in the necessary margin of victory.

In my 15 years living in Flathead County, ostracized as an “outsider” with an education, my assessment of top Democrats such as Govs. Brian Schweitzer and Steve Bullock and U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester is that they act like closet Republicans fooling the general populace into thinking that they are real Democrats.

Initially I was friends with each of them, but then I discovered that there is not a dime’s worth of difference between them and Republicans on many issues: Fighting against the EPA Clean Power Plan; promoting the mining and sale of Montana “dirty” coal; encouraging the building of the Keystone XL tar sands toxic oil pipeline; allowing railroad cars laden with coal and volatile tar sands oil to navigate through the scenic Flathead River canyon corridor passing between Glacier National Park and the Great Bear Wilderness Area and Coram, Martin City, and Hungry Horse, and the cities of Columbia Falls and Whitefish, regardless of the extreme life-threatening danger to human populations and wildlife populations; de-listing iconic, highly intelligent grizzly bears from the Endangered Species List in order to trophy hunt them for profit; promoting the hideous-heinous-cruel-torturous trapping of all wildlife in order to kill them and sell their fur pelts for bloody profit; ignoring the rights of survival of all wildlife by allowing hunting of them; ignoring the serious emergency climate threat of global warming because it means job loss for their constituents and garners them re-election votes; and too many more issues to list here in this limited space.

Now, I expect money-driven-capitalistic Republicans to believe this way, but I have expectations that Democrats would be supportive of human life and wildlife and the preservation of the planet we all must live on … much as we environmentalists do. But, alas and alack, we environmentalists have been reduced to a feeling of helpless hopelessness of ever succeeding in saving wildlife, wilderness, and the planet itself from the deranged real Republicans and pseudo-Democrats who lust for money and re-election votes … with a “win at any cost” attitude.

When it comes time for Ryan Zinke to challenge Jon Tester for his U.S. Senate seat, I will be in a quandary. Tester the apparent closet Republican vs. Zinke the admitted real Republican will cause me to be conflicted. More current will be Gov. Steve Bullock’s re-election effort this year against a conservative real Republican candidate, and how will I resolve that conflict?

Where does an independent, progressive, environmentalist like me find a true blue Democratic candidate to vote for who represents me and my needs to save wildlife, wilderness, and the entire planet Earth?

I can only hope the aforementioned politicians help the psychologically dysfunctional with delusional self-adulation, contemptuous and disparaging and vulgar, with irresponsible riotous-mob-inciting violent tendencies, con artist Donald Trump win the Montana Republican primary so either Democratic Party candidate opposing him (Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders) will be sure to win the general election against him and retain the White House and get to appoint U.S. Supreme Court justices and possibly help take over the U.S. Senate majority. (For the record, this viewpoint is being written on March 12, when Ted Cruz is equally reviled by both parties.)

Bill Baum is a resident of the Badrock Canyon.