Former State Sen. and Lt.Commander Zinke could not contain himself as he was the recipient of the first question of the evening from an opposing candidate in Wednesday night’s congressional debate held in Kalispell. His comment, “well I guess they know who’s ahead in the polls,” received a warm chuckled response from his heavily biased local crowd, as did his putdown of Corey Stapleton’s service in the Navy, telling Stapleton he “outranked him.”

Overall, the clear winner of the debate in terms of content was Matt Rosendale who not only answered each asked question with specifics and clarity, but brought forth well conceived new content and answers to the various questions put to the floor. He even articulated in which congressional committees he would seek participation, and showed initiative in seeking information prior to such appointments. His work in uncovering disturbing information on the Bureau of Indiana Affairs was of particular note.

Corey Stapleton showed real courage as the only candidate to directly expose Ryan Zinke’s liberal leanings, commenting on the number of documented nonconservative positions Zinke has espoused, and then changed his position on, for the crowd of the moment. Zinke’s inconsistencies make him extremely vulnerable to competitive attacks during the general election, leading to the predictable loss of a Republican seat (as did Rehberg).

Drew Turiano added humor to the evening, but is a one theme candidate, and Elsie Arntzen, while well qualified, is not ready for prime time in the national debate.

Matt Rosendale carried the evening. The depth of endorsements from current and former legislators, NRA (A rating versus B Minus for Zinke), Chamber of Commerce, etc, indicate strong statewide support. Rosendale is clearly the most electable of all five Republican primary candidates.

Freeman Robinson, Big Arm