Three preschoolers. Minimal supervision. A can of baby powder.

White powdery fingerprints abound at the crime scene.

Busted!

Cutest miscreant ever!

At a time when most of us are focused on vacations, enjoying the beauty that is a Montana summer, and the upcoming November elections, one man may be looking a little further down the road – to November 2012. And all Americans may owe much to him come this December for his foresight and timely actions.

THE MAN.

Steve Daines. Fifth generation Montanan. Family man. Businessman. You can read his biography here, but trust me – he’s the real deal. Genuinely nice guy. Smart. Articulate. Wise. A strong fiscal conservative who understands what it takes to do business in a global marketplace. An entrepreneur who creates jobs. A proven leader.

THE MESSAGE.

America and Montana cannot afford to continue down the path we have been traveling. We have to live within our means and we have to put government spending on a serious diet. The formula is simple: Smaller Government = Stronger America. Steve put it even more astutely, “As it’s been said…prior generations operated under the principle of ‘work hard, pay off the mortgage..and give the ranch to the kids’. We live in a generation that’s mortgaging the ranch, and handing the debt off to the kids. That is flat out wrong. ”

THE MISSION.

Most political sages are agreed that the mid-term elections will devastate the Democrats’ majorities in both the House and Senate, and while that initially seemed like it would put the brakes on the runaway socialist agenda of the Obama-Reid-Pelosi cabal, recent word from Washington shed new light on the President’s plan for his lame-duck Congress: Ram through Cap-and-Trade, Immigration Reform, Card Check, and God-only-knows-what-other-redistributive crap Obumbles can think of. The theory being that this will be their last and only chance to enact their anti-American agenda and the congress critters who came up short on November 2 don’t have anything more to lose, so what-the-hell, go-for-broke. It’s not an unrealistic theory. Scary as hell though.

Enter brave, forward thinking leaders like Steve Daines. The momentum for his entrance into the 2012 race against Jon Tester is growing and puts our junior senator on notice that his votes on these issues WILL cost him his job in 2012 if he goes against the will of his MONTANA constituents.

Jon-Boy has already demonstrated clearly that he was more committed to representing the liberal-socialist agenda of Washington rather than the clear and unambiguous will of the majority of Montanans when he voted for Obamacare last year and failed to hold open townhall meetings around the state. He’s got at least two strikes against him now; one more and he’s OUT. Having an announced opponent may be sufficient to take Jon’s vote out of the sure-thing column during the lame duck session.

It’s a numbers game for the Progressives. They’ve thrown the dice and found that their agenda is not quite as popular as they thought it was, so they have only one option: act while they have the votes. The President needs every D vote he has and then some. And that’s the reason that Steve’s possible candidacy is so exciting. Our 41-vote firewall in the Senate doesn’t give us much comfort: One renegade republican and voila! – Progressives win again. Keeping the Republican caucus intact is no easy trick. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine are never sure things. Lindsey Graham has shown wonky tendencies on Climategate/Cap and Trade and immigration.

If there’s one thing that we have learned since January, 2009 it’s that Hope is not a great strategy. We can’t just hope that the lame-duck congress doesn’t pass all this bad legislation. Taking some of the votes out of the D’s column because the Senators who will stand for election in 2012 are more invested in their own future employment than Obama’s is a good strategy. Four vulnerable senators – both Ben Nelsons (Nebraska – “Cornhusker Kickback” and Florida “Gator-Aid”), Claire McCaskill (Missouri), and Kent Conrad (North Dakota) are already nervous about their chances, so the nose-counters have been factoring a couple of defections there. Conventional wisdom didn’t put Tester in that boat, so Reid has been counting on his vote. A strong challenger, not just waiting in the wings, but out there talking to the voters, sharing a positive pro-jobs/economic vision for Montana is not only a good political strategy, it’s a great message for a successful campaign.

It’s not time to lose our focus on the 2010 elections, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be strategically keeping an eye on 2012 too. Take a minute from your busy summer activities to become a fan and send our message to Jon Tester:

MONTANA IS WATCHING.

And just remember – the person who wrote this probably drives and votes – and may have already reproduced.

This is supposedly from a San Francisco newspaper. I can’t vouch for the authenticity, but I can’t imagine anyone being able to make this up either.

Happy 234th birthday, America! Pretty awesome that this never-before tried experiment has lasted through wars, recessions, good times and bad. No other country in the history of the world has ever guaranteed her citizens such precious freedoms. No other nation has ever welcomed the disenfranchised from all over the world with open arms and the promise of a brighter future as has America for more than two centuries and is still going on the foundation originally put in place by a group of ordinary men called to greatness.

A co-worker shared an experience he had last Friday in the checkout line of the grocery store. As he completed his purchase, he wished the checker a Happy Independence Day. The woman behind him scornfully chastised him as one of those TEA Partiers and proclaimed that the celebration was “the Fourth of July”. This is illustrative of exactly what America is – a country where we are free to have our own perspective on the blessings we have been given.

Whether you are celebrating the “4th” or “Independence Day” is totally up to you. Have a good one – and sometime during the day, take a few minutes to ponder the wonder that is this great country, and remember to ask God to continue to bless the USA!