At the Flathead Democrats’ spring dinner, we were reminded by Attorney General Bullock that Montana is still standing firm in defense of our state’s 100-year-old statute which prohibits corporate spending to elect or defeat candidates in city, county, legislative or statewide (non-federal) elections.

Unfortunately, there is a serious possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court will not issue a final decision on the Montana appeal or overturn the Citizen’s United case prior to the 2012 general election, and a timely constitutional amendment to change the current ruling seems unlikely as well. This means that the voters of Montana will be subjected to a barrage of unrelenting negative campaign ads designed to influence the outcome of our elections that will be paid for by super pacs and large out-of-state corporations who are not required to identify the sources of their funds.

In 1912 Montanans recognized the fact that large, well-funded corporations were having an undue influence on state government, and we passed the Corrupt Practices Act, which banned direct corporate contributions in political elections. Over the years this act has served Montana well, and 2012 is not the year to allow rich, out-of-state entities to exert unfair influence on who is elected to serve the citizens of Montana.

As this election cycle plays out, I sincerely hope and trust that the voters in Montana will aggressively reject the sordid influence of the out-of-state money, and revel in the tried and true electoral process that involves interacting with candidates as they campaign by going door-to-door meeting their constituents face-to-face. Let’s try our best to learn about the most positive aspects of our candidates, and carefully choose the ones who we think will work together to make responsible decisions for our state. Finally, we must not let people from out-of-state tell us how to vote.

Edd Blackler,

Bigfork