Democrats woo Bullock for Senate. They're over Beto.

[RandySF]

Washington Democrats are no longer pining for Beto O’Rourke. They’re far more infatuated with another ousted presidential candidate: Steve Bullock.

O’Rourke has just three days before the Texas filing deadline to decide whether he wants to run against incumbent GOP Sen. John Cornyn. Yet many Senate Democrats aren’t sure O’Rourke would even be the strongest Senate candidate at this point after running to the left in his presidential run, so they’re largely laying off the guy who gave Ted Cruz a run for his money in 2018.

Instead, Democrats are all about Bullock, even though the Montana governor has tried to squash talk of a Senate run every chance he gets — the latest on Wednesday when he said in Montana, “that’s just not what I want to do.”

But even as party officials are desperate for Bullock to run, they’re taking a soft approach for fear going too hard would backfire. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he hasn’t talked to Bullock or O'Rourke — a shift from his strategy with potential Georgia Senate candidate Stacey Abrams, who spurned his requests. Still, Democratic senators are publicly encouraging Bullock to join their club.



https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/06/steve-bullock-montana-senate-beto-orourke-076694

[BlueMTexpat]

1. I am SOOOO hoping that Bullock

will change his mind.

This whole episode reminds me of the much-higher profile Brian Schweitzer, who could have spared us all Steve Daines, if HE had only run for the Senate seat that Daines is now occupying YEARS ago. Once Max Baucus stepped down to become US Ambassador to China early in 2014, Schweitzer was the obvious replacement nominee but refused. So Bullock appointed John Walsh, who ended up getting entangled in a plagiarism "scandal" and had to bow out of the Senate election later that year, too late for Dems really to get their acts together.

Neither Bullock nor Schweitzer can ever match the inimitable Mike Mansfield of MT, who is my idea of a true MT statesman. Yet Mansfield, who was courted as a running mate for JFK, realized that he would likely not bring the kind of power to the ticket that Lyndon Johnson of TX could and did.

Mansfield instead opted to remain in the US Senate and became Johnson's replacement as Majority Leader, shepherding Johnson's "Great Society" legislation.

Senators are VERY important. If Bullock can overcome his ego and follow Mansfield's example, we would ALL be better served.

[Garrett78]

2. The difference is that Bullock could actually win a Senate seat.

O'Rourke wouldn't beat Cornyn.

[RhodeIslandOne]

3. Bullock has won statewide and is a popular governor.

That's the difference here. Run.