Election Fatigue Fades

~ Brooks

There I sat, alongside my trusty photographer Patrick Record and a slew of TV reporters, awaiting election results in Helena’s Red Lion Colonial Hotel where the state’s top Republicans mingled and awaited the devouring of their pre-made “Victory” cake.

Aside from Mr. Obama’s re-election, the results never came. Out of regional state races, perhaps only Washington counted ballots slower.

So there was plenty of time for mingling, sending scene updates and quotes from now-Attorney General-elect Tim Fox and Sandy Welch, candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction, whose fate is nearing a recount.

Interviewing Tim Fox before polls close at the Red Lion Colonial hotel in Helena. ©Patrick Record
Interviewing Republican Attorney General candidate Tim Fox before polls close Nov. 6 at the Red Lion Colonial hotel in Helena. ©Patrick Record

Expecting obvious signs from early returns, the tension ran high until we decided, six hours after we arrived, that it was time to get some sleep and stop staring at tiny numbers on a screen. Election HQ back at Don Anderson Hall decided to return to work at 6 a.m. and our early reaction reporting had been sufficient.

Here’s some of my contributed reporting at the top of this story:

Montana Public Media | Attorney General Hopefuls Await Slow Returns.

Still, showing up in my tie and bumping elbows with state officials made me proud of the line of work I’m in and excited to do it for decades to come.

Now to take advantage of that Constitutionally mandated resting time for political reporters.

All Quiet on the Zombie Front

~ Brooks

We dream, you decide.

My Keep Missoula Weird column this week declares Missoula as the unequivocally best place to survive the zombie apocalypse. Well, I tried to make that come across, at least.

Zombie Tools’ “Mack Daddy-O”

Zombie Tools is an easy springboard into all things absurd. I mean, these guys make a living off of tempering steel blades specifically designed to destroy legions of undead. Sweet and/or ridiculous, right? But then it became about location, location, location.

Which is hard to do without sounding at least a little jaded, judgmental or just plain mean (sorry, folks in the Bitterroot and Northern Idaho).

Wrapping up with funny lists of culture to retain should the apocalypse finally demonize the bulk of humanity seemed more like a cop-out than a definitive ending. It wasn’t related to Missoula, and frankly I could easily write 500 words worth of lists of cultural artifacts to preserve after the zombie hordes arrive. I should have closed with “what a great support group we have, all these wacky zombie believers living in one confined space, so seemingly prepared for utter doom.”

For the record, I don’t believe in zombies any more than they believe in me.

Money Matters in Montana Elections

~ Brooks

Erik C. Anderson and I decided to follow the money for our election follow-up stories. In addition to new complaints about Excel (great with data, terrible with design) we learned that the future of campaign spending is as murky as its present.

Outside Money Plays Major Role in Top Montana Campaigns

The story on Montana Public Media, which was designed for web-only viewing, links to the non-profit groups in the “shadow money” sector as well as some of their ads and related filings.

A big thanks to the folks at opensecrets.org and followthemoney.org providing valuable data and working tirelessly to maintain some transparency in campaigns.

Paging Michael Pollan

~ Brooks

This week in my Kaimin arts column, Keep Missoula Weird: Food!

I’ve long held fantasies of paying the bills with food writing, but a food writer’s thesaurus is about as thick as the space between these paragraphs. And I adore variations in typed thought. Rather, I admire with ardor all the bright, matte and muted colors of the adjective palette.

Still, scratching out an existence by constantly eating and writing about it sounds like a dreamy, hedonistic life.

This column also brings up my constant reminder for my writers: there’s a difference between advocacy and advertising, and if you have to ask, don’t do either. Toward the bottom I write “I haven’t mentioned corporate fast food joints like (your ad here) or (your advertising money in my pocket),” yet I have no qualms name-dropping local joints like Flippers, the Silk Road and the Old Post (cripes I did it again!). But don’t restaurants without million-dollar advertising campaigns deserve media space too? Isn’t that fair?

I guess Michael Pollan staked a space inside my brain long ago and built a fortress of food snobbery, despite my occasional corndog siege.

Two gubernatorial candidates walk into a bar…

~ Brooks

Just kidding. These guys would never get beers together.
Rick Hill (R)Steve Bullock (D)
Republican Rick Hill, left, and Democrat Steve Bullock at a debate in Helena, Mont. Photos by Patrick Record. Read my governor’s race profile here.

The most difficult part of this story, and any political reporting, is the forced suspension of cynicism. Yes, the campaign manager is a third party on our call, and yes, half of the usable quotes I gleaned showed up in both of the debates I’ve watched, but that’s how it goes. Shake some hands, kiss some babies, keep smiling.

Still, I wonder if some stronger sentiments and childhood stories could’ve come out of our interaction. It would probably require a few beers together.