Tester v. Rosendale

Rosendale for secure borders

Matt Rosendale promises to secure our borders, deport criminals and ban sanctuary cities. Jon Tester, on the other hand, supports sanctuary cities. Repeatedly, Tester has voted against cutting off funding for sanctuary cities. In February, Tester voted against a measure to end sanctuary cities.

Furthermore, Tester supports amnesty for illegal immigrants and opposes building the Wall. We need someone in the U.S. Senate like Matt Rosendale who knows how important it is to keep our nation, and the people who live in it, secure. We can trust Matt Rosendale to ensure our borders are strong to protect from the dangers of illegal immigration.

Matt knows that illegal immigrants cannot keep pouring across our borders without consequence. Unlike Jon Tester, Matt prioritizes American citizens and their safety over the lives of illegal immigrants. —Susan Cote, Polson

Rosedale will say anything

Matt Rosendale has already proven that he will say just about anything to get elected. He ran to be Montana’s state auditor, and now he says his job doesn’t matter. Rosendale pushed to sell off our public lands, then flip-flopped when he realized it was losing him votes. Now, we can add yet another lie to that list: Matt Rosendale has claimed repeatedly that he is a rancher, but apparently has never owned cattle in his life.

Rosendale has repeatedly called himself a rancher to try and appeal to hard-working Montanans who actually know what it’s like to run a ranch or farm. He appears in brand-new Carhartt jackets in all his political ads, says he’ll bring rancher values to D.C., and poses for pictures in front of cattle that apparently belong to someone else.

It was recently reported that Rosendale has always leased out his ranch, and has never owned livestock other than a handful of horses to ride as a hobby.

Here’s one thing that Rosendale must not know yet about Montanans: we have a low tolerance for phonies. For Montana hard-work ranching is more than just a costume — it’s a livelihood and it is a way of life. Mr. Rosendale, if you think the state which has a rich history living off the land is going to vote for a transplant from the East Coast who lies about being a rancher — well, you’ll be proven wrong this November. —Roger Sherman, Whitefish

Rosendale being smeared

I wish to comment on the vicious smear campaign against Matt Rosendale, Republican candidate for senator, which is being and broadcast on both TV and radio stations. It is done in the same flavor which smeared Admiral Ronny Jackson by Jon Tester and as previously viewed, it is certainly demeaning at the least.

Mr. Rosendale does not deserve the vilification he is encountering both on TV and radio stations which are running the ads. He has been an elected official for the state of Montana for eight years, as a Senate majority leader in 2014 and as Montana’s state auditor in 2016. He has served his state admirably in both positions.

Mr. Rosendale is extremely knowledgeable regarding the legislative process and has a good record of reducing spending, regulations. And he has worked with timber management to aid fire suppression and to promote continued diligence to help our state recover from past fires and future ones. In other words, Mr. Rosendale is a doer.

Mr. Tester is a disgrace to our state. I voted for him when he first joined the political scene. But never since. Did he ever change! We need a sincere individual in office and I believe Mr. Rosendale can do the job and contribute to making America a country to once more be PROUD of. —Mary Matheidas, Lonepine

Tester can be trusted more

I “tune out” when I hear political ads. How does one begin to make sense of the outlandish claims? Luckily, one thing that we can be certain of is where politicians get their money. OpenSecrets.org is a non-partisan tool to help us understand whose cash competes with our votes.

After pulling the numbers for the Senate race between Jon Tester and Matt Rosendale, I was shocked. Rosendale’s top donor is the Club for Growth; Tester’s is The League of Conservation Voters. What a stark contrast!

The Club for Growth embodies a radical view of unlimited free market capitalism that would see every inch of this country paved, every acre explored, and every natural asset monetized if it meant higher quarterly profits for a few corporate shareholders who live outside of Montana. Maybe it’s no coincidence that the Club for (unrestricted) Growth is supporting Rosendale to a tune of $171,272 so far: Rosendale is a real estate developer from Maryland. If it wasn’t troubling enough that the Club for Growth wants to deregulate and privatize every inch of the country, it’s also one of the most vocal advocates for privatizing Social Security.

Tester’s top donor on the other hand is the League of Conservation Voters, which has given him $328,016 so far this cycle. Their mission is simple: They help save the wild places that connect us to the past and the future. The League of Conservation Voters protects land where I can go hunt and fish with my children, and, just as important, where they will one day recreate with their own children.

I simply can’t trust Rosendale to protect what makes Montana the “last best place.” It is much easier for me to trust Tester, whose largest funder is dedicated to Montana staying Montana. —Bjorn Beer, Kalispell

Yippee! Tester will fight for open borders!

Thursday morning and I read in the Inter Lake that President Trump is coming to Montana a second time to campaign for Matt Rosendale.

Evidently President Trump does not understand the importance of Sen. Tester to Montana. We Montana people need Sen. Tester to continue to fight for open borders, abolishing the federal ICE agency, doing away with the recent tax changes that reduced our payments to the federal government, and changing the Constitution so that all people living in the U.S., whether a citizen or not can vote in our elections.

I am also disturbed by all the Help Wanted signs in storefronts that I see everyday. Let’s help keep a Democrat in the Senate so our unemployment rate will again increase and we can do away with those offensive signs. Also, wages have been going up for the working people and they should not have to put up with that — it just increases the Montana and federal taxes that they have to pay.

All these changes that have happened since President Trump was elected upset the status quo and my sense of well being. Vive la Trump. —Dale B. Heldstab, Columbia Falls

Rosendale cowering?

It seems “Maryland Matt” Rosendale has well learned the ways of Montana Republican electees. Do not attend town hall meetings. Do not allow your constituents a meaningful voice. Do not participate in public debates, even after having agreed to do so. Hide and do your business in the back room. Kow-tow to the “leader” of the party.

Maryland Matt cowers at the prospect of a debate with Sen. Jon Tester. Maryland Matt wants to represent us? He won’t even represent himself. —Bruce McEvoy, Whitefish

Rent-a-vet?

My neighbor Leon and I both served in Vietnam; he was with the Marine Corps, I served in the US Army.

He’s trying to convince me that the veterans that appear in Tester’s TV commercial came from an agency called “Rent-A-Vet.”

I’m skeptical; I’m pretty sure those veterans really do believe that Tester’s “got their back.” —Dave Holland, Polson