John Driscoll's feisty, folksy run for Congress
Plus: Interviews with Rep. SJ Howell and Paul Buckles, the two candidates vying to represent downtown Missoula in the state House.
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Earlier this month, the veteran Montana politician John Driscoll beat three opponents to win the Democratic nomination for Eastern Montana’s congressional race. In November, Driscoll will face off against current State Auditor (and Big Sky Chat House alumni) Troy Downing.
Driscoll has been deeply involved in Montana politics for decades. He served as both Speaker and Majority Leader of the state House in the 1970’s, and as a Public Service Commission (PSC) commissioner in the early ‘80s. While the tenor of his campaign can occasionally harken to a bygone era, he nonetheless approaches contemporary issues with strong conviction.
Read on as Driscoll brings his perspective to bear on a range of topics—from his approach to clean energy in Montana to his criticisms of former President Trump, his confidence in President Biden and more.
Max: You aren’t accepting donations for this campaign. Why not?
John Driscoll: It's a combination of reasons. The first times I ran, I never had to collect much money. I would just go talk to people.
But [in 1978] I ran for US Senate [as a Democrat in the primary election]. Paul Hatfield was the incumbent senator. He'd been appointed to replace [Democrat Lee] Metcalf, and [Democrat Max] Baucus was the incumbent Congressman. I had been his manager the first time he ran for Congress. I knew Max pretty well, and I wanted to take a shot at it.
I worked my tail off, and I raised around $67,000-$68,000 from all my friends and relatives. And they were all excited. It was pretty neat. I came in third, I got 18% of the vote. Max and Hatfield were both good candidates. They were probably better candidates than me, but the thing that really got me was disappointing other people that had put their money into it.
Money was hard to come by. That was 1978, and you could own a house free and clear in Hamilton for $16,000 a pop. And it's like, my God, I just blew four houses. This is ridiculous. This is real money. I just didn't want to do that anymore.
I think the chase after money has gotten way out of hand. It just never stops, and it takes [candidates] away from the work that needs to be getting done. They don't like [fundraising].
But at the other extreme, you get a guy like the former president inviting all the oil company executives [and asking them] “What are your wildest dreams? Okay, I'll write that down. Now you give me a billion dollars.” Why can’t people see that something's really wrong with that?
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It seems like you're running a decidedly lo-fi campaign. I couldn't even find a website for you. How are folks finding out about you?
What I decided to do is just my normal life. So when I'm in Helena and I take my walks, I see my normal friends and they're all worried about me (laughs). But I really like my life. So my [campaign] website is my normal Facebook website.
I'm reading [Norman Maclean’s] Young Men in Fire right now into a kind of a podcast. I'll put that on [my Facebook] when I'm done, because I really think people need to listen to something that's calming.
Some of the right-wing extremists, their purpose is to disrupt and upset people. If people remember the normal things, it'll be helpful.
Yesterday I met with the COPE [Committee on Political Education] for the AFL-CIO. I think there were 80 unions represented there. I answered all their questions as best I could, and they were very nice to me. And then I came home and today they let me know that they're not going to take a stand on my race in Eastern Montana, which is fine. I understand that.
Do you anticipate running any ads as we get closer to the election?
No ads at all. I've sent out some letters to the editor during the primary. [Next week] I'm gonna go up to the American Legion in Glasgow, then drop down to Miles City to talk to the Miles City Star there and show them where I grew up. And then go over to Billings for an interview with Russell Rowland. I'm just doing what I think would be helpful. We'll just see what happens.
Given your experience and perspective, what do you make of the PSC right now and the tone in the Legislature?
If I pay too close attention to that stuff, it's very upsetting to me. The Speaker’s job was to create the conditions for people to talk to each other, to solve the state's problems. And that is not what's been going on recently. It's about pushing an agenda. It's ridiculous. It won't last forever, but it's hard for me to watch. There'll be some people in there someday who will get it straightened out.
Having [censured state Representative] Zooey [Zephyr] sit out in the lobby, that is not something that would happen on my watch. I could tell you that right now. I talked to Zooey and I said, “I was really proud of you. You handled yourself so darn well compared to what the leadership did.”
I went back [to the PSC for] the first time in 30 years last month when the petitioners for the Held case showed up to ask for a change in rules on incorporating the impact on the environment. I thought they did a wonderful job.
Speaking of climate, how do you effectively message the need for change, and the solutions, to folks who aren't already on board?
It's our primary problem. You watch the nonsense talk take place and watch political people tell working stiffs what they want to hear, which isn't true. And then try do your best to offer a solution.
