Montana Rep Race Larger Question

For John, BLUF:  There seems to be a belief within the "Resistance" that at some point the American People will wake up go Democrat.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Liberals Wanted a Fight in Montana. Democratic Leaders Saw a Lost Cause.

It is The Old Gray Lady, 26 May 2017, by Reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns.

Here is the lede plus four:

BOZEMAN, Mont. — The Democratic defeat in a hard-fought special House election in Montana on Thursday highlighted the practical limitations on liberal opposition to President Trump and exposed a deepening rift between cautious party leaders, who want to pick their shots in battling for control of Congress in 2018, and more militant grass-roots activists who want to fight the Republicans everywhere.

Rob Quist, the Democratic nominee in Montana, staked his campaign on the Republican health care bill, but he still lost by six percentage points, even after his Republican opponent for the state’s lone House seat, Greg Gianforte, was charged with assaulting a reporter on the eve of the election.

The margin in this race was relatively small in a state that Mr. Trump carried by more than 20 percentage points last year.  But Mr. Quist’s defeat disappointed grass-roots Democrats who financed nearly his entire campaign while the national party declined to spend heavily on what it considered, from the outset, an all-but-lost cause in daunting political territory.

This tension — between party leaders who will not compete for seats they think they cannot win and an energized base loath to concede any contests to Republicans — risks demoralizing activists who keep getting their hopes up.  It also points to a painful reality for Democrats:  Despite the boiling fury on the left, the resistance toward Mr. Trump has yet to translate into a major electoral victory.

First let us deal with the lede.  It is a one sentence paragraph.  A sentence of 58 words.  Based on the admonitions I received on Staff Course, that should have been three sentences.  The theory being that no sentence should be more than 20 words.  Only the most skillful writers, the James Joyce's and William Faulkner's of the world, should write sentences of more than 20 words.

Living where I do in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts I have some sympathy for the Democratic Party Activists.  National and State Committees that will not spend money, or cannot, are just frustrating creatures to deal with.  Down at the grass roots we always believe that this time the voters will see the light, if only we spend enough on advertising.

Hat tip to the Drudge Report.

Regards  —  Cliff