Politics

Democratic Senate candidate likens tea party to Taliban

Alexis Levinson Political Reporter
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A Montana Democrat announced his bid for Senate Wednesday with a swipe at the tea party, comparing it to “the Taliban,” and likening the government shutdown to the bombing of Pearl Harbor during World War II.

Former Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger announced that he would run for the Senate seat being vacated by Montana Democratic Sen. Max Baucus.

“We need to challenge the tea party representatives who, like the Taliban, shut our country down,” Bohlinger told reporters, the Billings Gazette reported.

According to the paper, he then continued, likening the actions taken by tea partiers leading up to the government shutdown in October “to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and the terrorists’ actions on Sept. 11, 2001.”

There is already one Democrat in the Senate race: Lt. Gov. John Walsh — who has been endorsed by Montana Democratic Sen. John Tester. Walsh made a splash in September when he “liked” a page called “Breasts.Proof men can multitask2” on Facebook. A senior Montana Democrat told Buzzfeed that the public affirmation of his love for breasts was an accident.

On the other side of the aisle, Republican Rep. Steve Daines also formally announced his bid for the seat on Wednesday.

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