Rick Hill has a new campaign Facebook page. You may remember, his initial group page “A lot of folks for Rick Hill“, didn’t attract many folks at all (it peaked at 78). It appears that Mr. Hill has responded to bold branding pieces fresh from the Stapleton campaign in an attempt to compete, creating the new campaign page featuring a new Stapleton-esque photo. Currently, Stapleton’s campaign Facebook page has around 1700 fans compared to Hill’s 31, Ken Miller’s 859, Livingstone’s 66 Twitter followers, and Jim O’Hara’s 70 Facebook fans.
Corey Stapleton released this photo weeks ago.
Hill’s version:
As a younger voter, Stapleton’s new photo definitely appeals to me- the bio is an eye-catching display portraying him as youthful, fresh and hip- a sharp contrast to the elderly (over the) Hill who has suffered from health problems for the last decade.
I’ve been criticized in the past for giving the numbers too much credit. I do find it odd that we are expected to accept polling results yet supporters utilizing social media aren’t considered credible indicators. I realize that calling a candidate out for copying his opponent is probably a little petty, but so is leaking a “rumor” to politico.com that an opponent was considering dropping out of the Gubernatorial race to run against fellow republican Steve Daines for US House when there has never been any evidence suggesting such. In the past, Hill has gone dirty early, attacking his opponents in primary elections as well as generals. This seems to be more of the same. One would expect Hill to be polling higher at this point- after all, he was a 2 term US House Representative.
UPDATE
Thanks so much to Chuck Denowh, who mentioned that Rick has been using that photo since January. Apparently we just didn’t see it since his “A lot of folks for Rick Hill” group closed up shop after few folks showed any interest. Didn’t see it on his website either, but I’m sure it was widely distributed. Again, thanks Chuck! Not going to post the retraction he requested however.
montanafesto 
Rick has been using that photo on campaign material since January. Exactly who’s copying who? I’ll watch for your retraction.
I updated the post to reflect your claims. No retraction for you however! I notice you didn’t defend Mr Hill about “leaking” that ridiculous rumor to David Cantonese of politico though….. I guess that was because it was YOU who leaked it? I also notice you didn’t defend his lack of folks or his voting record. Hard to do, I realize. Thanks again for your attention to veracity, Chuck.
LOL!… I don’t live in Montana, nor had I seen anything Rick Hill has created for his campaign. I came up with the idea… LOL!
So no… I wasn’t copying Rick Hill.
Rick looks like one of those lifetime career politicians.
I can only imagine he’s been living the career of a lobbyist in his absence from the political stage….. that is when he’s not off and the oh-so-classy “Sip and Dip” drinking up and bedding floozies.
Oh yes, the Sip and Dip. Who can forget the adultery with mermaids? Rick is a rather sleazy character, but he did take a decade off from politics….. as a lobbyist! ha!