I've been thinking about it for a long time, what we should do in Montana. I talked to the unions about that yesterday. I suggested some ways I would work to extend the WAPA power lines from Fort Peck and the AC/DC Intertie at Miles City west so we can electrify the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad. [I also suggested we] put some nuclear plants at Miles City so we can get the electricity in addition to the wind we'd pick up along the Canadian border.
We’ve got four oil refineries in my would-be district. And together they do 220,000 barrels of oil a day. And those need to be changed over to hydrogen manufacturing.
I strongly believe that if we're gonna get in this nuclear game, we gotta take care of the nuclear waste. We’ve got 270,000 metric tons of nuclear waste sitting around on the surface of the earth right now because nobody can deal with it because of the “Not in my backyard” phenomena. [Note: The 270,000 tons figure is about a decade old. Recent estimates put the total closer to 390,000 tons.]
How do you sell voters on these policies? Is it jobs creation? Is it saving taxpayers money?
It's that for sure. But also I think people are concerned about the climate change. I really do.
You’ve described a threat to our constitutional democracy as “the greatest threat” we face. When you talk to undecided voters, how do you articulate the significance of that threat?
I try not to spend a lot of time on it because “You-know-who” has been occupying all of our brain space, so we're not getting anything constructive done.
I was in the Montana National Guard for a long time, and part of my responsibilities was operational security for the Guard. So I had to go learn more about this right-wing phenomena. I won't go into all the details of what I got involved in, but they're kooks crazies, crusaders and criminals.
You’ve got Putin, who suggested this Deep State thing, and then Trump's picked up on it. And now Trump wants to crush the Deep State.
I was speaking down in Boulder, and I told them my father was a highway patrolman for his whole life. He was an honest cop. And he came over here to Boulder and he worked with the developmentally-disabled for 11 years, after 26 years as an honest cop. So I guess that makes him a card-carrying member of the Deep State. Honest cops, good teachers, that's who the Deep State is.
I was gonna introduce myself as Deep State Driscoll, but my wife said, don't you dare do that.
I'll be sure to address you as Deep State Driscoll the next time we chat.
With reverence.
Republican lawmakers and candidates often frame the situation at the southern border as a threat to the United States. Do you consider that threat overstated, and what do you think is the appropriate response to the situation?
Michael Jackson said the greatest entertainer in the history of the world was Adolf Hitler. Well, now I'm saying Trump is—if not the greatest entertainer—the greatest clown and con artist. He's really good at keeping people's attention. You gotta give him that.
The whole thing at the border, it's about keeping the ball in the air that so it can't get solved, so he can display a little bit of power by telling these people in Congress, “Don't do this until I get there and solve it.” That's what I think's going on. I'm certain that's what's going on.
I think that we're perfectly capable of getting on top of it and managing it. The compromise that they had from the Senate and the House…it's now being billed as a messaging bill, but it was good. It [would have dictated that] you only get amnesty if you come across at the port of entrance instead of all this distance in between. Now that's a good idea. Can you imagine if somebody showed up at the university on registration day and they all came through the windows and the doors?
I really think [we need to] treat the people properly so they're protected. They're very vulnerable to all these other characters that are out there, like Trump. Trump's a predator just like these other characters.
I would like to see more English as a Second Language taught immediately while they're being processed; speed up the processing in every way possible. They're gonna need to speak English.
Do you think Joe Biden is a liability to the Democratic Party?
I think he's strong. I do. He has very good judgment. He knows how to be calm when things are tough, and very methodical. [But] he's so gaga over that Netanyahu, I can't even believe it. Netanyahu is a crook. He's a racist crook.
He should have been kicked under the curb. I do think we have to cut off [Israel’s] weapons because they've shown themselves to be an entirely different kind of government than what I thought they were. The Israelis need to clean that government up—with or without help from their relatives in the States—before we do anything else with them.
Biden is an excellent tempered guy. But he's just got a blind spot for that Netanyahu. I don't get it.
Before we wrap up—has there been anything that’s really surprised you about this race?
I knew I was gonna win the primary. That didn't surprise me. And that makes a few people mad. But it's the truth. I've been in so many elections and I never had so many people come up to me and tell me from all ages that they were gonna vote for me. I was like, “Wow, this is a new experience.”
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
One more thing (or two)…
I had a lot of fun interviewing the two candidates seeking to represent downtown Missoula in the state House—Democratic incumbent SJ Howell and the irreverent Republican Paul Buckles—for the lovely folks at The Pulp. The two interviewees have different approaches, to put it mildly.
You can read the interview with Representative Howell here, and the interview with Mr. Buckles here.