Daines’ mild mannered image doesn’t match his ultra-right policies

Montana Sen. Steve Daines speaks to reporters after being elected to Republican leadership within the U.S. Senate on Nov. 16, 2022 (Photo by Jennifer Shutt of States Newsroom).

If Steve Daines has a superpower, it’s that he seems affable enough, on the rare occasion of him being spotted in public in Montana, and that most people can’t say much about him, except that he’s Republican.

And, of course, he loves Donald Trump — an obligatory fealty forced upon anyone down to the dog-catcher who wants to stand for an election with an “R” by their name.

But beyond that, most Montanans would struggle to name anything substantive U.S. Sen. Daines stands for. Therein lies his power: To cast himself as a middle-of-the-road Republican, whatever that means, and to be a reliably faithful vote.

Don’t let the ironed jeans look fool you, though: He is a master at appearing a moderate Montanan while supporting extremely right-wing causes once he gets out of earshot of the Treasure State.

Most Montanans couldn’t say what he believes about things like immigration or reproductive rights, other than to assume (correctly) that he’s against both of them, but only in the ways that most of his fellow GOP members are. Yet, Daines’ positions seem somehow even more surprising because they don’t seem to reflect Montana very well.

Two recent issues demonstrate Daines’ political views as both hard right and yet extremely malleable, based on whatever direction the political winds blow. Not that he’s unique as a politician, but it’s that Montanans don’t really see some of these things because, well, we really don’t see Daines publicly much.

Take for example, Daines’ positions on immigration and in vitro fertilization — two topics that have been in the news a lot lately.

As late as January, Daines was pressuring congressional Democrats to support and pass legislation that would help the United States’ southern border. He even introduced the “Secure the Border Act” in September which would, among other things, tighten asylum standards, increase the number of border patrol agents and help identify criminals. As late as November 2023, Daines published an opinion piece in the Kalispell Daily Interlake that said that onus for action was on the Democrats. In Newsweek in January, Daines said that Congress (repeat: Congress) must set aside differences to solve the border.

Then, less than a month later, Punchbowl News reported that a closed-door meeting of Republican Senators, led by Daines torpedoed the immigration deal because it would “kneecap GOP candidates in races.”

Translation: The border that had been such a crisis that it needed bipartisan effort was shelved because it might hurt the Republicans’ chances of winning in November by doing their actual jobs.

Then, Daines floated a new theory of border security: President Joe Biden didn’t need Congressional action to fix the problems at the border. Like some kind of Disney fairy tale, it turns out that Biden — poof! — had the power to fix the border all along.

If you’re keeping score at home: When Biden attempts fixing the border via executive action, he’s sued because it’s the job of Congress, according to the Republicans. But when Congress intentionally sabotages a bipartisan border bill, it’s now Biden’s fault.

The now-dead border bill was, by all accounts, the most comprehensive border reform and security bill in nearly 40 years, which included $20 billion for border security and manpower, and a requirement that the president shut down the border when the numbers are surging.

Regardless of political views and party politics, how many other jobs could you keep if your strategy was intentionally not doing your job? Then again, this is the same august group that has a hard time even coming up with a budget, so I suppose it’s relative.

Daines’ doublespeak extends to the radical position Republicans have adopted on reproductive rights. Remember when conservatives accused liberals of fear mongering after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade? Remember, dear friends, that the right said abortion was only about abortion, even after reproductive rights groups worried that fertility treatment and birth control were the next targets in an ultra-conservative agenda.

Daines has also had a hand in these discussions.

You may recall the controversial yet logical ruling of the Alabama Supreme Court that determined that because life begins at conception, the embryos created through the IVF process should be afforded protection, meaning that destroying them could lead to criminal charges.

Senate Democrats on Tuesday rushed to sponsor a bill that would protect IVF treatments, fearing other conservative states would follow suit. Meanwhile, the decision sent shockwaves through conservative circles because the ruling was quixotically pro-life and anti-baby.

Daines and his fellow Republican leaders rushed to quell the anger, especially after presidential front-runner Donald Trump badmouthed the decision, causing political whiplash for the party.

Daines, who heads the Senate Republican re-election committee, prepared talking points for GOP members to defend IVF treatments.

But take a look at Daines’ own record, including Senate Bill S.99, introduced by him in 2021, which said that unborn humans are entitled to full constitutional protections, affording embryos protection — the same concept that the Alabama court just upheld.

The proposed legislation said that protections apply to all stages of life “including the moment of fertilization.”

Daines’ carefully curated image of a nice, middle-of-the-road conservative is a brilliant, sublime piece of political theater that masks a politician that is just as rabid and radical as any of the other loud voices coming from Washington, D.C.

Daines just knows how to keep the quiet part quiet.

Postscript

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