August 22, 2011 11:54 PM UTC

Jeff Crank's "Running on Empty" Tour Sputters in Montana

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• by: Colorado Pols

We wanted to be sure this report from Billings NBC affiliate KULR-TV gets a Colorado mention:

A group traveling across the country to promote less oil and gas industry regulation brought its tour to Billings Wednesday night, but the reception was probably not as warm as desired.

The Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a Conservative advocacy group, brought its “Running on Empty” tour to North Park. In front of dozens of supporters, the group accuses President Barack Obama’s policy as being responsible for high energy prices.

“The price of gas affects each and everyone of us,” said Jeff Crank with Americans for Prosperity, “It’s not really about politics, it’s about policies.”

Some of the speakers at the event, however, were less noble than Crank.

“The current movement, Marxist Movement, is involved in driving up energy and food cost,” said State Representative Krayton Kerns (R-Laurel)…

The event started off as a rally against the President’s energy policy, but it soon turned into a confrontation between hundreds of labor union counter-protesters, who got word of the rally and surrounded it before it began…

Choruses of boos and jeers rang out whenever a speaker went up on stage, which was loud enough for volunteers at the rally to confront the protesters. Despite a gulf of differences on their political beliefs, the rally attendees and counter-protesters did manage to agree on one thing: the country needs jobs.

That’s the same former CD-5 congressional candidate Jeff Crank of Colorado Springs we’ve discussed in this space many times, now a regional director for the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity–AFP has brought their “Running on Empty” through much of the country over the last few weeks, the theme being wholesale condemnation of President Barack Obama’s oil and gas drilling policies. AFP claims that Obama’s policies are causing high gas prices, even though U.S. drilling is reportedly at a 20-year high under Obama. You’ll recall that AFP’s previous splashy cross-country bus tour was against Obama’s health care reform legislation, so…we’ll let you figure what their real motivation is. That shouldn’t be very hard.

We’re not completely sure what provoked citizens in Montana to protest against AFP’s “Running on Empty” tour in numbers greater than the “Tea Party” crowd who turned out to back them. Possibilities include the recent sour crude spill near Yellowstone National Park, a new drilling boom in the eastern part of the state…or maybe just a low tolerance for guys named “Crank?”

Perhaps we’ll see when Crank and friends arrive home in Colorado Wednesday.