John Edward Walsh on Principles & Values

OpEd: 2007 Master's thesis plagiarized from online sources

Walsh completed the paper, what the War College calls a "strategy research project," to earn his degree in 2007, when he was 46. The sources of the material he presents as his own include academic papers and books that are almost all available online.

A line-by-line analysis of Walsh's thesis shows that he took much of it from other sources without giving them credit. Most strikingly, the six recommendations Walsh laid out at the conclusion of his 14-page paper, titled "The Case for Democracy as a Long Term National Strategy," are taken nearly word-for-word without attribution from a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace document on the same topic.

AdWatch: "Where's Walsh-o" website: "Walsh is hard to find"

"John Walsh is Hard to Find These Days..." says the NRSC's website, which goes onto claim "That's because he doesn't like to answer questions about his disastrous record, his ability to lead, and a management record dominated by a culture of poor morale, inappropriate relationships and horrific personnel problems."

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was quick to defend Walsh and criticize the NRSC. "Only a Washington insider like Steve Daines would call on his NRSC handlers to smear John Walsh's distinguished 33-year record of service leading the Montana National Guard," said the DSCC press secretary.

Appointed to Senate while running in Senate primary

Walsh was already running for the seat, but he'll now run as the incumbent senator. That change could provide some inherent advantages in his quest to hold one of the party's most vulnerable seats. "I wanted to appoint someone who I truly believed would wake up each and every day wanting to put Montana and Montanans first," Bullock said in a news conference to announce the appointment.

National Democrats recruited Walsh to run after former Gov. Brian Schweitzer took a pass on the race. The open seat is a top target of national Republicans, who landed a top-tier candidate in Rep. Steve Daines. Two other Democrats, former Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger and rancher Dirk Adams, are also seeking the nomination.

AdWatch: "Big Sky buyoff" to appoint Walsh to Senate early

Under Montana law, Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock can appoint whomever he wants to fill the Senate seat until the next election. National Democratic sources expect that appointment to be Walsh, who polls show has been trailing Republican candidate Steve Daines.

Democrats argue that appointing Walsh to the Senate seat nearly a year before the election would give him a leg up against Daines. Republicans, meanwhile, have begun painting Walsh as a D.C. insider, calling him Senate Majority Leader "Harry Reid and Barack Obama's handpicked US senator." They also have blasted the news of his potential appointment as Washington backroom dealing, dubbing it the "big sky buyoff"--an approach that could ultimately hurt Walsh, who's been running as a Beltway outsider.

Washington incumbents are part of a broken system