Incumbent Walsh quits Montana Senate race

Democrats thought they had played this one smart.

With times looking tough in this midterm year for Montana’s long-sitting Senator Max Baucus, Baucus, who was eyeing retirement anyway, stepped down early to become the U.S. Ambassador to China — and this move allowed the state’s Democratic governor to appoint a fresh face to run with the power of incumbency, but with less of the accumulated Beltway baggage.

And with retired Army General John Walsh, Montana Democrats thought they had made a solid choice. Walsh, a political moderate and an Iraq War vet, was even able to make the plight of returning veterans one of his core issues, just at a time when the country was focused on scandals and shortcomings at VA medical centers.

Still, Sen. Walsh, who won his party’s primary in June, continued to trail his Republican challenger, Rep. Steve Daines — and that was before the New York Times reported in July that Walsh had plagiarized large parts of the final paper he completed to earn his master’s degree from the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa.

For all concerned, that was the last straw. National Democratic Party officials determined there was now no way Walsh could win. Both of Montana’s major newspapers called on the Senator to drop out of the campaign.

And on Thursday afternoon, that is just what he did.

“The 2007 research paper from my time at the U.S. Army War College has become a distraction from the debate you expect and deserve,” said Walsh in a prepared statement. “I am ending my campaign so that I can focus on fulfilling the responsibility entrusted to me as your U.S. Senator. You deserve someone who will always fight for Montana, and I will.”

Walsh will continue to hold his Senate seat until the end of the term (which is, more or less, the end of this year).

Democrats are searching for a new smart choice, and, according to the New York Times, it looks like they have found one in Nancy Keenan, until last year the head of NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Keenan is a native of Montana and was once their superintendent of public instruction. She has a high profile in the state and nationally. And because of her years at NARAL, it is expected she can also raise money quickly … with the emphasis on money … and quickly.

Democrats have till later this month to hold a special nominating convention and place a new candidate on the ballot.

Though Montana is considered a conservative state overall, the theory goes that they are more libertarian on social issues. And, while the VA scandal has drifted from the front pages with amazing alacrity, a spate of recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court have made Democrats think that they can again map a path to victory by highlighting GOP attacks on women’s issues and reproductive rights.

Keenan has yet to confirm whether she will pick up the gauntlet.