{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Election 2020: U.S. House candidate Tim Johnson","description":"\u201cI want to talk about our culture, I want to talk about the forces that drive decisions,\u201d says Republican congressional candidate Tim Johnson. Johnson is the superintendent of Corvallis Public Schools, a job he says he plans to give up next year so he can focus on his campaign for the U.S. House. A self-described conservative Republican running a primarily self-funded campaign, Johnson currently lags behind his primary opponents in fundraising, and in name recognition, but he believes his message can resonate with voters who are tired of well-worn talking points. He tells Montana Free Press editor-in-chief John S. Adams: \u201cIf you don\u2019t have a message, in the long run it doesn\u2019t matter how much money you spend, because the dollar bill that the candidate spends on the marketing side is not necessarily what happens in the voting booth.\u201d Johnson also chides national Republican leaders for their continued focus on tax cuts, arguing that the issue is used to pander to voters. \u201cWe\u2019re not putting our foot down and saying, \u2018Stop spending more than what you have,\u2019\u201d he tells Adams. \u201cIf we continue to do what we\u2019re doing, we\u2019re putting that question off to our kids. And to me, that\u2019s unethical.\u201d The Republican primary includes five candidates vying for the state party\u2019s nomination to challenge the eventual Democratic nominee in the general election next November.  Johnson\u2019s conversation with Adams is featured on this week\u2019s Montana Lowdown podcast. ","author_name":"Montana Lowdown","author_url":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org","html":"